[Khun-Anup] My name is Khun-Anup, and this is my story.
I was walking to the market when I faced a blockade in the road.
I tried to go around it, but it was no use.
I was arrested for walking on private land.
I tried to tell them my side of the story.
I said, "I would never knowingly harm anything or anyone..."
Mm-hmm. -...but they did not want to listen.
Only wonder at how eloquent I am for a peasant.
Hence the name.
And they took me away.
Next thing I remember is meeting you in your great hall.
Don't worry, Khun-Anup. I've read your--
stories like yours before.
And something tells me
that you will get a chance to tell your side of the story again.
And again.
Until they finally set you free.
I hope you're right.
But I must confess, my heart is weary at the thought of the injustice.
Who are you talking to?
Oh, a farmer from ancient Egypt.
[Nia] Mm-hmm. -Whoa.
Does he know Mami Wata?
Uh, I don't think so.
Who, or... [stammers] ...what is Mami Wata?
We'll explain later.
What about this? Where do we put it?
Safest place I know, under my bed.
What is this magic?
This is so cool.
Wait, Idris, how did you beat the reflector shields?
Pressed a bunch of buttons at once. -Please don't do that.
Nia, can we talk to you for a minute?
Mm-hmm.
What do we do? [sighs]
We spent so much time looking for the EP,
we never thought about the person inside of it.
[Nia] It's a good thing Oliver released him,
otherwise Donovan would've caught my mom with the scroll.
I can't believe Donovan is in on it.
Hey, think about it. Now we have the upper hand.
We just need Oliver to send Khun-Anup back in the scroll,
then we can go to the university board and tell them what happened.
That our ghost friend outsmarted the investigator
by releasing a peasant from a scroll? -[sighs]
[Samir] She's right.
Even if we tell them the part that makes sense,
it will look like we're still framing your mom.
You're right. [sighs]
The only way to end this, once and for all,
is to find a way to beat Avery Boyd at his own game.
How do we do that? -Oh, no clue.
But it sounds great, right?
[Donovan] Thank you for your cooperation. -[Layla] Of course.
[Donovan] We'll be in touch.
Didn't find what you were looking for? -Not yet, but I will.
Good luck with your art project.
So that's when we stopped the investigator.
Donovan, who was here at your palace?
Right. We stopped Donovan from catching my mom with the ancient scroll
which they planted at our house.
Now, we're going to meet Griffin, who forged the document.
He's had a change of heart and is on our side now.
What complications you have faced.
They did the same to you.
Trying to take you down for a crime you didn't commit.
In the great stories, those who were truthful would win the day.
But I do not know if, in your world, these stories ring true.
For my mom, things definitely haven't been that simple.
These people are really powerful.
So much papyrus.
It is unbelievable.
No Idris today?
He has Arabic class.
Hmm. -Hey guys.
I can't believe you found the scroll. Can I see it?
It's safely hidden.
Yeah, but how did you outsmart Donovan?
A magician never tells. -[scoffs]
We have the scroll, but that still doesn't catch Avery or save my mom.
[objects clatter]
Weird. -Yeah.
"Adrian"?
Uh, who's Adrian?
Wait, how do you know about Adrian?
Um, lucky guess? -[Griffin] It's actually genius.
It is? -[Griffin] Yeah.
And I know where she is right now.
Adrian is a boat?
[Griffin] A yacht.
So, it's a fancy boat.
When I made the forgery, I was told to bring it to Avery's yacht, Adrian.
The same yacht where we're going for the final Founder's Week celebration.
Oh, it won't be easy to get on board.
There's gonna be a bunch of high-profile people,
a private guest list.
Avery's even gonna be livestreaming his speech.
[Nia] That's why it's brilliant.
He'll never expect a bunch of kids
beating him at his own game, on his own yacht.
We'll put the scroll back on his boat where he'll get caught with it.
The greatest sleight of hand of my career.
And you've been on the yacht?
A couple times.
Tell us everything you know.
I have a better idea.
I'll draw it. Come on.
The first time I stepped on the yacht, Avery gave me a tour.
