Uncommon Thief

Chapter 48

  The Revelation

  Maria was standing in the back of the courtroom when the Judge recessed for the day. As soon as he’d left the bench, Special Agent Walters went over to Joel and Fred and conferred with them for a moment. Maria could tell by Fred’s body language that something significant had happened. She rushed up to him to find out what was it was. As soon as he saw her, he embraced her and gave her an excited hug.

  "We have good news!” Fred said.

  "What?" Maria asked.

  "They found Sam Stewart in Toronto."

  "What?”

  “They found Sam,” Roberts confirmed.

  “Oh my God!” Maria said. “Did he—”

  "Yes, they found part of the stolen money in his sister's house, where he was staying."

  "Oh, thank God!" Maria's mother exclaimed. “How much.”

  “Almost $250,000.”

  Maria frowned. “That’s all? What happened to the rest of it?”

  Fred shrugged.

  “We don’t know. Sam was killed in a chase trying to evade the police,” Roberts said. “He collided with a freight train, I’m afraid."

  “So, what does that mean?” Maria asked worriedly.

  “It means I haven’t been exonerated. I could still be an accomplice, so nothing has really changed.”

  “Oh, no!” Maria exclaimed. “I thought if we found Sam this nightmare would be over.”

  “That’s what we all hoped, Maria,” Roberts said. “But this is still helpful. It complicates matters and will confuse the jury. They may be more likely now to find reasonable doubt.”

  Maria wasn’t appeased by Roberts reasoning. Her stomach was in knots, she hadn’t been able to sleep at night and was becoming more and more depressed each day trial dragged on. She didn’t how much longer she could bear it.