Sophie Alderon had just struggled into her pajama bottoms when the door bell rang. “James!” she called through a mouthful of toothpaste, before remembering her husband was in DC on business.
Sighing, Sophie spat, tied a robe around her swelling stomach, and went to answer.
A policewoman flashed her badge. “Sophie Alderon?” she said. “I’m Officer Annie Archibeck. I’m going to need you to come with me.”
Dumbfounded, Sophie blurted the first thing that came to her mind. “It’s a quarter to midnight!”
Archibeck gave an apologetic shrug.
Sophie glanced down at her too-loose shirt and shorts that were barely enough to cover her hips, gulped, and retreated to her bedroom to grab a new shirt T-shirt and her brand-new maternity jeans, slipping her phone into her back pocket. What possible reason could the cops have for picking her up from her home in the middle of the night? She hadn’t been in an accident or witnessed a crime… at least, not that she remembered.
Officer Archibeck’s car sat outside their apartment with the lights flashing, though no siren. Sophie cringed. How would she explain this to her neighbors?
She spent the drive watching shadowed concrete buildings and neon signs while playing with her phone, trying to determine what—if anything—to tell James. Before she’d really decided, the car rolled to a stop in a self-storage lot. Crime scene tape and portable flood lights highlighted a single unit, empty except for a folding plastic table that had been converted to a makeshift desk.
Sophie massaged her stomach.
Officer Archibeck led Sophie into the storage unit. Unlike most Sophie had seen, the back wall was covered in a floor length mirror. Sophie took one look and winced. She’d grabbed her neon ‘Bahama Mama’ T-shirt. Could this night get any worse?
There was only one other person in the unit: a meaty man wearing a disgruntled frown. “This is her?” he said to Officer Archibeck, giving Sophie’s T-shirt a dubious glance.
“Sophie Alderon, meet Derek Wallace. He’s the PI on this case.”
“You recently married a James Alderon,” Wallace said, ignoring Sophie’s extended hand. “But your maiden name is France?”
“That’s correct.”
Wallace snapped his papers shut. His forehead beaded with sweat, though the night was cool. “Are you familiar with The Lady Blunt?”
“The missing Stradivarius? Of course.” The theft of the famous violin was all anyone in the music business could talk about. Last she’d heard, authorities were pursuing leads in Nepal.
Wallace grunted. “We found the case and bow in this self-storage unit. Your self storage unit.”
Sophie’s gasp of surprise turned to a choke as Officer Archibeck passed her a copy of the contract for a year long rental of Unit 482A, in the name of one Sophie France, as well as a polaroid of the case and bow as they’d found them in the storage unit.
“You studied in Cremona, Italy, where you met the late Adelaide Blunt, the last owner of the violin,” Wallace said.
“Yes, but I didn’t steal it!” Sophie cringed at how high her voice had become.
“No one’s saying you did,” Archibeck said quickly. “We just want to know what happened.”
Taking a deep breath, Sophie forced a more normal tone and said, “I want to talk to my husband.”
Wallace didn’t look inclined to allow the phone call, but then Archibeck gave him a look. “This way,” she said, and escorted Sophie back to the cool night air, standing just far enough away that she could still overhear Sophie’s conversation.
James was disoriented at being woken up in the middle of the night, but he quickly sharpened as Sophie related her story. “The unit is under my maiden name,” she said. “They would have had to buy it months ago.”
“Maybe they didn’t know you got married.”
“I’ve been posting pictures of the wedding for months!”
James sighed. Sophie imagined him running his hands through his hair, as he often did when frustrated. “See if you can text me a picture of that contract. I’ll see what I can find out from my end.”
He hung up, and Sophie turned back to the storage unit entrance, taking a steadying breath. James was miles away; she was on her own.
Portable lights flooded the unit, reflecting off the mirror. Sophie’s eyes narrowed. Now that she thought about it, storage units didn’t typically have floor-length mirrors as the back wall.
Wallace leapt from his position at the desk as she approached. His shirt buttons, which had already been taut when Sophie met him, now looked ready to burst their seams. “What are you doing?”
She pressed her finger to the mirror; the tips touched. “There’s something back there.”
Office Archibeck helped Sophie shove the edge of the mirror. With a loud scrape it swiveled just enough for Sophie to stick her head around the gap. There was only about a foot of space, but with the floodlights, Sophie spotted the violin instantly.
The click of a gun made her freeze, fingers curled around the violin’s neck.
Sweat dripped from Wallace’s chin. “I’m sorry,” he began.
Archibeck swung. Sophie heard the click of teeth, then Wallace dropped like a stone. Archibeck immediately scooped up the gun. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I hadn’t intended it to get that far. Are you all right?”
Sophie rested fluttery fingers over her stomach and nodded.
“As it turns out, you are actually the rightful owner,” Archibeck said. “Adelaide Blunt left you the violin—she wanted the instrument to be treasured, not sold. Unfortunately, her grandson,” she nodded to Wallace, “was a drug addict and needed the money. He tried to contest the will, then, when that failed, hatched a plan to steal the violin.”
Sophie’s phone buzzed. Handing the violin to Archibeck, she answered.
“James?—No, I’m safe—Well, apparently, I’m the owner of a $15.9 million violin….”
* * * * *
I wrote this story in September for round 2 of a contest called NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge. Writers are assigned a genre, location, and object, then given 48 hours to write a story in 1000 words or less.
The top 15 writers in rounds 1 and 2 receive points (first place = 15, 2nd = 14, etc.), but only the top five scorers from each group move on to round 3. Good news: this story placed 2nd in my group, for a combined total of 26 points. I am in a three-way tie for first in my group, and will be moving on to round 3!
I will receive my next genre, location, and object assignment on November 8 and will have 48 hours to write a story in 1000 words or less. I will post that piece once I receive the results in December.
Thanks for reading!
~ Sarah
