The Stolen Key

The novel follows twelve-year-old Colin Creedmont and his best friend, Nevaeh Greevey, as they uncover secrets about Colin's deceased father, a convicted criminal whose past threatens both their families. Colin and Nevaeh became friends while working in their parents' businesses and launched a mystery-solving venture after discovering secret letters and ghostly photos in shoeboxes. Colin's mother, Felicia Creedmont, runs a decluttering business called Possession Curation, while Nevaeh's father, Lloyd Greevey, is the self-proclaimed Junk King of Groveview, Ohio.

Colin has been unable to sleep since his father's recent death. He has never known his father because Felicia has always refused to discuss him. At dawn, Colin finds a wrapped box on his porch with no return address or postage. He opens it to find a key on an orange key chain and a green Post-it Note reading, "Your father wanted you to have this." He calls Nevaeh, who recognizes the key chain as belonging to Steve's Self-Storage and spots the unit number, 32, engraved on the key. Nevaeh arranges for her mother, Pam, an X-ray technician finishing a night shift, to drive them to the facility.

The storage unit's interior is arranged like a decorated nursery: a crib, rocking chair, bookshelf, stuffed animals, and high-end furnishings. Colin finds a photo album in the crib containing pictures of himself as a baby with both parents. A second key slides from the album, attached to a label reading "Schenley Bridge," a bridge in Pittsburgh where couples leave love locks. Before they can investigate further, Pam calls: She has wrecked her car while exhausted. She survives with broken bones, but Nevaeh is consumed by guilt for asking her tired mother to make the detour. She does not confess this to anyone.

Colin searches online for "Franklin Creedmont" and finds nothing. Felicia avoids all questions but reveals plans to travel to Pittsburgh for "paperwork." Nevaeh comes along, bringing her older siblings, twins Prilla and Roddy, under the pretext of visiting Carnegie Mellon University. On the drive, Felicia tells Prilla she never attended college because her husband was supposed to go to medical school first, and the divorce ended that plan. Colin listens from the back seat, frustrated that his mother shares personal history with Prilla but not with him.

In Pittsburgh, Colin and Nevaeh sneak to the Schenley Bridge while Prilla and Roddy tour the campus. Among hundreds of locks, Colin spots a rusty heart-shaped lock with "FOR COLIN" scratched into it. The key opens it, revealing a note celebrating Felicia and Franklin's wedding. A second, newer lock attached to the first is engraved "For my beloved son, Colin," but the key does not fit it. They take the newer lock.

That evening, at the home of Felicia's old friend Leila Atenabe, Colin discovers his mother's suitcase under a bed. In a hidden compartment, he finds official documents including a name-change packet. His birth name was Colin Creekman; his mother invented the surname Creedmont after the divorce. Searching for "Franklin Creekman" online, Colin learns his father was a doctor who illegally sold opioid prescriptions in Eberly, Kentucky, working with his accomplice Otis Flood, the local pharmacist. Franklin was sentenced to five years in federal prison, and his crimes inspired a bestselling book and a popular podcast. Colin is devastated.

When Nevaeh accidentally mentions the bridge locks at dinner, Felicia slips out that night. Prilla, Roddy, and Nevaeh follow her and watch her use bolt cutters to remove the wedding lock. Nevaeh stops her from discarding it, pointing out the inscription "For Colin." Felicia rushes home and confronts Colin. For the first time, she admits she and his father were genuinely happy before his crimes, and that Franklin truly loved baby Colin. When Colin reveals the anonymous box and Post-it Note, Felicia panics, fearing they are being tracked, and insists they leave Pittsburgh immediately.

Felicia drives through the night and checks into a motel outside Groveview, telling Colin their house may not be safe. She disposes of their phones and takes the broken heart lock but misses the second lock Colin hid in his bag. Colin buys bolt cutters and cuts open the second lock. Inside is a letter from his father, written when Colin was eight. Franklin acknowledges his guilt, says he changed during prison and told Felicia to change their names for safety, and includes a phone number. Colin borrows a phone from Mr. Torres, the father of twins Colin sometimes babysits, and calls. Franklin's second wife answers. Colin blurts out that he is Franklin's son and hangs up. Mr. Torres, who grew up without a father, offers to be Colin's "honorary uncle."

Meanwhile, Nevaeh confesses to Pam about the storage unit trip. Pam reassures Nevaeh that the accident was Pam's own fault for driving while exhausted. Roddy reveals he was present as a young child when a man claiming to be Colin's father set up the storage unit, and that Lloyd kept the key for a decade. Roddy confesses he anonymously left the key on Colin's porch. Nevaeh recognizes from news photos that the man Roddy met was Otis Flood, not Franklin Creekman. Flood had impersonated Colin's father. Pam calls a friend who is a sheriff's deputy, and they discover thick wads of cash inside the stuffed animals at the storage unit. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) takes over. Rental records show the unit was rented under a misspelled version of Franklin's name with Felicia as backup contact, suggesting she was being framed.

Colin reaches Nevaeh by calling Lloyd's Junk King business line from a burner phone. In the car, Felicia finally shares the full story: After Franklin's arrest, drug dealers sent death threats seeking the missing money. Felicia fled with baby Colin, changed their names, and ran out of gas near the Greeveys' house, where Lloyd and Pam took them in. Otis's daughter Marcia Flood had given Felicia money to escape. Felicia reveals that attorneys notified her Franklin's will left something to Colin, and the DEA asked her to record conversations with Marcia, who is also Franklin's second wife, to help locate the drug money.

At Marcia's house in Eberly, Colin calls Nevaeh from outside, then enters, secretly pressing record on his burner phone. Marcia embraces him and emerges from another room carrying a baby in a blue blanket: Colin's half brother, Caleb. Franklin's dying wish was for the brothers to know each other. Felicia calls the request unfair and reveals she has been recording for the DEA. Colin shares what Nevaeh told him: The missing money was found in the storage unit, hidden by Otis Flood, not Franklin. This clears both families of suspicion.

Felicia wants to keep running. Colin refuses, telling her their friends in Groveview will not turn against them and that he has always wanted a brother. He chooses connection over isolation. The DEA confirms Otis Flood hid the money to frame Franklin, and a handwriting expert confirms Flood forged a letter that severed communication between Felicia and Marcia for 12 years. The newspaper covers the case without naming either family. Nevaeh, freed from guilt after her honest conversation with Pam, tells her father she will follow her own path.

Colin and Nevaeh reunite at the Groveview Public Library. Colin reflects that he set out to learn about his father and ended up understanding his mother: her fear, her sacrifices, and the reasons behind her secrecy. Nevaeh reflects on forgiveness, quoting her church minister: "The past has no final hold on you." They take a selfie, and Colin asks whether the photo is "trash or treasure." Nevaeh answers that it is treasure, something to keep forever.