Uncommon Thief

Chapter 36

  Amateur Sleuths

  Fred was escorted down to the basement, where he was loaded on a shuttle to the jail. All he could think about was what Jenny Madeira would say when she took the stand on Monday. He knew his Boy Scout image would be greatly tarnished by her testimony if Candy had kept her fully abreast of their affair. Being she was like a sister to her, it was a safe bet she had.

  Fortunately, on Sunday Maria came to see him. "Hi, babe. I've missed you."

  "This is a creepy place. Joel's got to get you out of here."

  "I’m sorry you had to come here. I'm starting to get used to it a little now, but the first day they brought me here, I was scared to death."

  "Has anybody bothered you in here?"

  "No. I've got a private cell."

  "Is the food decent?"

  "No. Actually, it's pretty bad, but I haven't had much of an appetite anyway. Have you heard anything from Steve and Randy?"

  “No, nothing yet. Sorry.”

  Fred sighed as he looked into Maria’s big brown eyes. You are so beautiful. How will I bear to be without you? She must have felt his anguish, as a tear rolled slowly down her cheek. "Listen, babe, I need you to do something for me."

  "What?"

  "I need you to snoop around and see if you can find out anything on Harvey Hamlin. If he was involved in the robbery, somebody must have known about it. Talk to Jim Wells. He can probably give you some suggestions on where to start."

  "What about Joel's PI? Isn't he doing that?"

  "He should be, but he hasn’t come up with anything so far and Roberts isn’t pushing him for some reason. Plus, a lot of people won’t talk to a PI, whereas they might talk to you. You have a way with people, and you’ve been getting a lot of good press."

  "Okay, but I don't know exactly what to do."

  Fred smiled at Maria and replied, "Use your feminine ingenuity. I have great confidence in you."

  The jailer walked over and tapped Maria on the shoulder, indicating her time was up. She got up, gave Fred a somber smile, and left. Although it was great seeing her, Fred felt worse than ever after she left. He wondered how many more times he’d be able to look upon that pretty face.

  On Sunday, Father Bernard, Maria's parish priest from Ojai, came to see Fred. Fred contemplated confessing his sins and asking for God's forgiveness, but then he thought better of it. He wasn’t so sure his cell was bug-free, so he’d just have to assume God would know that he was sorry for what he had done. After all, God was omniscient.

  Fred thought about all that had happened to him. He wasn’t an outwardly religious person, but he did believe in God. How could he not be a believer after so many people had come to his aid despite his unforgivable behavior; Maria bailing him out of jail and standing by him despite his betrayal; Steve and Randy dropping everything to chase after Sam; and Jim jeopardizing his job at Bank USA by snooping around and collecting valuable information for his defense.

  Fred was profoundly grateful to have this cadre of amateur sleuths who had made it their mission to prove him innocent. Tears welled in his eyes just thinking about it. He knew he didn’t deserve such good friends, but he was glad God had sent them to rescue him.