He wanted to show me what I had access to now that I was under his wing.
[Boyd] Watch your step.
You ever been on an aft deck? -[Griffin] No.
You're gonna love it. This is the aft deck.
This is a great place to have lunch when you're out at sea, on the open water.
[sighs] Yep.
You know, I have no doubt that you'll have a boat one day.
Right after I introduce you to my art dealer in New York.
Inside is another lounge and the bridge where the captain steers the ship.
Below deck, we've got the engine room main controls, backup generators, whatnot.
Come on. I'll show you. It's cool. -It's all very impressive.
Yes.
Now, the forward deck is my favorite spot on the boat
because you know you're going forward, heading someplace.
[Nia] So this is the engine room, and up here is his office.
And that is where he took the forged Eloquent Peasant from me,
and he put it inside this safe.
[Charli] Any chance you saw the combo? -[Griffin] No.
[Nia] We can get on the boat here.
But won't three kids at an adult party be pretty noticeable?
Right. It's not like we can just shape-shift again.
What about Mami Wata?
I'm confused. -Me too.
Don't worry. We have a way to get on the boat.
But we're gonna need your help.
[Nia] Sydney, you'll already be on board for the party.
Right when Avery's gonna make his speech...
Thank you. -...everyone will be looking at him.
I'm Avery Boyd, and welcome to the Adrian.
[Nia] It'll be the perfect time for you to slip away.
[Boyd] ...Wickford University Founder's Week.
[Nia] You'll accidentally wander into the engine room.
[Samir] After Sydney cuts the power...
[Boyd] And none of this would've been possible
without the, uh, support of-- Oh. [grunts]
[Samir] ...that's when we board the yacht and run down to Avery's office.
[Nia] We'll put the EP in a drawer in his desk and get out just in time.
[electricity surges]
These things happen, don't they?
Ah! [chuckles] -There we go.
All right. Excellent.
We're back up. -[Nia] As the power comes back on,
that's when we will make our escape off the back of the boat.
Meanwhile down in Avery's office,
Griffin will reveal the evidence to McCormack.
[sighs]
[Samir] Sydney will have called the police,
who will board the boat and make the arrest.
You're making a big mistake.
It's just a-- a misunderstanding, everybody.
Cut the feed!
It's like a heist in reverse. It's a reverse heist.
Even if I don't fully understand this elaborate scheme,
it is all very exciting.
It's crazy.
Maybe. But we have to try.
Okay, I have to go back and set up the backdrop,
but I will leave this gate unlocked. Okay?
Good luck. You guys are gonna need it.
I am very impressed by the-- What did you call it?
[Charli] Reverse heist. -Yes.
And I wish you such good fortune in your endeavor, but, well...
What is it?
I cannot help but wish that I could somehow return to my home,
to my family.
Avery Boyd is the key to it all.
If we pull this off, you can go home.
And we can return the scroll to Egypt where it belongs.
Let's go.
[Donovan] I'm impressed.
I have to say.
I'm not.
I heard you're a magician.
Clearly, you're a very good one.
I don't know what kind of trick you pulled to swap the papyrus for a blank one,
but I do know that you kids have been lying to me from the start.
There's no such thing as the Young Archaeologists' Club.
We're lying?
We trusted you with the truth about everything.
We even told you where the disguises were.
Don't know what you're talking about.
There was nothing in that closet.
Yeah, because you had them moved. But we still have the photos.
So? For all I know, you took them in your closet.
You have been involved with the Eloquent Peasant theft
from the beginning.
Obviously, your mother recruited you and your two little friends here to help.
After all, you discovered it was a fake.
Who's gonna suspect a bunch of kids, right?
But just because you're kids doesn't mean you won't be held responsible.
And, since your parents all work for the university,
I would hate to see them all lose their jobs
because their children are so dishonest.
Stay away from our families.
Give me a reason to.
Get me the scroll by the end of the day.
She's gonna go after our parents.
I wouldn't put anything past her.
Is there a higher authority to whom we could tell the truth?
Like a steward or a pharaoh?
