The next day.

Ann walked to the front of the shop. As usual, she knew who the customer would be and what would be desired. She smiled to the young man standing at the counter.

"Good morning, sir; Thomas, is it not?"

He held out a foot-long gift box, roughly encircled by strands of ribbon. "Yes; Mistress Sarah would have wanted me to return this."

"Aah. I'm sorry to hear about that."

"I'm afraid it's an issue with the family. The younger son John was not entirely stable. When he thought a strange woman had killed his mother, he beat her to ****. Of course, she reverted back shortly thereafter. He's under psychiatric evaluation now, until they determine if he's fit to stand trial."

"That must be very distressing to the family."

"Less than you think; his older brother was so distraught he remained on vacation in Aruba and his sister Krista is looking up whether he can be cut out of the will for murdering his mother."

"And you?"

"I plan to disappear; the only reason I worked there was that Sarah had incriminating evidence from my college years. So I guess it bought me my freedom, at least."

"The past is a hard thing to run away from, Thomas. But you are welcome to try."

The police met him outside the shop door.