The Accused

  Theo was horrified at the idea of the two detectives lining up his friends for questioning. Word would soon spread that Theo was under suspicion, that the cops were hot on his trail. Theo needed help. Mrs. Gladwell was doing her best to protect him, but Theo needed more firepower.

  The door burst open and Ike stormed in. “What’s going on here!?” he demanded. “Theo, are you okay?”

  “Not really,” Theo said.

  Vorman stood and said, “I’m Detective Vorman, Strattenburg P.D. and this is my partner, Detective Hamilton. Who, may I ask, are you?” The introductions were stiff; none of the three men made any effort to shake hands.

  “Ike Boone, formerly of Boone & Boone, attorneys, and Theo is my nephew.”

  “And I’m Mrs. Gladwell, the principal. Welcome to my office.”

  Ike nodded slightly and said, “A pleasure. I think we’ve met before. Now what’s going on?”

  “Are you a lawyer?” Vorman asked.

  Ike replied, “Former lawyer. Right now I’m Theo’s uncle, adviser, consultant, guardian, and anything else I need to be. If you want lawyers, just give me an hour or so and I’ll have them lined up.” Ike was wearing his usual attire: faded jeans, sandals with no socks, an ancient Red Stripe Beer T-shirt under a ragged brown-plaid sports coat, and his long, gray hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. He was highly agitated and looking for a fight, and Theo realized at that moment that he could have no better protector.

  Detective Hamilton read the situation perfectly and took over. In a calm voice he said, “Fine, Mr. Boone. A computer store on Main Street was broken into last night. This morning we received an anonymous tip that some of the loot could be found in the locker of one Theodore Boone, here at the school. Theo consented to a search of his locker, and we found these three Linx 0-4 Tablets, valued at about four hundred dollars each. The owner of the store has checked the serial numbers and identified his goods.”

  “Perfect!” Ike said loudly. “Then we know exactly who robbed the store. The punk who gave you the anonymous tip. Why aren’t you chasing him down instead of harassing Theo?”

  “No harassment, Mr. Boone,” Hamilton said. “We are merely conducting an investigation, part of which is an effort to track down the anonymous caller. We’re trying to cover everything right now, okay?”

  Ike took a breath and looked at his nephew. “Are you okay, Theo?”

  “I guess,” he replied, but he was not. Two slashed bike tires, a rock through his window with broken glass all over him and his dog, the first invasion into his locker and the stolen cap, and now this. Someone was tormenting him, and doing a fine job of it.

  Mrs. Gladwell said, “Well if you want my opinion, and we are in my office so I’ll just go ahead and give it anyway, the police have every right to pursue an investigation, as long as it does not disrupt my school. It’s also my opinion that Theodore Boone didn’t steal anything.”

  The three men nodded. Theo agreed completely but didn’t move a muscle.

  “What’s next?” Ike snarled at the detectives.

  Detective Hamilton replied, “Well, we would like Theo to come down to the police station so we can take a formal statement from him. Just a routine matter. Then we’d like to talk to some of the other students.”

  Theo had watched enough television to know that a trip downtown usually meant handcuffs and a ride in the back of the patrol car, and for a split second he was amused by the idea. He had never been handcuffed before, nor had he seen the backseat of a police car, and the entire adventure would be fun to talk about later, long after he was cleared. But any amusement soon faded when he realized that the gossip would race through the school and the town and soon the whole world would know that Theo was the prime suspect.

  “School’s out at three thirty, right?” Ike asked Mrs. Gladwell.

  “That’s correct.”

  “Good. I’ll have Theo at the police station at four o’clock this afternoon, if that suits you. I’m sure his parents will be with him.”

  The detectives exchanged glances, and it was obvious neither wanted to argue with Ike about this. “When can we have a chat with the other students?” Vorman asked.

  “Well, I suppose at three thirty,” Mrs. Gladwell said.

  “Whose lockers are next to yours, Theo?” Hamilton asked.

