The Case of the Missing Martian MacGuffin

Previously

…As they walked out of Cosmic Confections, leaving behind a trail of bewildered patrons and a slightly singed ceiling, Mia felt a sense of profound satisfaction. The case was closed. The artifact was safe. And even though her secret past with temporal anomaly generators remained her own, she knew she could always count on Marcus to find the extraordinary, even in the most ordinary of treats. And perhaps, just perhaps, his passion for vintage alien lunchboxes held a kernel of truth she’d never fully dismiss. After all, in their line of work, the universe always had a way of surprising you.