Found

Three days later, Jonah, Katherine, and their parents meet with Reardon. While they’re waiting, a janitor gives Jonah an extra bottle of Mountain Dew that came out of the vending machine. Jonah feels like the conversation with the janitor is “weird and fake” (75). Jonah drinks the entire bottle before the meeting with Reardon. Reardon is cryptic about his association with Jonah’s life. Jonah’s parents press for more information, and Reardon responds with bullying and hints that Jonah may not belong in the United States. Jonah’s dad threatens to sue. Reardon responds with a backhanded threat to revisit Jonah’s case where he might “discover some unfortunate discrepancies” (86). Jonah feels sick. He runs for the bathroom and makes it just in time to vomit. An unfamiliar voice apologizes for Jonah being sick.

The voice belongs to another janitor, who orchestrated Jonah receiving the Mountain Dew. The drink was a ploy to get Jonah away from Reardon. The janitor tells Jonah to look at the file on Reardon’s desk and memorize as much as he can. When Jonah argues there was no file on the desk, the janitor says, “There will be when you get back” (90). The janitor leaves, and a moment later Jonah’s mother knocks on the bathroom door to ask if he is all right.

True to the janitor’s word, there is a file on Reardon’s desk when Jonah returns to the office. Reardon keeps glancing at the file, so Jonah causes a distraction, whispering to Katherine to read the file while Reardon is not looking. The distraction does not last nearly long enough, and Jonah is sure Katherine did not have time to look. He asks her in the parking lot, and Katherine says she did better than look: “I got pictures!” (98).