  “Woody, Chase, Joey, Ricardo, most of the guys in my homeroom,” Theo replied. “Darren is directly below me.”

  Vorman looked at Hamilton and said, “We’ll need to check with the lab and see if they can dust the area for fingerprints.”

  “Right,” Hamilton replied. “And we’ll need to print you, too, Theo. We can do it this afternoon when you come in.”

  “You want my fingerprints?” Theo asked.

  “Of course.”

  “I’m not sure about that,” Ike said. “I’ll discuss it with his parents.”

  “I don’t care,” Theo said. “Take them. You won’t find any of my prints on those tablets because I’ve never touched them. And if you want to you can give me a lie detector test, fine. I have nothing to hide.”

  “We’ll see,” Vorman said. The detectives were suddenly in a hurry to leave. Hamilton flipped his notepad shut and stuck it in a coat pocket. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Gladwell,” he said, standing. “And thanks, Theo, for your cooperation. Mr. Boone, it’s been a real pleasure.”

  After they left, Theo sat down in the chair that Hamilton had used. “There’s something else we need to talk about,” he said, and Ike fell into the other chair. As Mrs. Gladwell listened intently, Theo described his two slashed tires, one of which happened on school property. When Theo recounted the story of the rock crashing into his office the day before, Ike said, “Someone’s after you.”

  “No kidding,” Theo said.

  Chapter 9

  Not surprisingly, the situation changed dramatically when Theo’s mother got involved.

  Theo called her during lunch, and fifteen minutes later she was at the school, in Mrs. Gladwell’s office, demanding answers. She was furious that Theo had been interrogated by the police without his parents being present, but Mrs. Gladwell assured her that Theo handled himself well. He was cautious with his answers and gave the officers as little information as possible. The search of his locker was unavoidable because the school had the right to open it for any good reason. School policy required Mrs. Gladwell and all other administrators to fully cooperate with law enforcement officials in all situations.

  Mrs. Boone initially wanted to take Theo from school, to her office, and then to the police station. Mrs. Gladwell, though, thought it wiser to wait until classes were over. Theo had already been yanked out of class once that Wednesday, and to do so again would only create even more suspicion. Just keep things as normal as possible, she advised. Then she went on to discuss the rest of Theo’s rather exciting week. Theo had not yet told his parents about his slashed tires and the first locker break-in, and his mother was shocked to learn of these episodes. She was more than a bit irritated that Theo had kept it all quiet.

  As she was leaving, she asked Mrs. Gladwell to give Theo strict instructions to go straight to the office after school.

  At 3:30, Detective Hamilton was waiting in Mr. Mount’s classroom. He had called Mr. Mount and asked him to “invite” Darren, Woody, Chase, Joey, and Ricardo to hang around after school for a brief meeting. With Mr. Mount present, the detective spoke with each boy separately, and briefly. Darren was first, and after establishing the exact location of his locker in an enlarged photo, the detective asked, “What time did you first go to your locker this morning?”

  Darren shrugged and said, “When I got to school, just before homeroom.”

  “And homeroom begins when?”

  “Eight forty.”

  “Why did you go to your locker?”

  “To get some books and drop off some books, same as always.”

  “Did you see Theo Boone at the locker this morning?”

  Darren
thought for a second, shrugged again, and said, “I don’t think so. I think Theo was already in homeroom.”

  “Who do you remember seeing at your locker this morning?”

  Another pause as he pondered the question. “Ricardo, maybe Woody. Just some of the guys. I really didn’t stop and think about who I was seeing at the time. We’re usually in a hurry to get to homeroom.”

  “Did you see anyone near the lockers who didn’t belong there?” Hamilton asked slowly.

  “Like who?”

  “Like anybody who shouldn’t have been hanging around your lockers?”

  “Did somebody do something wrong?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out, Darren. Did you see a stranger around the lockers at any time before ten o’clock this morning?”

