"Mr Williams," Jenny exclaimed on seeing her late father's best friend at her front door. "I haven't seen you since - ."
"The funeral. Yes," Mr Williams replied. "Would it be alright if I came in?"
"Of course." Jenny stood aside to let Mr Williams come in, then closed the door behind him. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Thank you." Mr Williams looked around the front room of Jenny's flat, then sat down on the sofa next to the coffee table. "Milk, but no sugar please."
It took a minute for Jenny to come back from the kitchen. "Here you are." She put a steaming cup of tea on the table beside Mr Williams, then caught sight of the bright orange plastic bag that he had put down next to the cup. "What's that?"
Mr Williams picked up the cup. "It's part of your inheritance."
"I thought that had all been sorted out after the house was sold."
"Not quite." Mr Williams took a sip of his beverage. "As the executor of your father's will, I still have to deal with this."
"What is it?"
"I have no idea."
Jenny opened the plastic bag. Inside it was a parcel that had been wrapped in yellowed newspaper and brown tape. She pulled at fragile covering to reveal a black, lacquered box. "I've never seen this before."
"Nor I," Mr Williams replied. "But your father must have had it for a long time. If you look at the dates on the papers, then he put this away just before you were born."
Jenny lifted the box from its nest of plastic and shredded paper, and put it on the table. The box felt heavy, solidly built. When she put it down on the table, it landed with a satisfying 'thunk'. Jenny peered closely at the box, trying to divine its secrets. "There's no keyhole in it. And I can't see any hinges. How do I get in?"
"There must be a lid. Can you see any seams on it?"
"Let me see." Jenny reached out to pick up the box; but, as soon as her fingers touched its black gloss surface, there was the sound of knocking from inside it. Jenny recoiled in shock. "Did it - ?"
Again, there was the sound of knocking from inside the box. Jenny stared at Mr Williams, only too aware of the shocked look they shared. "It did," Mr Williams whispered.
Slowly, deliberately, and with her heart in her mouth, Jenny reached out once more.
