No one answered him. He untied the ribbon and opened the note, and Maya watched the color drain from his face.

“What does it say?” she asked.

Arthur read the words once, then again, and his voice was barely human when he finally spoke. “It says, ‘Daddy, I waited for you.'”

Mrs. Gordon crossed herself in the doorway, and Maya’s heart hammered against her ribs. Arthur looked up, his eyes burning with shock, grief, and something far more dangerous—hope.

Then, from somewhere deep inside the room, a music box began to play by itself, a delicate, broken melody filling the air.

Maya recognized it instantly. The same lullaby she’d sung in the study.

Arthur turned toward the wardrobe. The door was open by one inch, and from the darkness inside came the soft, unmistakable sound of a child laughing.

THE END.