  “A stranger? Like an adult?”

  “An adult, another student, anyone who would not normally be hanging around the locker area on this end of the hallway?”

  Another, longer pause, then he slowly shook his head. “No, sir, I didn’t see anyone like that.”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary?”

  “No, sir.”

  Similar conversations were had with the other boys. Only Chase remembered bumping into Theo that morning at the lockers, and, no, Chase did not see Theo remove books or other items from his backpack. Detective Hamilton was careful not to reveal what had been found in Theo’s locker, and he was careful not to give the impression that their friend was in hot water.

  At 4:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Theo and his parents, and Ike, too, walked into the police station on Main Street, two blocks east of the courthouse. They were met by Detective Vorman, who led them down a flight of stairs to a small room in the cramped basement. After offering them something to drink—all declined—Vorman got down to business. He and Mrs. Boone had already spoken twice by phone that afternoon, so there would be no surprises.

  Theo would voluntarily give a statement, with plenty of legal advice nearby, and Vorman would record it by video camera and audiotape. Theo had assured his parents that he had nothing to hide and knew nothing about the break-in or the stolen goods.

  He began with Monday and the first episode with his locker. He covered the two slashed tires and said that Gil at Gil’s Wheels could confirm those details. He explained, again, that he had not told his parents because he simply had not had the time or opportunity. He described the large rock crashing into his office the day before. With Vorman serving up easy questions, Theo finally got around to the stolen tablets in his locker. He had gone to his locker just a few minutes before homeroom, same as always. The hall was crowded, noisy, just like the day before and the day before that. He opened the locker with his code and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He was paying close attention to the contents of his locker because of what happened on Monday. He was certain the Linx Tablets were not in his locker at that time. He did not see anyone unusual hanging around—no strange adults, no students from other classes, grades, or classrooms. He was not aware of any other person with knowledge of his code. He did not know of similar incidents involving unauthorized entry into a locker at the school.

  Theo spoke slowly and carefully, and repeated his statements when asked to do so. To his left was his mother, to his right, his father. Ike was at the end of the table, still irritated that the police would dare suspect his nephew. Detective Hamilton sat directly across from Theo and patiently walked him through the process. A video camera on a tripod stood next to Hamilton and recorded it all.

  Theo gave an accurate and detailed summary of his brief run-in with Officer Stu Peckinpaw Tuesday night, and explained the circumstances surrounding it. He was certain that he had never been inside Big Mac’s Systems. He suggested they check the store’s sales records to prove he had never bought anything there.

  When he finished, the camera and recorder were turned off and everyone relaxed. Detective Hamilton explained that they would postpone the fingerprinting because there was not a single print taken from any of the three tablets. There was nothing to compare with Theo’s prints. “Someone was very careful,” Hamilton said, looking at Theo. “Wiped everything off, probably used gloves.”

  Theo was unable to tell if Hamilton still suspected him. Like all good detectives, he revealed little and acted as though anyone could be guilty.

  “What about the anonymous caller,” Ike asked. “Any luck tracing his call?”

  “Sort of,” Hamilton answered abruptly, and it was obvious he did not want to be pressed by Ike. “It came from a pay phone near the hospital, so it will be difficult to determine who made the call.”

  “What time was it received?” asked Woods Boone.

  “Nine twenty,” Hamilton replied.

  Mr. Boone continued: “So, if the tablets were not in Theo’s locker at eight forty, when he stopped by, then the thief opened his locker at some point during the first period. After he dropped off the tablets, he either left the school and raced to a pay phone near the hospital and made the call, or he notified someone on the outside that the mission was accomplished and the police could then be notified. Probably the latter. So you have more than one member of some little gang at work here.”

  Detective Hamilton stared at Woods Boone, who stared right back. “Perhaps you should become a detective,” Hamilton said.

  “Perhaps you should see the obvious here. This was a plant. A setup. Don’t know who or why, but it’s pretty clear that Theo had nothing to do with it. Right now he’s a victim, not a suspect.”

