Tom, Noodle, and Colby had decided the best way to celebrate the first night of spring break was with a sleepover, though it was almost midnight, and the three of them weren’t doing much sleeping.

Once his parents had gone to bed, Tom had tiptoed into his dad’s study and swiped the Firestone negative, which he’d been examining intently with the magnifying lens for almost an hour.

Up close, he could see that Firestone’s hand was resting on a leather-bound book, and his index finger was pointing toward something Tom could not see. Embossed on the book’s spine was a title, The Alchemy Treatise, which Tom could barely make out, and the wood beams running along the ceiling behind Firestone were intricately carved and painted with fleurs-de-lis and various family shields. The window over his left shoulder looked out onto an old-fashioned city landscape, where the distinct curved edge of a tall brick building was just visible.

“I got something here.” Noodle’s face popped up from behind his laptop, where he’d been doing some online research on The Alchemy Treatise. “It says this book was some kind of recipe manual from the Middle Ages.”

“For what?” said Colby. “Making fish soup and weird serf food?”

“No, it’s for, like, people who wanna turn base metals into gold.” Tom and Colby went silent. “Apparently, this alchemy stuff was all the rage back then.”

“So maybe Firestone and my double-great were into, like, medieval witchcraft,” said Tom.

“Maybe they were the original Dungeons and Dragons geeks.”

“I haven’t even told you the good part yet,” interrupted Noodle. “Six copies of The Alchemy Treatise are left in existence. And one of them”—he let his words linger, drawing out the suspense like he was telling a ghost story at a campfire—“is at the Met.”

Only an hour away by train.

Of all the places in the world, Tom thought. This book’s just a few miles from my house. Destiny was calling to him louder than ever.

“I think this is a clue,” he announced to them after a moment.

“For what?” said Colby.

“I have no idea. But think about it. There’s that weird riddle about the sun and moon. And only one photo was taken? In the entire roll? Don’t you find that sorta strange?”

“Seems like a stretch,” said Noodle. “Plus your dad said the riddle meant nothing.”

“Yeah, that’s another piece. Didn’t you guys think my dad was acting weird about this whole thing?”

Colby and Noodle shook their heads no, but Tom was on his feet now, pacing.

“You said it yourself, Noodle. The Alchemy Treatise is a recipe book for making gold. Maybe there’s some kinda gold treasure hidden somewhere. And this book’s the next clue.”

“Not sure I’m buying all that, but I guess the book’s worth checking out,” said Noodle after a moment. “You got me sorta curious about it now.”

“Are you two out of your freaking minds?” Colby was looking back and forth between Tom and Noodle. “There’s no treasure. It’s just a photo and a dumb riddle. That’s it.”

“Colb, we’re a crew. This is what we do,” said Noodle. “Tom’s the crazy daredevil. You’re the levelheaded brainiac. And I’m … the smooth operator.”

“No, you’re the idiot.” Colby was shaking her head. “This is how you guys always get me in trouble. With your stupid schemes.”

“It’s spring break. What else are we gonna do?” said Noodle.

Colby raised her hands. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I know I’m never going to convince you this is a dumb plan, so I might as well just save myself the headache and go along with it.”

“So you’ll come with us?” asked Tom.

Colby rolled her eyes. “Yes, but that’s it!”

It was settled. The three would head to the museum tomorrow on a preliminary recon mission. Without Tom’s dad.

As Tom crept back into his father’s study, he realized that slight nagging feeling had grown into a riptide pull. Every slight against his family name, every lost job, every failed invention, it all bubbled over onto that Firestone photo. Tom was meant to find this clue. He was sure of it. And he was going to do whatever it took to unlock its secrets and prove to the world that the Edison name was not a punch line but a badge of honor.

And so, the trio was once again off on a new adventure. Tom prayed it would not be their last.