TEA WITH THE MIDNIGHT MONSTERS

LAST KEY

"Agent Cruz? Caroline?" Ella stepped through the kitchen doors.

It was after midnight, Monday morning. Halloween was officially over, and November first, or Hallowmas, the Day of the Innocents, was upon them; one day before the Day of the Dead. This is a Triduum in parts of the world: a celebration, three days long, remembering loved ones dead to us...

"The parents are here," Ella continued. "Everyone but Annabelle Zane."

Cruz had called all the parents.

"Good evening," he said, moments later, gazing at the parents. They were gathered around the communal table in the center of the tearoom. Caroline held the backpack. "Tonight, we discovered a child's bag."

Caroline placed it on the table.

"I believe this was meant for all of us. A note was left in it. It said that your children are together and alive."

Around the table, parents grumbled and fired questions at Cruz and the Squad: "Where are they? Who dropped it off? Who wrote the note? Did you make an arrest?"

"Hold your horses," Cruz said, calming them down, and Caroline gently unzipped the bag and spilled its contents onto the table.

The parents leaned in and gazed at the baubles, knick-knacks, and whatnots, unsure of what they were.

Understanding this, Caroline chose a pink spiral notebook. She held it up and read the name scrawled across it. "Hannah Gummer? This belongs to Hannah Gummer. Her name is on it. Did she have it with her when she was taken?" She held up the notebook, and Hannah's mother emerged from behind a group of fathers.

Mrs. Gummer had bought the notebook -- two weeks before Hannah disappeared -- a year, two months, and three weeks ago; the pink cover, the rainbow stickers, she recognized it. Hannah had written her name across it in magic marker, purple letters tilting left as they always did.

She took the notebook from Caroline. "Yes," she said. "This is hers. Yes, it was with her when..." Tears fell as Dr. Gummer pushed through the crowd toward his wife, and the two embraced. "It even -- even smells like her," said Mrs. Gummer, holding the notebook to her cheek.

Suddenly the crowd understood. Suddenly, at once, they realized the items belonged to...

The children.

Their children.

Maybe, oh maybe, the children were safe and alive and together -- but where? At once, they crowded around the table, and Caroline and Cruz backed away.

"Abe's baseball," said Mr. Clark, turning to his wife. "With Jeter's signature. This is it."

One by one, they identified the items: Mia's blue cardigan with her nametag. Ian's pencil box. Lucas's drumsticks. Ryan's math test, the last one he took, with a red A plus. Clara's copy of The Penderwicks In Spring, and Roman's battered Hollow City.

Cruz looked away.

As touching as this was, and it was touching, he knew there was nothing on the table for him. Caroline could feel his anguish. His son had disappeared five years before -- out west in Texas on a camping trip. The boy's case was cold -- meaning the police had largely stopped looking. This had led Cruz to quit his job, his entire life, and join the FBI in the first place. He would now work on missing children's cases; any and all and every case, including his son's.

Caroline squeezed his arm and whispered, "I'm so sorry..."

Cruz nodded thanks, as Hannah's mother turned and spoke: "So where are they? What does this mean? How do we know they're alive?" The other parents joined in: "Did someone ID the man with the bag? Did you arrest him? Where are they? Where are the children?"

"Quiet, quiet!" Cruz said, waving his arms.

Caroline peeled off from the crowd, into the kitchen. Her phone was ringing. She could see it was the young Lud Billings calling.

"Caroline!" said Lud, on the line. He'd dropped the "von", if you recall, and stood in the kitchen of von Billing's mansion, next to his wife and little son, Luke, eleven blocks north of the tearoom. They were all in pajamas and very excited.

"Caroline," he said. "Guess what we found? We found the key! We found the key to the second floor! We don't have to wait for a locksmith tomorrow! Come now and search! For leads and clues! Come now, tonight!"