In only a few weeks Caydance would begin teaching her course on Artists Books: Lineage and Creative Practice. She was trying to concentrate on revising the syllabus, but her mind was on the artists book that lay on the table beside the oriel window. The surface of this object was hand-painted with images. Other images were visible on an accordion fold “tail” that emerged from a slot in the book. It was likely that the images on this tail concluded inside the object. But without a key they were not visible.

The note that had accompanied the book was printed on heavy stationary the color of unbleached linen. Engraved in gold, the header identified the sender as Major Knox Silicon Valley Ventures. The address was in Palo Alto California. The message was brief:

arrow "Enclosed is an object that I purchased at an antique store a few months ago. It is not signed by the artist and the store did not have the key, nor did they know the name of the artist who created it. I took it to the Stanford Art History Department where a gentleman (I do not remember his name) identified it as an artist's book. Although I detected a flicker of recognition, he said that he did not recognize the work of any particular artist. He did not think the object was of much value, but he directed me to you, whom he identified as an expert in the field. Do you recognize the work of an artist in this field? And do you have any suggestions of where to find the key?"