The transmitter hidden in Mr. Buttons was designed to locate it. The replica bracelet's blue stone contained the physical access key. Celeste needed both objects close together, he said. That is why the twins were moved across from her. Officer Mercer faced Celeste.
You staged the theft to activate Simone's file. He is inventing a story to protect himself. Peter held up the broken identification card. She tried to have me declared dead before I could reach Denver. Zuri remembered the unknown messages.
Are you 417? No. Then who warned me? Simone created case 417 as an emergency channel. Someone else opened it this morning.
Who? Only three people knew it existed. Simone, me, and officer Mara Hayes. Every passenger looked toward Hayes. She did not deny knowing the number.
Simone contacted me 8 months ago, she said. I helped verify two of the altered records. Zuri's voice hardened. Why didn't you tell us? Because I did not know who had reopened the channel.
Peter looked at her police radio. And yet every message reached Zuri only after you learned what she needed. Officer Mercer stepped between Hayes and the twins. Hayes slowly removed her radio and placed it on a seat. Search it.
Mercer checked the device history. No messages had been sent through it. Zuri reoped the video. A second locked file had appeared after the recovery code succeeded. It showed their mother seated in a small office.
If this message opens, Simone said the replica bracelet and the transmitter have been brought together. Clare Voss may have placed the bracelet, but she is not controlling what happens next. Clare stared at the screen. Simone continued, "The person behind me is officer Mara Hayes. She knows why Case 417 exists." A police officer stood in the blurred background wearing Hayes's name badge.
Hayes stepped closer. That isn't me. Zuri paused the recording. The blurred officer wore the same watch as Hayes. Same black strap.
Same cracked corner on the display. Officer Mercer noticed it, too. You were there. Hayes looked at the watch on her wrist. Yes, but Simone recorded that message because she trusted me.
Then prove it, Zuri said. Before Hayes could answer, every first class screen activated. A list of 11 children appeared. Dr. Lane's nephew was number four. Zuri and Nia were numbers 10 and 11.
A timer beside each earlier name showed how long that child had remained unaccounted for. Beside the twins, both timers read zero. Then flight 218 descended low enough to connect with Kansas City's ground network. The timers started 0001 0002 00003. Captain Cole came over the interphone.
Two verified child welfare officers are waiting at the gate. Their court order requires Zuri and Nia to be separated immediately. Officer Mercer received their identification photographs. One showed the woman with the crescent-shaped mark, the same stranger who had opened Mr. Buttons in Baltimore. The second showed Peter Veil.
Peter stared at his own photograph. That man isn't me. The face was his. The identification number was his. Even the broken card in his hand matched the credential awaiting them on the ground.