Avery is as powerful as it gets.
Plus, the board would never listen to a bunch of kids,
especially when the person behind all this is a senior member.
So, do we stick to our plan and go through with the reverse heist?
I get it if anyone wants to back out. We could all be in big trouble.
They used my sister.
I wanna get back at them as much as you do.
There's no way you're doing this without us.
[sighs]
So we go through with it.
I'm in.
Me three.
[chuckling] Oliver makes four.
[both laughing]
That's good. Yeah. -I know.
Good to go here. -Copy.
Thanks, Mami Wata.
[Mami Wata] Be careful.
I'm going in. -[Charli] Great.
We're on board, making our way down the port side.
[Amber] Sydney? -Wait!
There you are. Come on.
I wanna introduce you to some people.
[Syd] Right now? -[Amber] It'll only take a second.
Uh, okay. [chuckles]
[sighs]
Amber stopped Sydney.
Maybe Khun-Anup can cut the lights?
He's invisible.
I shall find the bucket and throw water on the fire.
[Samir] Maybe not that.
Mami Wata, we need you.
[Boyd] Can I have your attention?
I'd like to thank you for all tuning in tonight
to the, uh, Wickford University Founder's Week.
[applause]
I see a lot of friendly faces,
and some very generous supporters in here.
And, uh, I just wanna say that it's all been...
[electricity screeches, zaps]
Oops.
[chuckles, sniffs] It's, uh-- All right, uh, no need to worry.
The Adrian is equipped with backup generators.
It'll just take a second for them to kick in.
Uh, you're on this? -Yeah.
Excellent, excellent.
Captain of the Adrian, everybody. -[scattered applause]
[Nia] Come on, get the EP.
[Syd] I just heard the engineer say, "30 seconds to generators on."
Get out of there. -[sighs] It's too big.
Syd says we only have 30 seconds
until the captain gets the generators powered up.
We have to hurry!
This is great.
But how are we supposed to...
What are they doing?
I think it's like my locker at school.
When they hit the right number, they must be able to hear it click.
[lock clicks]
[Nia] Yes.
[whispers] Come on. -[whispers] Okay.
[gasps]
The power's back on. -Okay.
But-- We have to go. [pants]
Come on. Let's go.
Wait.
Where's Khun-Anup?
Must've gone back into the scroll.
[Khun-Anup] Greatest Avery Boyd, you are the authority most high.
I must tell you my story so that you will send me home
to my village and my family.
I know I am but a peasant, unworthy of your presence,
but I must tell you my truth
in the hopes that it will change your heart.
That's it, the truth.
Nia. Ni-- [sighs] -Nia.
You know this whole thing is falling right apart.
[camera operator] Uh, okay, Mr. Boyd. The power is back up now.
I was walking to the markets
when I approached a blockade in the path.
Sorry about that. -Thank you, sir.
A warm hello to all those watching at home on the livestream.
We appreciate your patience as we dealt with some technical issues.
So, let's get back to it-- -Stop!
What?
He's not who you think he is.
What is this?
Nia, what are you doing here?
Samir? Charli?
It's time to tell you all the truth.
My mom is Layla Barnes, and she's the president of Wickford University.
Nia?
And she was framed for a crime she did not commit.
Samir.
[Nia] Wickford's most prized possession
is an ancient Egyptian scroll called the Eloquent Peasant.
You have got to be kidding me.
Several months ago, someone stole the artifact,
but that person wasn't my mom.
It was Avery Boyd.
[chuckles] -What?
And he didn't do it alone.
[Boyd] This is ridiculous. -[Nia] It's true.
And I can prove it.
Let her speak, Avery.
The Eloquent Peasant has been kept safe by...
[Nia] Avery recruited his cousin, Amber Williams, a senior at Wickford
and her friend, theater student Liam Enfield, to carry out a scheme.
...ensure it'll live long after we're gone. -So you wanna steal it?
You have my word. No one will get hurt.
[Nia] Their first assignment?
What do you need us to do?
Find a forger. -[Nia] Find a forger.
