The Toy

At Odyssey Hospital, Detective Polehaus questions Dr. Lily Graham about Ryan Macklin, a five-year-old boy who died of cancer the week before. The detective produces a small plush rabbit in an evidence bag, and Dr. Graham recognizes it at once as the toy Ryan carried everywhere and could not sleep without. Alarmed at the suggestion that the toy might somehow be connected to Ryan's death, she explains that it arrived in a donation box delivered by Wooton Bassett, the mailman. The detective asks her to come to the police station at four o'clock, then goes off to find Wooton.

Meanwhile, at Whit's End, Connie introduces Whit to Luella, a cheerful girl from the Hope Springs Child Development Institute who is spending the day there through the Meaningful Work Program, which helps developmentally disabled people feel useful and needed. Luella, who tells Whit to call her Lou, is delighted with her assignment: cleaning the dusty train room from top to bottom. Connie warns her to handle the delicate displays gently, and Luella cheerfully promises not to break anything.

Detective Polehaus tracks down Wooton, who tries to lighten the mood by admiring the police siren and asking to try it. Wooton confirms he delivered the box of toys to the hospital and recognizes the rabbit, which he had nicknamed Eugene Bunny because its little vest reminded him of Eugene Meltsner. He explains the toys came from a drive at Whit's End. Like Dr. Graham, Wooton is told to report to the station at four, and he leaves wondering nervously whether he is in trouble.

Back at Whit's End, Connie grows worried about Luella, who refuses every offer of a break, even for ice cream, insisting she must keep working. Whit advises Connie simply to keep an eye on her. Then Detective Polehaus arrives to question Whit about the toy drive. Jason recognizes the rabbit immediately, because he is the one who put it in the donation box after finding it in an antique drafting desk at his shop. The desk, his records show, once belonged to Ed Washington, the manager of Whit's End in Connellsville and a former toy maker. The detective stays mysterious about his purpose, telling a nervous Jason only that he and Whit should be at the station at four, and then drives to Connellsville.

There, Ed Washington fondly identifies the rabbit as Roberto Rabbit, the prototype for a series of plush animals he once hoped to sell. He sewed it himself from scraps in his workshop, but nobody wanted the toys, so the series was never made, and the rabbit was forgotten in a drawer when he sold the desk. Ed is sad that the toys never got the chance to make children happy. The detective asks him to come to Odyssey too, saying only, "Let's just say you're a person of interest."

At Whit's End, Connie finds Luella crawling under the train table with a little brush, scrubbing corners no visitor will ever see. Connie tells her to stop, explaining that she only meant for Luella to clean the places people will actually look at. Luella's answer stops her short: "God will see down here." Her teacher taught her that every job should be done as if it were for God, and since God is everywhere, she wants everywhere to be as clean as it can be. Humbled, Connie tells her she is right, and when Luella finishes moments later, Connie promises her all the ice cream she wants.

At four o'clock, Dr. Graham, Wooton, Whit, Jason, and Ed are gathered anxiously at the police station. Detective Polehaus finally drops his bombshell: he has brought them together because they were all involved in the death of a five-year-old boy. As the stunned group protests, he holds up Roberto Rabbit and traces its journey: Ed made it, Jason found it and donated it, Whit ran the toy drive, Wooton delivered the box, and Dr. Graham gave the rabbit to little Ryan. Then his stern manner falls away. The toy was indeed infected with something, he tells them: "That toy was infected with love." Ryan, he reveals, was his own nephew, the joy of a family that never expected a child, and when the cancer treatments were at their worst, Ryan would hug the rabbit to his chest for comfort. The detective apologizes for misleading them all, explaining that he could only bear to say this once. What each of them thought was a mundane, meaningless task helped comfort a frightened little boy during the most terrifying time of his short life, and he thanks them from the bottom of his heart.

That evening, Whit finds Connie pulling the freezers away from the wall so she can clean behind them, inspired by Luella's spotless train room and her simple, powerful faith. The two compare the basic truths they were reminded of that day. Connie's is that God sees everything we do; Whit's is that everything we do, however small, touches somebody in some way. Reflecting that knowledge puffs up but love builds up, Whit grabs a broom and joins her, and they agree to tell each other all about it.