The door to the house opens and Hamza emerges. He is carrying a box. He gives it to Laila.
“Jalil Khan gave this to my father a month or so before he died,” Hamza says.
“He asked my father to safeguard it for Mariam until she came to claim it. My father kept it for two years.”
“Then, just before he passed away, he gave it to me, and asked me to save it for Mariam. But she...you know, she never came.
Laila looks down at the oval shaped tin box. It looks like an old chocolate box. It's olive green, with fading gilt scrolls all around the hinged lid.
There is a little rust on the sides, and two tiny dents on the front rim of the lid.
Laila tries to open the box, but the latch is locked. “What's in it?” she asks. Hamza puts a key in her palm.
My father never unlocked it. Neither did I. I suppose it was God's will that it be you.”
Back at the hotel, Tariq and the children are not back yet. Laila sits on the bed, the box on her lap.
Part of her wants to leave it unopened, let whatever Jalil had intended remain a secret. But, in the end, the curiosity proves too strong.
She slides in the key. It takes some rattling and shaking, but she opens the box.
In it, she finds three things: an envelope, a burlap sack, and a videocassette. Laila takes the tape and goes down to the reception desk.
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