After years of learning at home, my 10-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, was finally given the chance to go to a regular school. He was happier than I’d seen him in years. But just five days after he started, I got a phone call from the principal that left me shaken.

I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

Principal Whitfield folded his hands.

“This week, two cell phones went missing from fifth-grade lockers. One on Tuesday, one on Thursday. Last night, I emailed all families that we’d be doing backpack checks on Monday.” He paused. “This morning, sometime between ten-thirty and ten-forty-five, an envelope with six hundred and forty dollars of field trip money disappeared from Ms. Tran’s desk while her class was in the library.”

“And at ten fifty-two,” Officer Lim said, “the front office got an anonymous phone call. A voice told them to check the backpack of the new boy in Ms. Tran’s class.”

I looked down at the blue backpack on Milo’s lap.

“Both missing phones were in the bottom pocket,” Officer Lim said. “Wrapped in that sock. The envelope was tucked behind his lunch box.”

“No,” Jonah said. “No. Milo doesn’t steal. He doesn’t even take extra cookies without asking.”