Miss Annabel Lee Valentine, Stephanie and Mary Lou's—and sadly Joyce Barnhardt's, too—old high school literature teacher who passed away at the early age of 59 more than 16 years ago, was a hopeless romantic. She loved all kinds of adventures, adored every single pirates, and introduced the wide-eyed girls not only to the amazing world of classical and modern literature masterpieces, but also to the enchanting universe of cheap paperback romance novels. She was especially fond of Stephanie, always chuckled at her unique point of view, and awarded her with encouragement and good grades. And then one day, just after Joe the Rat Bastard Morelli wrote about Stephanie on the walls of a public bathroom and skipped town like the shameless rat that he was, Miss Valentine gave a crestfallen, puffy-eyed Stephanie a sealed round tin cookie box and told her that there was a treasure map inside. She then gave the girl a warm hug and asked her to keep her chin up and go find a way to open the box and search for the treasure.
But sadly, neither the both of them took notice of the red-haired girl hiding in a shadowed corner eavesdropping their conversation. And when Stephanie opened her locker after school, the small tin box was already gone. The kind-hearted Miss Valentine died of heart attack that very night in a fancy French restaurant when her long-time fiancé surprised her with a diamond ring and a proposal. And thus Stephanie Plum never knew what was inside the box, nor what the treasure was...
~End of Kiss 8: Treasure Island~
