The Envelope

The rain had followed Emma Fraser all the way home.

When she left the newspaper office, it was only light rain. By the time she reached her building, the streets were wet and the lights of passing cars reflected on the pavement.

Typical Edinburgh weather in October, she thought.

Emma climbed the stairs to her flat on the second floor. She was trying to find her keys when she noticed a delivery notice beside her door. A courier had left something for her earlier that afternoon.

A cream-coloured envelope was resting against the door.

At first, Emma almost ignored it. There was no company name and no return address. Her name was written on the front in dark blue ink.

Emma Fraser.

She picked it up and looked more closely at the handwriting.

Something about it was familiar. The letters were small and leaned slightly to the right. Some of them had long, unusual lines. Emma was sure she had seen this handwriting before.

For a moment, she stood still on the landing. Then she told herself that she must be mistaken. Fifteen years had passed. It was easy to remember things incorrectly after so long.

She opened her door and went inside.

The flat was cold and quiet. Emma left her bag by the sofa, turned on the kitchen light and put the envelope on the table.

She tried to ignore it. She made tea, checked her phone and looked in the fridge. But her eyes kept returning to the envelope.

Finally, she sat down and examined it. There was no stamp, only a small courier label on the back.

She recognised the handwriting because she had spent hours studying letters and notes written by a missing woman.

Her name was Claire Morrison.

Claire had disappeared from a village in the Scottish Highlands in September 2011. She was twenty-eight and worked as a literature teacher. Nobody knew exactly what had happened to her.

The police had searched for Claire. Her family had asked the public for help. Newspapers had printed her photograph, and Emma had written several reports about the case.

After some time, the story disappeared from the news. The police never found a body, and there was no clear explanation.

Emma looked down at the envelope again.

The handwriting looked almost exactly like Claire's.

But Claire Morrison had been missing for fifteen years.

So who had written Emma's name?