I bought a used copy of "Dune" for $4, and a folded piece of paper inside just solved a 20-year-old family mystery.

I was browsing a used bookstore in Seattle last Tuesday—the kind that smells like dust and vanilla—when I picked up a paperback copy of *Dune*. It was beat up, the spine was cracked, and it cost $4. I almost put it back because I wanted a hardcover, but something about the worn edges made me feel like it had been loved, so I bought it.

When I got home and cracked it open to page 142, a folded piece of yellow legal pad paper fell out.

It wasn’t a bookmark. It was a letter. Dated **October 14, 2004**.

The handwriting was frantic, scribbled in blue ink. It read:

*"David, I hid the bonds in the hollow leg of the old workbench in the garage. I don't trust Elena. If anything happens to me, check the leg. Do not sell the house until you check. Love, Dad."*

I froze. This felt like I was intruding, but also like I was holding a grenade. I looked at the inside cover of the book. There was a name stamped in faint red ink: **Ex Libris: Arthur P. Halloway.**

I know the internet can be a weird place, but I felt a moral obligation to find "David." I hopped on Ancestry and local obituaries. It took me three hours of "Internet Detective" work (which I usually use to see if my ex is dating anyone new, let’s be honest), but I found an obituary for an Arthur Halloway who died in 2005 in Tacoma.

He had a surviving son: David.

I found David on Facebook. He looked to be in his 50s now. I sent him a message. It sat in the "Request" folder for two days. I assumed he’d think I was a scammer.

Yesterday, my phone pinged.

**David:** "Who is this? How do you have my father’s handwriting?"

I explained the book. I sent him a picture of the note.

He called me immediately via Messenger audio. He was crying. He told me that his father died of a sudden heart attack in 2005. His stepmother, "Elena," had liquidated everything immediately. David had always suspected his father had left something for him and his sister, but they never found a will or any assets. They ended up selling the house to Elena’s brother a month after the funeral.

But here is the kicker: **The workbench is still there.**

David drove to the house this morning (it’s currently being rented out). He explained the situation to the current tenants, showed them the photo of the note I found, and asked if he could look at the old workbench in the garage.

They let him in.

He just messaged me an hour ago with a photo. The leg of the workbench had a false bottom. Inside wasn't cash—it was a series of bearer bonds and a property deed to a cabin in Montana that Elena never knew about.

He told me, "I’ve felt crazy for 20 years thinking my dad left us nothing. You just gave me my father back."

I’m meeting David for coffee tomorrow to give him the book. I think I’m going to let him keep the $4 copy of *Dune*.