THE DAY sped by as Evelyn tried to catch up with her work, taking her mind off the events of that morning. When it was a few minutes past four she gulped down a can of cold lemonade— which seemed to be the only thing that could stay put in her stomach these days— and fixed her gaze at the black-velvet box on her table for the hundredth time that day.

She was dying of curiosity. Although there was no doubt about what was within it, she wanted to open it so badly and bombard into Locker ...