“Yes.”
“The pipe had failed in an unusual way.”
“So?”
“So I excavated around it.”
“And?”
“I found a box.”
I stared at him.
“A box?”
“A sealed metal box buried underground.”
Dad explained that while working around the damaged plumbing, he had discovered something that clearly didn’t belong to the modern pool installation.
The property had originally belonged to a Hungarian immigrant named Tibor, a watchmaker who had died decades earlier.
Eleanor knew him.
She told us Tibor had owned a valuable collection of watches and clocks. He had once told her that he had hidden his finest pieces because he didn’t trust banks.
After Tibor and his wife died, their son sold the property.
The original house was demolished.
Richard eventually built his home there.
And somewhere during all those years, the collection disappeared from everyone’s knowledge.
Until Dad found the box.
“What was inside?” I asked.
