Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 03 - Valentined by Patricia Rockwell Read Free Book Online Page A

provided the same message.  There was no Jingleberry Lane in Boston
either.  Fay repeated the routine using an ‘l’ instead of a ‘j’ for the first
letter and the results were the same.  The three women tried to help Fay by
offering different spellings of different words in the return address.  Fay
diligently checked each and every possible spelling of each and every
permutation.  After numerous tries, it soon became evident that the return
address on the valentine simply did not exist.
    “What does this mean?” asked Essie.
    Fay sighed, and turning to her friends, gave a shrug.
    “I think Fay is saying that this return address doesn’t
exist.  It’s fictional,” said Opal.
    “But why?” asked Essie.  “Why would my secret admirer put a
non-existent return address on the envelope?”
    “Because he doesn’t want you to know who he is, obviously,”
replied Marjorie.  “I don’t know if that’s more romantic or less romantic.  Why
would your admirer not want you to ever figure out who he is?  If he really
likes you, you’d think he’d want you to know—ultimately.”
    “Yes,” agreed Essie.
    “Maybe there’s another reason,” suggested Opal.  The three
seated women turned around and looked up at their tall, serene friend.  “Maybe
he intentionally put a fake address on the card so that no one would know who
he is.  Not just Essie.”
    “That’s ridiculous, Opal,” declared Marjorie.  “Essie is the
recipient.  Who else would her secret admirer be trying to hide his identity
from?”
    “I don’t know,” mused Opal. “The Post Office?”
    “What?” said Essie, scowling.  “Why would anyone want to
keep their identity secret from the Post Office.  The Post Office doesn’t care
who sends me a valentine.”
    “I can’t answer that, Essie,” said Opal with a sigh. 
“However, if you think about it, you’re not the only person who won’t be able
to track your secret admirer now.  The purpose of a return address is so that
if the Post Office can’t deliver a letter, they have a way to return it to the
sender.  Obviously, if the sender puts a fictitious return address on the
envelope, the Post Office will not be able to return the card to the sender.”
    “I see that, Opal,” said Essie.  “But, Haley’s Comet!  What
person would NOT want this card back if the Post Office couldn’t deliver it to
me?”
    The women shook their heads and looked forlornly at the
computer screen which provided absolutely no information.
    “Before we give up totally on this computer thing, Fay,”
said Essie, “can you try one more thing?”
    Fay nodded.  Essie picked up the envelope and turned it
over.
    “Mindy says this card was made for me personally and that
the logo on the back is made up.  I mean, it’s a logo for a company that
doesn’t really exist.  Can we check the company logo, Fay?  On the computer?”
    Fay took the card from Essie and glanced at the logo on the
back.  Then she typed the name of the company—Boston Bell Greeting Cards—into a
box in the middle of the screen and hit a key.  A list of items appeared.  Fay
ran her finger down each one, shaking her head as she went.  Opal followed
along.  Fay clicked on several of the items, but when the screen filled with
text and the women read the various articles, it became clear that none of them
were about or even mentioned a “Boston Bell Greeting Card Company.”
    “Don’t worry, Fay,” said Essie.  “This is not a bad thing. 
This just shows that there is no Boston Bell Greeting Card Company.  It
confirms my granddaughter’s conjecture that the card was created by one person,
not manufactured and then purchased in a store.  Now the question is, why?  Why
did my secret admirer not only send me this card, but why did he go to all the
trouble of making it himself in the first place, and creating the impression
that it was manufactured by this fictitious company?”
    “It’s a mystery, Essie,”