In the car, Mr. Boone said as he did every Sunday, “So, Theo, how did you like the sermon?”
“It was boring and you know it,” Theo shot back, already mad again. “I fell asleep twice.”
“It was not one of his better efforts,” Mrs. Boone agreed.
They rode in silence to the Lusk home, the tension rising the closer they got. When they parked at the curb, Theo said, “I’ll just stay in the car. I’m not hungry.”
“Let’s go, Theo,” his father said sternly. Theo slammed the door and followed his parents inside. He hated these brunches and his parents knew it. Fortunately, Theo could sense some weakness on the part of his mother, perhaps a twinge of sympathy. She knew how miserable he was, and she understood why.
Inside, Theo managed a fake, metallic smile as he said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Garbowski, a pleasant couple about the same age as Theo’s parents whose sixteen-year-old son, Phil, threatened to run away from home if his parents forced him to go to brunch on Second Sundays. The Garbowskis caved in and Phil was still at home. Theo admired him greatly and was pondering the same strategy. He said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Salmon. He owned a lumber company and she taught at the college. They had three children, all older than Theo and none present.
Just great, Theo mumbled to himself. Eight adults and me.
Since nothing can make one hungrier than sitting in church and waiting for lunch, the group soon took their seats around the dining-room table. Judge Lusk gave a quick prayer of thanks, and a housekeeper appeared with the first course, a salad. A dry salad, Theo noted. Dressing wasn’t expensive, was it? Where was the dressing? But he dove in, starved.
“What did you think of the sermon?” Judge Lusk asked. Since all four families attended the same church, the sermon was usually analyzed first. Great, thought Theo. Bad enough to suffer through it live and in color, now I get tortured again. Regardless of how bad a sermon might have been, no one, over brunch, ever suggested that it was anything short of brilliant. Even Pastor Pat had received rave reviews, though there had been some remarks like, “Perhaps he could’ve shaved off fifteen minutes.”
The second course was baked chicken and gravy, and it was delicious. Theo, using perfect table manners because his mother was always watching, dug in and ate like a refugee. In her old age, Mrs. Lusk had stopped cooking, and this had been well received. Her housekeeper was an excellent cook. The Garbowskis would host the next Second Sunday, then the Boones. Theo’s mother made no pretense of preparing a fine meal and always had it catered by a Turkish woman who fixed amazing dishes.
Much to Theo’s delight, the conversation turned to Pete Duffy and his adventures of the past week. This sparked lively comments around the table as everyone wanted to rush in with their opinions and reports of the latest rumors. The verdict was unanimous-everyone was convinced Duffy had murdered his wife-and his flight from justice was further proof of his guilt. Mr. Salmon claimed to know Pete well and was of the opinion that he had stashed away plenty of cash and would probably never be found. Judge Lusk disagreed and argued that Duffy’s close call at the airport in Chicago was proof that he would make another mistake sooner or later.
Theo ate in silence and listened with interest. The conversation was usually about politics and what was happening in Washington, but this was far more interesting. Then he had a miserable thought. Would these people one day soon be talking about him? Had any of these people ever been charged with a crime? He had serious doubts about that. Were the Boones and their son already the topic of hushed conversations behind their backs?
He cleaned his plate and waited on dessert. What he was really waiting on was two o’clock, the magic moment when it was time to go.
Late Sunday afternoon, Theo rode his bike across town and met April at an ice-cream parlor near Stratten College. April got a frozen yogurt and Theo got his favorite-chocolate gelato covered in crushed Oreos, and they found a booth away from the other customers.
“I talked to Rodney Tapscott,” she said in a low voice. “I went over to his house last night and watched television.”
Theo took a large bite and said, “Okay, I’m listening.”
“Well, without sounding suspicious, I managed to get around to Jonah Finn. Rodney knows that you and I are close friends, so I was careful not to seem too nosy. Rodney said that Jonah is a weird kid who’s been acting even stranger since his parents are divorcing, says he’s real moody, even angry. Jonah doesn’t have many friends. He bums money off of Rodney and other kids to buy lunch. His grades are getting worse; the kid’s a wreck. He said that one day they were talking and Jonah said something about how much he dislikes your mother. I asked why was that. Rodney said it’s because their father blames your mother for most of their problems, said that she’s trying to make Jonah and his brother live with their mother, and they rea- lly don’t want to.”
“I kinda figured that,” Theo said, glancing around.
“He said Jonah’s father says bad things about your mother. All the money’s going for legal fees, and on top of that your mother is trying to get Jonah’s father to pay too much in child support and alimony. Rodney asked me if you’re a good guy, and, of course, I said yes.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Here’s the interesting part. Rodney’s never seen Jonah with a cell phone. Seventh graders are not supposed to have them at school anyway, but last week, he thinks it was Thursday, while they were on lunch break, Jonah showed him a new Excell SmartPhone. He said his father bought it for him. Rodney thought it was odd because the guy never has a dime.”
“The store was broken into Tuesday night,” Theo said, ignoring his gelato.
“That’s right. Do you know what was stolen?”
“Just what was in the newspaper. Some laptops, tablets, cell phones, and a few other items.”
“Excell SmartPhones?”
“I have no idea. The police do not release that type of information.”
“It gets better. On Friday, they were in the library and Jonah was studying in a cubicle, one of those on the second floor by the computer lab. He was at a desk, all hunched over, as if he was trying to hide whatever he was doing. Rodney saw him and was curious. He managed to ease behind him, and he saw Jonah playing a video game on an eight-inch screen tablet.”
“The Linx 0–4 has an eight-inch screen.”
“Exactly. And there’s no way Jonah can afford one.”
Theo took a small bite but could taste nothing. “We have to get that tablet. Somehow.”
“Any ideas?”
“No, not right now. Do you think Rodney would help?”
“I doubt it. He’s not the type of kid who’ll rat out a friend. He likes Jonah, says he’s strange and all, but he also feels sorry for the kid. I didn’t seem too interested in all of this because I didn’t want to appear too eager.”
“This is good stuff, April.”
“Can’t you just go to the police and tell them?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. Let me think about it.”
They discussed various plans, none of which seemed to work. As they were leaving, Theo thanked her again. April said she would do anything to help, legal or otherwise.
Theo headed home, but suddenly changed direction and went to see Ike.
Chapter 22
Pursuant to instructions from Mrs. Gladwell, Theo arrived at her office at 8:15 sharp on Monday morning. He sat across from her desk as she flipped through a file. She had yet to smile, as if still ticked off about the fight. “How was your weekend?” she asked, without the slightest hint of real interest.
“Okay, I guess,” Theo said. He was not there to talk about his weekend; they had other business. His weekend had been fairly lousy, and he now realized that his life would not return to normal until his good name was cleared. He was still the accused, which was a dark cloud hanging over his head.