Who is she? Or, more accurately, perhaps, who were they?

We recently invested in a great little rental property in the older neighborhood surrounding the University of Denver. This bungalow, built in 1949, was in great shape upon purchase, inside and out, with the exception of a detached carport-workshop combination in back. The roof leaked for many years on this detached structure, causing extensive damage inside that required major rehabilitation, including replacing a couple of moldy, water damaged walls.

Workers began demolition of the damaged areas in September, 2008. Not long after, I received a phone call from project manager Jim Cressman of 3R Services.

"You won't believe what was sealed inside one of the walls we tore out," he said.

Jim and his crew had discovered a series of eight black and white photos tightly concealed inside one of the walls. These old photos, dating, I presume, from the time these homes were built, are of an attractive woman, thirty-ish, in various, tasteful stages of undress.

The mystery woman, who posed for the mystery photographer, appears relaxed and confident. She seems to be, in fact, having lots of fun. The photographer, amateur though he or she likely was, shows notable creativity. In each shot, the photographer captured the woman's image in a huge mirror, accomplishing two things. A clear front view and a clear back view of the model were captured simultaneously.

In the background of these old photos one can distinguished in reflection form a Christmas tree, a shaggy sort of carpet, basic furnishings and a leopard print blanket tossed across what appears to be a day bed or sofa. However, the photographer, either by design or luck, managed to draw the eye of the beholder away from peripheral objects. The woman posing is center stage and spellbinding. These stills celebrate her.

I have tried unsuccessfully to identify photographer and model. Uncovering their identities would be thrilling, at least for me. Perhaps the party who sealed them inside a wall sixty years ago would not be so thrilled. I can only conclude this woman was someone's secret and the photographer hers.

I plan to take these eight, wonderful old photos to a professional for matting and framing. I want to display them in honor of something I cannot exactly describe. Love stories come to mind. How illicit? How forbidden? Without the facts, the imagination is free to construct.

I wish vindication for the woman who possibly lived to regret having posed in such a provocative manner. She might have fretted the photos would surface one day, or that they would end up in the wrong hands at the wrong time. Does she still?

My hunch is the photographer is the person who sealed the photos away. It does not take a psychoanalyst to understand he or she could not bear destroying them. Sealing them away within the wall left at least a chance of their being found; a chance for a new owner--long past potential scandal, long past the power of the secret-- an owner who would appreciate, not judge.

I think the photographer hoped the treasure would live on eventually in the form of a mystery. That wish came true.