After the volleyball game, Chase realizes that he must avoid returning home to face Daphne. From a frozen-yogurt shop, he calls her and spins an elaborate lie about Theo’s dog being violently ill and creating a mess they have to clean, buying time and excusing their absence.

Meanwhile, Ike wakes Theo as they get to Chapel Hill at 10 minutes past 10 o’clock. The streets near campus overflow with celebrating students following a football victory. They locate Frat Court and the Kappa Theta house, where multiple bands are playing and crowds pack every space. After parking on a distant street, they leave Judge in the vehicle and walk toward the chaos. Theo observes the wild scene and thinks about how out of place the shy, quiet April must feel.

At the fraternity entrance, a bouncer demands a pass. Ike bluffs that he manages the band and that Theo is his son, and the intimidated guard allows them inside. They navigate through packed rooms to a stairway leading to the basement, where Plunder performs at deafening volume. Ike positions himself in a corner while Theo weaves through the dancing crowd along the wall. He spots April sitting behind the drummer, approaches, and touches her knee. When she recognizes him, he tells her that they’re leaving and that he’s come to take her home.

Back in Strattenburg, Chase watches his parents leave a restaurant and worries that his mother will soon call with questions.

Theo and April slip away from the basement party while Tom, the band’s drummer, remains absorbed in performing. They exit to a back patio, but Theo returns for Ike. Once reunited, Ike explains to a bewildered April that no one knows where she is, that her mother is frantic, and that her father has been lying to her. He insists that Tom will likely face criminal charges and that they must leave immediately.

A roadie named Zack emerges and confronts them. Ike quickly invents an alibi, claiming that he’s Jack Ford and that Theo is his son Max, old family friends from Strattenburg who are now living in Chapel Hill. Zack accepts the story. Ike asks him to tell Tom that Jack wants to talk later, and then the three hurry away from the fraternity.

At a gas station, Ike calls Chase and instructs him to tell his parents the truth. He then calls Marcella, reveals they have April in Chapel Hill, and explains how Theo found her. The Boones decide to drive home from their conference immediately. Ike also calls Mr. Whipple to apologize and explain the situation. While Ike refuels, Theo walks Judge.

Back on the highway, April attempts to call her mother but reaches no one at home or on her mother’s cell phone.

On the drive back, at around midnight, Theo asks April about Leeper. She explains that he’s a distant cousin with whom she corresponded as a pen pal. Theo and Ike recount the entire Leeper situation, including his capture and the town believing that he had abducted and murdered her. April is shocked.

She reveals that her father deceived her, claiming that he had spoken with her mother and the school principal, who supposedly approved her weeklong absence. Ike speculates that Zack will tell Tom about the Fords, making him think April is safe with old friends.

At around two o’clock in the morning, Woods calls for an update. Ike explains how Theo and Chase used Facebook and phone calls to track down the band. After the call, Ike nearly falls asleep at the wheel, pulls over, and jogs around the vehicle to revive himself.

Back on the road, Ike insists that April recount her abduction. She describes her father appearing after midnight when her mother was absent, her terror at being alone, and leaving with him. She explains the lies he told about contacting her mother and school and details the band’s tour through Charlottesville and other cities. She emphasizes that Tom kept her away from the other band members and their drugs and drinking.

April says that she doesn’t want to go home. Ike tells her that they’ll go to his family’s house, explaining that Marcella is trying to find April’s mother, who will likely be waiting there.

At around six o’clock on Sunday morning, Ike, Theo, and April arrive at the Boone home. May’s distinctive yellow hearse and Detective Slater’s car are in the driveway. May rushes out and has an emotional reunion with April in the yard. Inside, the Boones and Slater are waiting.

Slater explains that May has been staying with a neighbor out of fear. He questions April privately with her mother present. April confirms that she left willingly because she was frightened, was not held against her will, and was not harmed. Before departing, Slater concludes that no crime occurred and that the matter belongs in Family Court.

Over breakfast, Ike boasts that Theo solved the case while the police chased false leads. At the jail, Slater and Detective Capshaw confront Leeper, who falsely claimed to know April’s location. When they reveal that April is home safe, they inform him that local charges have been dropped but he will be extradited to California to a maximum-security prison.

At nine o’clock, the police issue a press statement announcing April’s safe return. News spreads throughout Strattenburg, with announcements made at churches. April sleeps in the Boones’ guest room to avoid reporters besieging her home.

On Monday morning, television vans and reporters surround the middle school. Principal Gladwell has the police move them off school property. Chase tells classmates about his role in the rescue, which Theo also acknowledged in an online post. At assembly, Theo and April make a surprise appearance and are mobbed by classmates. April appears uncomfortable with the attention, while Theo relishes it.

In Family Court, Marcella files a petition to serve as April’s temporary legal guardian. The case comes before Judge Jolly, nicknamed “St. Nick” for his Santa Claus-like appearance. Marcella informs him that Tom is expected home that day and that the police are not pursuing criminal charges. She volunteers to serve as guardian without fee. Jolly appoints her and asks for her plan. Marcella requests an immediate hearing on April’s living situation. The judge schedules it for nine o’clock the next morning.

That afternoon, Tom arrives home to learn that Plunder has disbanded. He receives a cold reception from May and April. A deputy serves him with a summons to appear in court the following day.

Theo persuades his reluctant parents to let him skip school and attend the court hearing, though his mother warns him that Family Court hearings involving minors are closed to spectators. The three Finnemores arrive together at the courthouse but are separated inside, with Tom and May seated at opposite tables while April sits with Marcella.

Theo briefly reflects on courtroom procedures, noting his preference for the formal, dramatic style of judges like Judge Henry Gantry from Criminal Court over the informal approach that Judge Jolly uses. When the hearing begins, Jolly immediately notices Theo and asks why he’s present. After a brief exchange, the judge orders Theo to leave and go to school.

Theo executes a backup plan. He purchases a root beer and deliberately spills it in the hallway. He then rushes to wake Speedy Cobb, the elderly courthouse janitor, to report the mess. While Speedy cleans, Theo sneaks into the utility closet. He climbs storage shelves into a hidden crawl space containing an air vent positioned directly above the judge’s bench. From this secret vantage point, Theo can hear everything said in the courtroom below.

From the crawl space, Theo listens as Judge Jolly opens the hearing on April’s temporary placement. A Social Services report recommends foster care, but the judge hears from all parties. Tom apologizes remorsefully and promises to remain home, while May submits a letter from her therapist revealing that she has enrolled in outpatient rehabilitation and also begs the court to let April stay home.

Jolly asks April what she wants. She delivers an emotional speech requesting that her parents stop abandoning her and provide stability until she’s old enough to live on her own.

As April’s guardian, Marcella recommends that April remain at home under specific conditions: Both parents must attend marriage counseling, they must notify Marcella if either is away overnight, and she will monitor their compliance through the therapist and counselor. Both parents agree. Jolly makes the plan a court order. Marcella adds that she has arranged a cell phone for April to call for help if needed. The judge smiles and remarks that Theo can always find her.

After Speedy returns and falls asleep, Theo climbs down and sneaks out. In the hallway, Judge Gantry stops him, congratulates him on finding April, and mentions that Pete Duffy’s second murder trial is scheduled to begin in six weeks, a case in which Theo’s involvement previously led to a mistrial. He orders Theo to go to school. Theo leaves on his bike, planning to meet April for lunch to learn more about her abduction.