His eyes widened as he scanned the text, then he took a deep breath and handed it to Trey. “I think this is something you’re going to want to read.” “Please read it aloud for the record,” Emerson said, as Trey took the letter. Trey nodded. “Mack, if you’re reading this and you are questioning my death in any way, there’s something you need to tell Trey Jakes. The tassel in the envelope does not belong to anyone from the wreck. The night of our graduation, before we ever left town, we gave our caps and gowns to our parents. I was told the tassel was in the pocket of my pants. I have no idea how it got there, but it was bloody, as was everything else I’d been wearing, so they thought nothing of it. I don’t remember the wreck or what we’d been doing before it happened, but after Dick died, I began having dreams, and one of them had to do with that tassel. I kept seeing a boy’s body on the ground, holding a tassel soaked in blood, so maybe it was already bloody when I put it in my pocket.