  “I haven’t called him a suspect, Mr. Boone,” Hamilton said coolly. “The crime is less than twenty-four hours old, give us a break here. We’ve just begun the investigation.”

  “What’s next, as far as Theo is concerned?” asked Mrs. Boone.

  “He’s free to go. We’re not going to arrest him in the middle of the night. If we need to have another chat, I’ll give you a call.” Hamilton was getting a bit testy, probably because he was getting grilled by a bunch of lawyers. “Our job is to track down all leads and try to determine who committed this crime. We don’t know if Theo is telling the truth. He certainly sounds believable, but I’m a detective and I’ve talked to a lot of criminals who claimed to be innocent. Maybe he is, maybe he’s not. You folks have no doubts, but that’s not the way detectives go about their work. One day, soon we hope, we’ll know a lot more, and then I’d like to be able to say, ‘Theo, you’re telling the truth.’ Until that happens, though, I’m not believing anybody.”

  “You don’t believe me?” Theo asked, wounded.

  “Look, Theo, I don’t know if you’re lying, and I don’t know if you’re telling the truth. It’s too early for me, as the detective handling the case, to make that decision. We don’t have much evidence in this case, so far, but what we do have points to you. Do you understand this?”

  Theo nodded slightly, but it was obvious he wasn’t pleased with it.

  Hamilton looked at his watch, closed a file, and said, “Now, I thank you folks for stopping by, and, as I said, we’ll be in touch.”

  The Boones walked out of the police building in a small group. No one was smiling.

  Theo tried to study in his office at Boone & Boone, but he was too distracted. A new window had been installed, and the shattered glass had been removed. There was no sign of the damage from yesterday afternoon, but Theo could still hear the crash of the breaking glass, the sharp thud of the rock hitting the bookshelf, the splattering of debris, the shriek of panic from Judge, followed quickly by a furious round of barking in the frantic seconds afterward. Theo could almost hear something else. He thought he had heard it in a dream. He thought he had heard it once that morning at school during first period, before the police showed up and ruined his day. He could almost close his eyes, place himself at his desk when the rock came crashing through, and then, in the seconds that followed, he could almost hear footsteps. Someone was running away. The person who threw the rock was making his escape from close by. Theo wished
a dozen times he had been able to catch a glimpse of the person running away.

  Who was this mysterious person? Was it an adult? Another student? Male or female? A lone gunman or a member of a gang?

  Even Judge seemed a bit jumpy. The first return visit to the scene of the crime brings back bad memories, and Theo found it impossible to do his homework. He finally locked the door, took a peek through the new window, saw no one, and left the building on his bike, with Judge in hot pursuit.

  Chapter 10

  The photo was sent from an anonymous GashMail account, and initially sent to the in-boxes of a dozen or so students at Strattenburg Middle School. From there it rapidly picked up steam, and by 7:30 Wednesday evening hundreds, if not thousands, of people in town had seen it and knew what it was all about.

  It was taken by a person who was determined to remain nameless and faceless, and, evidently, he or she was hiding somewhere across the street when Theo, his parents, and Ike left the police station. The photo clearly showed all four, frowning and worried, and just behind and above them, on the front of the building, in bold letters were the words: Strattenburg Police Station.

  With the photo was a description: “Theo Boone, age thirteen, of 886 Mallard Lane, leaves the Strattenburg Police Station with his parents after being arrested for the Tuesday night break-in and burglary of the well-known downtown computer store, Big Mac’s Systems. Sources say the police found stolen merchandise Wednesday morning in Boone’s locker at the middle school. He is expected to appear in Juvenile Court next week.”