Enter Griffin Yang, a freshman art major.
Amber and Liam offered Griffin entry into the prestigious Hawthorne Club
in exchange for forging the artifact.
Nia.
I am so sorry for what is happening to your mom,
but I can't allow you to stand up--
I wanna hear this.
[partygoers] Hmm. Yes. Yes.
Yeah.
Hi there. I was wondering if I could take a look at the Eloquent Peasant?
[Nia] The plan was set.
With the forgery in hand, Liam, in a disguise using a phony name,
entered the archive room and asked to examine the artifact.
Moments later, Liam was assisted by an accomplice, Amber.
She distracted the librarian,
drawing her out of the special collections room.
With the coast clear,
Liam hid the EP in a separate artifact, a painting,
and produced Griffin's forgery in its place.
[clears throat]
So sorry.
[Nia] And that night, Amber,
disguised as the ghost of Old Chauncy, the school's founder,
used a secret underground tunnel to access the archive room
into a blind spot, hidden from the view of the security cameras.
Amber collected the real EP
from Liam's hiding spot inside the painting
and returned to the tunnels,
but she made a mistake along the way.
She knocked loose a screw from inside the tunnel entrance.
A screw that my friends and I found during our own investigation.
Meanwhile, that night,
Amber followed the tunnel to the old schoolhouse across campus
and emerged through a secret door.
There she disappeared into the woods with the EP in her possession
and was photographed from afar by a Wickford student
who mistook her as the ghost of Old Chauncy.
Okay, enough is enough.
I can't let you stand up here and peddle fiction. Kill the feed!
Hey, don't even think about it.
Continue, Nia.
They would've gotten away with the whole thing,
but my friends and I found a series of clues
that were left for us by the late Oliver Ramos.
Oliver?
[Nia] A beloved graduate student in the Archaeology department.
Oliver gave us access to his extensive research into the case,
which lead us to a bombshell discovery.
That the Eloquent Peasant in the library was a fake.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. -[Charli] Please. You have to stop.
Excuse me?
[Nia] So we told my mom and Professor McCormack right away.
[Boyd] They know.
[Nia] That was never a part of Avery Boyd's plan,
and he started to panic.
He knew he needed to shift the blame away from himself.
And now I have to do something about it.
[Nia] So he convinced the board to hire Katie Donovan,
a private investigator he could pay off.
So, I understand you're interested in making a donation to the University.
Mmm. How much would it cost to get a building named after me?
[Layla] Five million. Maybe a little more.
Five million. Well...
[Nia] Liam and Amber lured my mother into a meeting
where they secretly recorded and photographed her.
So, Layla, how much do you think we can get for the Eloquent Peasant?
[Nia] Later that day, Liam doctored that recording
and made my mother sound like a criminal.
[Liam] So Layla, how much do you think we could get for the Eloquent Peasant?
[Layla] Five million. Maybe a little more.
Yeah.
[Nia] Avery and Donovan used this so-called evidence
to convince the board that my mom was behind the whole thing.
[Layla through recording] Five million. Maybe a little more.
[Nia] But they didn't stop there.
They wanted my mom to look even more guilty.
First, Donovan planted blueprints of the old tunnels
that run beneath the university in my mom's office.
[steady pounding]
Then, they created a hole in the basement of our house
with direct access to the library tunnel.
[chuckles]
You cannot be serious.
Someone is obviously setting me up, and to think...
[Nia] And just like that, my mom,
who only ever wanted to return the Eloquent Peasant
to where it belongs in Egypt,
was accused of committing this crime.
And everyone believed it.
When in fact, Avery's family stole this artifact from Egypt many years ago.
And in an effort to keep the stolen treasure,
he continued the injustices of his family
when he framed an innocent woman, my mother, President Barnes.
This injustice must stop, and the truth must come out.
[partygoers chattering]
Look at how everyone is listening to her. They believe her.
It is only a matter of time until I find the right person to hear me.
He's gone.
She told the truth,
just like he did in the story.
So he's back in the scroll,
which means we need to get McCormack to find the EP in Avery's office.
