A cache of some 75,000 files belonging to a Republican gerrymandering master might never have been discovered if not for a jewelry box that once meant a lot to a young girl.

The files, which belonged to the late Thomas Hofeller, have been the basis for multiple explosive allegations in the past week. They include evidence that Hofeller helped get a citizenship question on the 2020 Census ultimately meant to help Republicans and white people maintain power , lawyers challenging the question say.

Those same lawyers who are separately representing Common Cause, a group that works on voting rights and campaign finance issues, in a North Carolina gerrymandering lawsuit also allege the files include proof that North Carolina Republicans lied to a federal court about how they went about fixing racially gerrymandered districts.

Its not yet clear exactly what is in Hofellers files, but he was a longtime Republican redistricting consultant who had a hand in drawing maps in North Carolina, Alabama, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia this decade. The files could contain a treasure trove of internal documents laying bare how Republicans went about gerrymandering in North Carolina and elsewhere. They could provide key evidence in efforts to get maps redrawn, and illuminate the motivations for getting a citizenship question on the Census. It may be for this reason that lawyers representing North Carolina lawmakers sent a letter last week demanding that lawyers for Common Cause, who have access to the files, stop reviewing them.

But the files almost werent found at all.

The girl, now grown up, is Stephanie Hofeller, Thomas Hofellers daughter. Hofeller was considered a master of drawing district lines in North Carolina and elsewhere that perpetuated Republican control of seats. Stephanie hadnt spoken to her father, who died in August, since 2014. She only learned hed died when she searched his name in September and found a New York Times obituary . In October, she traveled from her home in Kentucky to Raleigh to visit her mother and go through some of her dads old belongings.