The study was silent again, save for the wind rattling the loose windowpane.

I slipped the key into my coat pocket, climbed through the window, and dropped onto the stone terrace.

The cold night air hit my face, carrying the salty scent of the harbor.

I ran down the stone steps, keeping to the shadows of the overgrown boxwood hedges, until I reached my car parked three blocks away.

My hands shook as I started the ignition and drove toward the downtown office.

Daniel was waiting for me in the small basement archives of the library, where he had set up a temporary workspace away from the firm.

The room was warm, smelling of old paper and stale coffee.

Daniel looked up from a stack of ledger sheets, his eyes tired behind his wire-rimmed glasses.

“Did you find anything?” he asked, rising from his chair.

I placed the brass key on the table between us.

“Just this,” I said. “And the word ‘Star’ written on the tag.”

Daniel picked up the key, turning it over under the desk lamp.