From the Desk of Zoe Washington

Grandma tells Zoe once Zoe is off the phone that she must not seek Susan Thomas; it is too dangerous. She also wants Zoe to tell her parents about Marcus’s letters now. Zoe thinks quickly; then she promises she will not look for Susan Thomas but wants to continue corresponding with Marcus secretly, as her mother will never let her do so. Grandma relents and leaves to make tea. Zoe has no intention of stopping now, but she does not know how she will find Susan Thomas; she decides to seek Trevor’s help.

Trevor and Zoe search online, narrowing their search results with the Susan’s name and “Brookline MA teacher” (182). They get a result for an elementary school in Brookline with a Susan Thomas as second-grade teacher. Trevor points out that she may have moved but just to another residence in the same town. Zoe decides to write to the school email address listed, asking if she could be the same Susan Thomas who met her father 13 years before. She mentions the tag sale and uses her phone to get a picture of Marcus’s photo, which she attaches to the email. She sends it.

Zoe checks her phone for an email from Susan Thomas obsessively. On Thursday afternoon she distracts herself by baking several versions of Froot Loop cupcakes. One set of ingredients produces “a clear winner. The ones with less sugar and more-saturated cereal milk. It had the essence of the Froot Loops, without being too sweet” (187). Zoe is happy with this development.

Zoe gets an email from Anthony Miller saying she can call his office. Mr. Miller is suspicious of Zoe’s age and tells her to have one of her parents call, but she proceeds, asking him about the alibi witness and requesting any other information about the case. Mr. Miller is curt and unhelpful, saying simply that Marcus already appealed and lost. He “soften[s] a little” (189) learning that Zoe is Marcus’s daughter but remains unhelpful and rushes to get off the phone. The unsuccessful call makes Zoe cry, but she maintains a small hope for finding the alibi witness, as inspired by the book on wrongful convictions and the success stories of the Innocence Project.

The second-grade teacher Susan Thomas emails Zoe to say she moved to Brookline only eight years before; she is not the right person. When Zoe tells Trevor, he wonders if the Susan Thomas they need is a professor. A new search offers Susan Thomas, Professor at Harvard; they can tell from the woman’s online resume that she grew up in Brookline. Her classes start in a few weeks at the university, and Zoe immediately suggests going to see her. Trevor tells her to email first, which she does. 

After Zoe’s email and a subsequent voice message go ignored by the professor, Zoe and Trevor concoct an elaborate plan to sneak the whole way to the campus of Harvard University and find the woman in person. Trevor uses his map app to calculate the time they need to get to the campus and back. They will ask their parents if they can see a movie in Davis Square on Thursday and get ice cream after, but in actuality, they will take the subway to Harvard Square in time for the completion of Professor Thomas’s class at 1:30 PM. Zoe will show her Marcus’s picture. Then she and Trevor will return to Davis Square in time for Trevor’s mother to pick them up. They agree to ask their parents that evening, then text. Zoe sinks two basketball shots while they talk, then they play horse. She is glad to have Trevor’s friendship again. 

Mom gives strict instructions for staying in the confines of only the theater and ice cream shop. Zoe sees by text that Trevor gets permission for the outing, too. The day before their “Great Harvard Adventure” (203), Zoe gets a letter from Marcus. In this one, he hopes she avoids any trouble regarding the alibi witness and wants her to “[j]ust enjoy being a kid” (204). Zoe packs sandwiches, waters, and apples for Trevor and her along with her journal, Marcus’s photo, and all the letters. Trevor’s mom drives them to the movie theater the next day, commenting how exciting middle school will be for them next year, offering a little more freedom. Trevor agrees to text his mom when the movie is over. They lie about meeting friends, saving seats, and having ticket money. They will spend their cash on T tickets (for the subway) instead. 

From the start, Zoe and Trevor have trouble; first the ticket kiosk will not accept their crumpled money, so they go to the ticket booth; the seller is chatting with a friend, and it takes a long time to get his attention—so long that they miss the first passing train. Once they have their tickets, they are in such a hurry to catch the next train that they do not pay attention and end up getting on one going the wrong direction. When they finally arrive at Harvard Square, they rush onto campus and try to find the correct building.

Zoe and Trevor end up in front of Sever Hall, where Susan’s class is held, with time to spare. They sit down for water and sandwiches, but Zoe cannot really eat due to her nerves. She confesses how nervous she is to Trevor, and how she wants Marcus to be innocent: “He doesn’t have to be my dad […] but I still want him to be my friend” (220). With five minutes to go before the end of the class, they find the right classroom and wait. Zoe peeks through the window and worries that the woman teaching does not look like the Susan Thomas in the university website. When the class ends, Trevor boldly steps into the classroom.

The woman teaching is far too young to be Professor Thomas. She is a Teaching Assistant who tells Zoe and Trevor that Professor Thomas had to leave class early to take a phone call. They race across campus to the math and science building, knowing they have only 20 minutes before they must catch the subway back to Davis Square. They find Professor Thomas, and Zoe explains the whole story—including that she does not know if Marcus is telling the truth. The woman studies the photo of Marcus but apologizes, unable to remember if she has met him or not. Trevor asks if Zoe can leave her email in case Professor Thomas recalls a detail, and she agrees. 

Zoe is disappointed that Professor Thomas cannot recall Marcus. She says she has acted foolishly and intends to give up, assuming this disappointment means that Marcus never went to a tag sale and has been lying about his innocence. Trevor says they should run for the T because they have only 15 minutes to make it back to Davis Square before his mother picks them up. They begin to run, then spy a taxi and take that instead. The taxi takes too long, and they are 10 minutes late. At first, they think Trevor’s mom is late as well, but when she pulls up in front of the ice cream shop, she is furious. She tells them as she drives home that she knows they were not at a movie or having ice cream; Lincoln and Sean (with whom Trevor was supposed to be seeing the movie) showed up at home to get him. Worse, Trevor’s mother saw them get out of the taxi. Zoe starts to panic over the amount of trouble she will be in when her email notification dings. It is Professor Thomas emailing to say she found one of Marcus’s letters that Zoe must have dropped on her office floor. She noticed the greeting “Little Tomato”—and thinks she might recall Marcus after all.