Echoes of the Vanished Boy

Previously

…The digital trail, once a frustrating dead end, was beginning to illuminate a path, however faint. It led to a quiet town, a retired craftsman, and a locket with a past. But the biggest question remained: why Chris? What did a retired watchmaker want with a ten-year-old boy? The answer, Miller suspected, was buried deeper than any digital footprint could reveal, a secret held not in code, but in the heart of a man driven by a motive they were yet to uncover. The search for Chris was far from over, but now, at least, they had a direction, a name to chase. And in the chilling silence of the investigation, that was a victory, however small.