When they entered the town hall that afternoon, Eugenia was at her desk. This time, she didn’t even pretend to give them a bright pink smile. She glared immediately.

“I cannot believe you two criminals have the audacity to return to the scene of the crime,” she said, rising to her feet and picking up her phone. “I am calling security right this instant. Didn’t your crystal ball tell you that?”

“I would love to have a crystal ball,” Faye said, “but my mother doesn’t approve of things related to the occult.”

“Like her daughter?” Eugenia began to dial.

“We have something for you!” Wunder said quickly. “That’s why we’re here! To deliver this invitation.”

Eugenia’s pink-nailed finger paused. “From whom?”

“From the witch of the DoorWay House,” Faye said. Her expression revealed nothing, but Wunder could tell she was enjoying herself.

“Don’t test me, young lady,” Eugenia snapped. “I know you two broke in here. I know you stole government property. And I had dropped the matter, but I will not hesitate—”

“I’m sorry about your father,” Wunder interrupted her.

Eugenia’s bright pink mouth dropped open. Her eyes went wide. “What about him?” she said.

“I know that he—that he died,” Wunder said. “I also know that he escaped a fire once. Miraculously—well, according to him.”

Eugenia stared at him, uncertain, wary. “How do you know that?”

Wunder set his backpack on the ground. He unzipped it and pulled out The Miraculous. Then he flipped it open to one of the pages he had marked the night before. It was a newspaper clipping.

“I get the paper every week,” he said. “And I’ve also searched through the back issues—well, just the Community News section, actually. I was—I am—I was a miracologist.”

He set The Miraculous on Eugenia’s desk. She kept her eyes on him for a moment more, then pulled the book toward herself and began to read silently:

Miraculous Entry #272

The owner of Simone’s Stationery, Quincy Simone, experienced what he calls “a miracle” on Wednesday night. The lifetime Branch Hill resident says that when he went to bed in the over-store apartment, he set his alarm for 6:00 a.m., as he does every evening.

However, the store owner reports that his alarm went off around 3:20 a.m. Unaware of the time, Simone got ready for work and was heading to the store downstairs when he smelled smoke. He immediately called 911.

Firefighters responded quickly and were able to confine a small electrical fire to a back storeroom. Simone, his wife, and their three children were unharmed. The family home and the majority of the store were undamaged.

Wunder could tell when Eugenia was done reading only because her eyes stopped moving back and forth. She didn’t look up from The Miraculous.

“And I know that you also got a scholarship to college,” he said. His mouth was dry. He had no idea if this was what he was supposed to be doing. He only knew that he had told the witch he would deliver the letter. “There was an article about that too.” He turned to the other page he’d marked, leaving the book in front of her. “You said it was a miracle. Although I think it was probably just because you worked hard.”