A three AM phone call about a locked room changed everything

the front door, slipping it into the lock, but the keyway was far too narrow.

I tried the back door, and then the basement door, but the key was too thick for any lock in our house.

I stood in the dark hallway, holding the cold metal in my palm as the radiator gave a long, metallic hiss.

I walked back to the kitchen, opened my purse on the counter, and continue reading …