More than once, Theo had played hooky or skipped school to watch a trial, and on at least two occasions he’d been caught red-handed, in the courtroom. “I was in court with my mother,” he said, somewhat truthfully. He was looking up. Judge Gantry was looking down.
“Would this have anything to do with the April Finnemore case?” he asked. Strattenburg was not a large city and there were few secrets, especially among the lawyers, judges, and police.
“Yes, sir.”
“I hear you found the girl and brought her home,” Judge Gantry said with the first hint of a smile.
“Something like that,” Theo said modestly.
“Nice work, Theo.”
“Thanks.”
“Just so you’ll know, I’ve rescheduled the Duffy trial to begin in six weeks. I’m sure you’ll want front-row seats.”
Theo could think of nothing to say. The first murder trial of Pete Duffy had been the biggest in the town’s history, and, thanks to Theo, it had ended in a mistrial. The second promised to be even more suspenseful.
Theo finally said, “Sure, Judge.”
“We’ll talk about it later. Get to school.”
“Sure thing.” Theo bounded down the stairs, jumped on his bike, and raced away from the courthouse. He had a lunch date with April. They planned to meet outside the school cafeteria at noon and steal away to the old gym where no one could find them. Mrs. Boone had packed veggie sandwiches, April’s favorite and Theo’s least favorite, and peanut butter cookies.
Theo wanted to hear every last detail of the abduction.
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