“I’d love to take a look.” Without waiting for permission, Jesse set the model on the bedspread. The interlocking blocks appeared to be divided into three sections: the forward engine and hood, the passenger compartment, and the hatchback. He gripped the rear blocks and pulled. His pulse nearly doubled. The LEGOs proved to be an exterior shell only. From within, Jesse retrieved a silver Seagate one-terabyte external hard drive. Three words had been hand-printed on its top: “Time Machine Backup.” Jesse tried not to show his excitement and paid more attention to the model. “Looks just like your dad’s. And I have a drive just like this one. Can I see if yours fits?”

Davie pointed to the model. “There’s more.”

Jesse turned it up and peered into the cavity. What looked like a larger-than-normal flash drive was wedged in the bottom. He removed a few more LEGOs until he could extract the device. A slip of paper was wrapped around it and held in place by a rubber band. Jesse slipped off the rubber band and removed the paper. He knew immediately what the long string of letters, characters, and symbols represented—the private key to a cryptocurrency virtual wallet.

Jesse pulled two USB cables and his own hard drive from his backpack. “I just want to see if it works.”

“Okay.”

Jesse connected the drives to his laptop and started a file transfer from Finch’s backup to his clean drive. The time indicator estimated the copy would take nearly thirty minutes. Jesse examined the smaller device with a built-in USB connector he still held in his hand. The only visible marking was a brand logo and name. KryptoFold. The company that makes hardware products for managing, storing, and using the private keys for cryptocurrency accounts. The company headed by CEO Dwayne Parker. The man whose body had been discovered by Jonathan Finch. Whatever the device was, Jesse knew he had to get it to Ethel.

“This is going to take a while to test,” Jesse said. “Why don’t you show me how to build some molecules?” He stood from the bed, slipped the KryptoFold into his jacket pocket, and walked to a corner of the room where a pile of Tinkertoys waited to be assembled. He sat on the floor. “I think I’ll make a glass of Crestwater.”

Davie laughed, sat back down at his table, and was soon lost in the construction.

Thirty minutes later, Jesse stood up and stretched. Davie was so focused on his Tinkertoys that he seemed oblivious to everything around him. Jesse went to his computer, saw that the transfer had finished, and ejected both drives. He packed up his drive and computer. He reassembled the SUV, inserted Finch’s external drive, and returned the LEGO model to the bookshelf.

“Davie? Davie?”

The boy didn’t respond. Jesse walked over and lightly touched him on the shoulder. Davie jumped like he’d been shocked.