  As always on Wednesday evenings, the Boones were having Chinese takeout. They were in the den, dining on folding TV trays while watching television. Judge, who considered himself at least half human, was sitting next to Theo, getting an occasional bite of sweet-and-sour shrimp, his favorite. There was almost no conversation over dinner. Theo was burdened by recent events, which seemed to be snowballing. His parents were preoccupied with thoughts of protecting their son. Mrs. Boone hardly nibbled at her chicken chow mein. Mr. Boone chewed with a vengeance, as if he were off in court somewhere slugging it out with the bad guys and proving that Theo had done nothing wrong.

  Theo’s cell phone vibrated—a text message was arriving. He glanced at it. April Finnemore, his close friend, said: TB, check email now. Urgent.

  Interrupting dinner was frowned on by his parents, so Theo, between bites, texted back: What is it?

  April replied: Terrible. Urgent! Go now.

  Theo replied: OK.

  He took a few more bites, chewed, and swallowed quickly, then announced, “I’m stuffed.” He stood with his plate and glass and headed for the kitchen.

  “That was fast,” his mother said. His father was in another world.

  Theo rinsed his plate and went straight for his backpack on the kitchen counter. A few seconds later he was online, then he opened his mailbox. He clicked on “Urgent Message from GashMail,” and saw the photo. Bright, clear, no doubt about who was leaving the police station. His first reaction when reading the description was disbelief. His jaw dropped, his mouth fell open wide, and for several seconds he stared at the image of himself leaving the police station. The shock was quickly replaced by anger. Anger at the lies, the fiction. He had not been arrested. He was not due in court. Then the questions—Who took the photo? Where had they been hiding? Why would anyone tell such outright lies? How many people have seen this? “Guys!” Theo yelled.

  His parents crowded behind him and gawked at the monitor sitting on the kitchen counter. A photo taken secretly by some punk and then broadcast to the world with a bunch of lies to describe it. As lawyers, their first reaction was—what could be done legally to stop it, to fix it, to bring the guilty party to justice?

  “I’m assuming this is everywhere,” Mrs. Boone said.

  “Probably so.” Theo replied.

  “What is GashMail?” Mr. Boone asked.

  “It’s kind of a shady server you use when you don’t want to get caught. A lot of unknown e-mails start there, and it’s really hard to track them down.”

  “So we can’t track this?”

  “Anything is possible with the Internet, but it would be complicated and expensive.”

  “The Internet,” Mr. Boone said in disgust, and walked to the window above the sink and stared into the darkness of the backyard.

  Theo sat down at the table and rubbed his temples. “I guess my life is ruined,” he said, and for a moment was near tears.

  “This can be explained, Theo,” his father said. “Your friends will know the truth. What strangers think doesn’t matter.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, Dad. You don’t have to face all those kids at school tomorrow. And you don’t know how fast rumors fly on the Internet. Half the town is looking at the photo right now and deciding that I’m guilty.”

  Theo’s mother sat next to him and patted his arm. “You’re not guilty of anything, Theo, and the truth will come out.”

  “I’m not so sure about that, Mom. You saw Detective Hamilton today. He thinks I’m guilty. What if they don’t find the real thieves? What if they finish their investigation with nothing but me, just me and those three stolen tablets in my locker? At some point, they have to charge somebody with the crime, and it could easily be me. I saw the owner of the store today, they call him Big Mac, and, believe me, he’s convinced I’m guilty and he’s out for blood. He’ll see this photo. The police will see it, too. It makes it easier to believe I’m guilty.”

  There was a long, heavy pause as Theo’s words settled in the kitchen. Was reality gradually seeping in? Was it possible that Theo could actually be charged with the crime? And once the wheels of justice began moving, could the Boones do anything to prevent a terrible outcome?

  Each tablet had a value of approximately four hundred dollars, for a total of twelve hundred dollars. When the combined value of stolen goods was in excess of five hundred dollars, then the crime was deemed a felony, a more serious crime than a misdemeanor. Theo knew the law; he’d been pondering it for hours now. He had even double-checked the codes and statutes at the office when he was supposed to be doing his homework. If he were eighteen or older, he would be staring at a