Chapter 46: The Photo

"I found a picture in my mother's room, on her nightstand; an old picture of the Emory house. At the time it kind of freaked me out, and I meant to ask Mom about it. She was never in a good enough mood and I totally forgot about it until now."

"Oh, no." Mrs. Stephens closes her eyes for a second then focuses directly at me. "He must have put it there-somehow."

"What? How?" I ask, tilting my head.

"I don't know what the picture symbolizes, but Atticus is definitely capable of much more than I thought," she says, talking more to herself than to us.

"What do you mean?" I ask, swallowing back the knot forming in my throat.

"It means...." She stops then says, "Wait, your mom. Has she always had an addiction problem?"

Wondering why she's going there, I answer, "Well, no. I mean, she's always smoked, but her drinking, and her temper seem to be getting worse. I figured it was from all the stress she puts herself through. Why?"