Mark and I brought the boxes and trunks down from the attic and loaded them into the back of my Subaru. Then I climbed back up into the sweltering attic and began perusing the items in the other half of the space. I found a lot more holiday decorations, a couple of boxes of remarkably well-preserved old books, and more vintage clothes.
But it was the massive trunk full of photographs that was most exciting. Given what Mariah had told me about the family business, I was quick to determine that these were more of the photos that Karella and Sumner had taken at their studio, and I knew that everyone would be eager to see them. Fortunately, it looked like someone had already sorted out the funeral photos, and these seemed largely happy images – family groups and wedding portraits.
As I quick
