Jaime watched her look left and right, watched her shoulders sink just the slightest bit when she didn’t see the cat, when she sat back down on the couch. “Maybe we’re not supposed to solve it,” Jaime said. “Maybe we’re supposed to take it apart.”

“That’s interesting,” Theo said, actually sounding intrigued by something other than Tess or Nine for the first time that day. “Maybe we can build something else out of it.”

“Good idea,” Tess said, smiling. Jaime wished she would stop that. It was starting to freak him out.

Theo fetched a small tool kit, and they went to work on the puzzle with a screwdriver. Then with a hammer and chisel. But if they were supposed to take it apart and build something else with it, it was going to be a challenge. Not one of the tiny cubes budged even a millimeter.

“This isn’t working,” said Theo, shoving a hand in his hair. Then, “Ouch!” because he’d forgotten he was still holding the chisel.

“Don’t chip your head,” said Jaime, but it came out wrong. Not chill or cheerful, not funny at all.

“Hello,” said Tess.

“Sorry?” said Jaime.

“I’m talking to the spiders,” she replied. She pointed at the plants hanging by the window. “They’re looking at us. See?”

Jaime was afraid to turn his head for fear that Tess was hallucinating, but she wasn’t hallucinating. A little crowd of spiders had gathered at the lip of one of the potted plants. And they did seem to watching with their strange, kookoo-bunny eyes.

They had too many eyes, Jaime thought. It wasn’t right.

“Do they . . . do they do this a lot?” Jaime said. “Watch you like that?”

“Well,” said Theo. “Ours mostly laugh.”

“Giggle,” Tess said. “It’s more like a giggle.”

“Okay?” said Jaime. Another couple of spiders joined the bunch at the lip of the pot. Then, a tiny voice said, “Hello.”

“And say ‘hello,’” Theo added.

“Uh-huh,” said Jaime. And flipped right off the couch when one of the spiders suddenly leaped from the potted plant and landed on the table in front of him.

“Don’t be afraid,” Tess murmured.

“. . . of the spiders,” Theo finished.

“Don’t be afraid of the spiders,” Jaime repeated after them, heart thudding anyway.

“The Vigenère cipher,” Tess breathed. “That was the solution to it. Don’t be afraid.”

The little spider giggled. “Hello, hello, hello.” It scuttled toward the center of the table, toward the puzzle, climbed on top of it.