The first thing I noticed was the color. Bright blue beads covered our patio, rolling across the tiles until one touched my slipper. I looked toward the pool and froze. The water was buried beneath millions of shimmering Orbeez, and beneath them sat a large rectangular shape, perfectly centered on the bottom. My husband, Carmelo, stepped outside with coffee in his hand and stared in disbelief. The pool cover we had secured the night before was folded neatly against the fence. Someone had entered our yard, removed it, and deliberately placed something inside our pool. This was not a prank.

Mason had been gone for three years. He disappeared at the town summer festival when he was seven, holding my hand one moment and vanishing the next. He loved Orbeez and used different colors for different feelings. Police had also listed his small yellow sand shovel among his missing belongings. We began clearing the beads carefully, using nets and buckets. The shape beneath became clearer. Then I saw something yellow through the water. A handle.