Pigeon settled back into the chair. “Where should I start? Kyle wasn’t at school with Denny and Eric yesterday because he was inside the surgeon doll, the same one you used at the museum. I learned the whole story from him after I was caught. He snuck into our classroom and crawled into your backpack while you were speaking with Mr. Dart. That was why we saw Denny outside the window. Then at the Paradise Inn, Kyle heard we were looking for Haags, so he wanted to get back to Mrs. White with that info. When he heard John was going to drop me at the school, he managed to sneak from your backpack into mine. His goal was to bail out and find Denny, but before he could, I brought him with me into Gary Haag’s office.

“When I talked to Gary, it became clear he was the guy with the key. Gary almost killed me for finding out his secret, but instead tied me up in his office. Kyle was still in my backpack, so he heard everything. Once Gary left, Kyle came out of the backpack and unplugged the phone. That was how I lost you when we were speaking. Then Kyle wriggled under the door and ran off.

“Turns out Kyle went straight to Denny, who called Mrs. White, who blew into Kyle’s eye to break the connection with the doll. Kyle was actually at the candy shop, under her supervision. When he arose from his trance, Kyle told Mrs. White what he had heard, including who Gary was and where Eric and Wyatt were being held.”

“Is Wyatt the Fuse?” Nate asked.

“Right,” Pigeon said. “And the jelly man is named Mauricio. Mrs. White telephoned Mauricio, who rescued Eric and Wyatt, then picked up Denny. Miss Perlman, Denny’s teacher, used to date Gary, so Denny got his address from her. They had just barely captured Gary and prepared their trap when you guys arrived.”

“So they totally set me up,” Nate groaned. “They knew they didn’t knock me out. They let me get away! They said Gary had escaped to his relatives who lived outside of town. They knew I’d drag Mr. Stott out to the middle of nowhere. The perfect place for an ambush.”

“Pretty much,” Pigeon agreed.

“Then what?” Nate asked.

“Some lunch ladies found me. I plugged in the phone and called as quickly as I could, but I was too late. I knew that the treasure was at the school, and that Mrs. White probably had the key, so I went home for reinforcements. I gave my dog, Diego, some Brain Feed. We’d been having some really good talks, so I knew I could count on him. We returned to Mt. Diablo and spied.

“Mauricio arrived just after I got there. He had Denny, Eric, and Kyle with him. I found out later that they had used the key to blackmail Gary into telling them where the treasure room was hidden. See, the fate of the key is connected to everybody in Gary’s family. For example, if they held the key underwater long enough, everyone in his family would drown, which Mrs. White knew, because Kyle overheard Gary telling me about it. Gary wasn’t sure what would happen if somebody outside his family opened the door. He ended up spilling his guts, since it was his only hope to maybe save his family.

“Mauricio went straight to the cafeteria. Under some filing cabinets in Gary’s office was a hatch that led down to a secret basement. After waiting for a while, I tried to follow them, but Wyatt, the Fuse, captured me and Diego with a couple of giant black widow spiders. Not long after, one of the spiders bit Diego and killed him.” Here Pigeon had to pause, lower lip quivering.

“I’m sorry, Pigeon. I’ll try to save Diego, too.”

Pigeon nodded. He gave a small grin. Nate could tell that the grin was the best response he could muster without crying. He waited for Pigeon to compose himself, and then asked, “Where exactly did you get caught?”

Pigeon drew a shaky breath. “The Fuse was hiding in the cafeteria, back where they prepare the food.”

“How did Wyatt get there?”

“I’m not sure,” Pigeon said. “I didn’t see him arrive with the others. He probably came separately. Might have been before, might have been after.”

“Okay, I’ll do all I can to prevent it from happening.”

Pigeon nodded. “Anyway, Wyatt marched me down the hatch after them. He had used his powers earlier to knock down a wall. Beyond the wall was a tunnel that led to a door. Kyle had unlocked the door. Turning the key had transformed him into an old man. Through the door was a room. The water from the Fountain of Youth was inside a jeweled goblet resting on a pedestal. Mauricio entered the room to retrieve it and dropped dead. He changed into an old skeleton. They had suspected that a curse would fall on whoever turned the key, but had no idea that an aging curse transformed anyone who entered the room. Denny convinced Eric to go in, but he became an old man who couldn’t walk, and collapsed on the floor.

“That was when I showed up with Wyatt. They made me go in after the goblet. That’s how I got so old. I aged as soon as I entered the room, but at least I could still walk. When they sent me into the room, Diego went berserk. His Brain Feed had run out, but he was still trying to protect me. That was when one of the giant spiders bit him.” Pigeon paused, took a shuddering breath, and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

“I’m so sorry,” Nate said. “Remember, we’ll try to prevent any of this from happening.”

Pigeon nodded. “Wyatt worked his magic on the stem of a rose and it coiled around my neck. I could feel the thorns pricking me. He told me that if I tried to drink the water he would kill me instantly. I knew he could keep his word before I drank it, so I just dumped it out. The problem was, every time you dumped it out, the goblet was full again. The only way to drain it was to drink it. Afterwards it made sense—I mean, if there wasn’t some sort of magic to prevent the water from spilling or evaporating, it would have been gone a long time ago.”

“So they ended up with the water,” Nate said.

“Yep,” Pigeon said. “And I almost got strangled for dumping out the goblet, until they saw that it was spill-proof. I helped Eric out of the room, and Wyatt carried him to the car. We all drove back to the candy shop, where they were holding John, Summer, and Gary. We all got to watch Mrs. White turn into a ten-year-old. She was actually pretty cute.”

“Then what?” Nate asked.

“Mrs. White asked John to swear loyalty to her and eat the fudge,” Pigeon said. “He wouldn’t, so she had Wyatt kill him. I didn’t watch. Then she gave Summer the same offer. Summer accepted. I don’t blame her. It was unbelievably scary. After eating the fudge, Summer was like a robot. She did whatever Mrs. White told her.”