Wriothesley never imagined his life would end up this way. Not that he regretted it. Sigewine, his ever-moving eight-year-old daughter, was the only real bright spot in his life. Her mother had walked out of their lives years ago—the night shifts, the constant on-call, the dark side of crime that came with Wrio’s job were too much for her. But Wriothesley stayed. And he fought.

Now, catching criminals wasn’t his biggest challenge, but braids, math lessons, and school snacks.

On a typical fall morning, as Sigewine was trying to hide her fourth sock, saying “it’s not pink enough,” Wriothesley received an email from the school: a new teacher had arrived to take over the children’s class.