Disclaimer: The main characters belong to Martha Williamson/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and are based on the Signed, Sealed, Delivered television movie series. Any resemblance of other characters that are introduced in this story to any living or deceased person are purely coincidental.

June 2022

"What have we here? Some kind of album? A memory book, perhaps." Oliver O'Toole gently picked up a clear plastic box cover that encased a three-ring binder wrapped in pink fabric with delicate flowers embellished across the front. The album was in fairly good condition and showed very little signs of age.

"It's a baby book," Shane said matter-of-factly. "We need to find the owner."

"Okay." Oliver nodded. "No packaging or addresses? I presume that this found its way into our collection of unattached objects."

"Well, something like that…." Shane stuttered a bit.

Oliver's gaze pierced her.

"Okay," Shane admitted with a slight roll of her eyes. "So it's not exactly postal material. You remember my friend Mandy, the one who works at the public library?"

"Yes…." Oliver prodded her.

"She contacted me yesterday to tell me that this baby book had been found in their archives. The library has posted to social media a few times in the hopes that someone would know something to lead them to the owner, but so far, no one has volunteered any information. So, they've asked for our help."

"Ahhh, I see. And you agreed to handle this case?"

"I sure did. I'm always up for a good challenge."

Oliver pursed his lips. "Shane, this is outside of our jurisdiction. You know we cannot spend our time investigating a mystery like this."

"Oh, come on, Oliver. This deserves just as much attention—if not more so—than each of the items in those bins," Shane told him, waving her hand at the unattached items that had yet to be reunited with their rightful owners. "Now you don't have to help me, but I will get this book to whom it belongs."

Tenacity was one of Shane's strong suits—it had attracted Oliver early on and years later, he still found it endearing.

"It seems you have forgotten who the section leader is here. We have plenty of other postal business to which we should attend," Oliver uttered firmly.

"And what exactly do you plan to do if I proceed with this investigation? Terminate me?"

Oliver carefully placed the book back on the counter and took a step closer to Shane as his eyes bored into hers.

Unwavering, Shane stared back at Oliver as she continued. "Because you know, my self-terminating days are over. I have no plans to leave."

"And for that, my dear Mrs. O'Toole, I am eternally grateful." Oliver's serious stance dissipated as he pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her sweetly, right in the middle of the DLO.

A minute or so later, Oliver lowered his voice to barely above a whisper, as his face was still merely inches from hers. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but it's almost impossible to say no to this beautiful face…."

"Almost?" Shane pouted playfully.

Oliver chuckled softly.

The door to the DLO swung open and the Dormans, returning from their lunch break, entered the room. The O'Tooles quickly broke contact and stepped away from each other. Norman snickered and Rita grinned as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. This wasn't the first time—nor would it be the last—that one couple witnessed a little affection between the other. With two married couples working in the same space, it was bound to happen occasionally.

Shane caught Rita and Norman up to speed regarding the baby book, then picked it up and removed it from the case.

"Mandy told me that this is not your average baby book. She said there are lots of photographs and other special memories in here—that someone had really put some time into it."

Shane opened the thick album to the first page.

"'It's a Girl….' Well, that was a little obvious from the cover," Shane mentioned with a smile. "Name: Victoria Rose McKnight. Date of birth: December 31, 1992."

"Ooh, a New Year's Eve baby," Rita piped up.

"Last-minute tax deduction," Norman suggested, and they giggled.

"Here's her family tree," Shane stated, after turning the page.

Oliver leaned in to take a look. "It seems that her father's name is Martin Samuel McKnight, and her mother's name is Patricia Gallimore McKnight."

"And there are grandparents listed, too," Shane added. She stood up and walked over to her laptop. "With this much information, it shouldn't be too difficult to locate Victoria. I'll just run a search for her now." Shane stared intently at her screen.

A couple of minutes later, she sighed. "I'm coming up empty."

"You did check social media?" Oliver inquired.

"Oh, yes," Shane responded drearily. "Let me try the parents."

A few seconds later, some information popped up on the screen. "Okay, here we go. Patricia Gallimore McKnight. Died on August 13, 1994."

"Oh, my goodness. That means that Victoria was not even two years old when she lost her mother," Norman calculated.

"That's so sad," Rita muttered. "What about the dad?"

"Unfortunately, he's gone, too," Shane declared wistfully. "He passed away on June 19, 2011, at Denver Mercy Hospital."

"Oh, dear. So by the time she was 18 years old, she had lost her father as well?" Rita asked.

Shane nodded solemnly. "Since this is not official postal business, I'll do more searching when I can and report back with an update later on. Uh, with Oliver's approval, of course." She raised her eyebrows questioningly as she looked to their boss.

"I have no argument with that—as long as our other duties are not being neglected."

Shane smiled satisfactorily and cast her husband a loving look. "Thank you, Oliver."

Oliver grinned and shook his head. He knew how much it meant to his wife to solve a mystery, and she was not likely to let go of this one, no matter what anyone said.