But if I have the Eloquent Peasant,
where is the proof?
It's right here. On this boat.
Yeah. I bet it's in his private quarters.
[scoffs] You can't be serious.
If you have nothing to hide, show us.
I agree with McCormack. I think we should look.
We searched Layla's home and office for less.
That's right.
Fine.
Come on.
See? Nothing here.
Can you open the desk?
Fine.
No.
Eloquent.
Peasant.
Are you satisfied?
[Boyd sighs] -[clears throat]
What about behind the painting?
There is a safe.
Well, let's see what's inside.
[chuckles]
This is a big mistake.
No Eloquent Peasant.
Hold on.
[scoffs]
It's here. -What?
Uh, that's not possible.
Is that the real scroll?
It is.
I don't believe it. -I don't believe it.
I didn't put it in there!
Your own personal safe that only you have access to?
It's-- [sighs]
You. You did something, but--
but I don't know how.
Don't look at us.
We're just a bunch of kids.
[police radio chatter]
[car door opens]
Watch your head, Ms. Donovan.
[Darius] Nia!
Oh. -You're all right.
[Layla sighs] -Never better.
Mom, you're off the hook.
It was Avery, and everyone knows it now.
I wanna be mad at you for keeping this from us,
but right now I'm just in awe at what you did.
And the truly incredible young woman you've become.
Does that mean I'm mature enough to take the subway?
Okay. But you need to text us when you get on and off.
I will. And maybe the new Fallout game?
Oh! -Okay.
Okay, don't push it.
You still snuck onto a yacht without permission.
And whatever else you're gonna tell us about on the way home.
Hmm. [chuckles] -Fair.
[McCormack] Layla?
Todd.
We owe you an apology.
Uh, the board, myself included, acted rashly and treated you unfairly.
I appreciate you saying that. -I completely understand if you say no,
but we want you to come back to your job.
[inhales sharply] If you'll have us?
I'll be there Monday.
Thank you.
Well, I have to get going. See ya.
[stammers] Wait, uh, excuse me.
Um, there must be some kind of misunderstanding.
Without him, you never would've caught Avery.
It's true. -It's okay, Syd.
No, it's not. You're just as much of a victim here.
I made the fake.
Maybe what I did today will lessen my punishment,
but I'm grateful I don't have to lie anymore.
So, no matter what happens,
I think I'll actually sleep tonight.
[Syd] So, how did you do that trick with the scroll?
First, it was blank, and then the writing came back.
[Charli] How many times do I have to tell you?
[Syd] Yeah, okay. A magician never tells.
So you do actually listen to me when I talk?
Mmm, maybe once or twice.
Mm-hmm. So, you did hear me when I said we should switch rooms next semester?
Hmm? -Oh, I'm sorry. Can't hear ya.
Come on.
[Mami Wata] See it is returned to where it belongs.
We will, Mami Wata. Thank you.
[chuckles]
[sighs]
[applause]
[chuckles]
[audience cheering]
[major chord plays]
Okay, now you try.
Uh... -[chuckles] Here.
I'll teach you the first few chords.
You'll see, it's easy once you take it step-by-step.
Push very hard and go.
[plays chord] -Yeah, good job.
Hey, Samir.
[sighs] I guess it's time.
[sighs] I don't know.
Seems weird to say goodbye.
Especially when you think about
all the other bad guys there are out there.
With a ghost to help us, we could take them all on.
I think for Oliver it wasn't about fighting crime.
It was his life's work.
It was personal.
Don't you think he'd want to be at peace now?
Well, when you put it like that.
Okay, Oliver.
[inhales deeply] Thank you for all of your cryptic clues,
even if they were impossible to figure out.
[both chuckle]
I wanna say thank you for helping us save my mom.
And for bringing us together.
The best part of the whole thing.
Agreed. -[chuckles]
[sighs]
[Samir] So, what do we do now?
[Nia] I just got a third controller, if y'all wanna go on a mission in my game.
[Samir chuckles] I'm in.
[Charli] Okay, but first you guys need to see my new trick.