them.”
“I don’t suppose my mother is involved in a divorce for a Mr. and Mrs. Scheer?”
Ike looked at his notes, flipped a page, then said, “No. Why?”
“Just a hunch. A kid I know in Scouts who’s a little different, that’s all.”
“There’s no file on them.”
There was a long pause as Theo and Ike thought about the situation. Ike gulped coffee while Theo stared at the floor. Finally, Theo said, “I need to tell you about my friend Griff.” Theo told the story of Griff’s sister, Amy, and her friend Benny, and his friend Gordy, and the episode in which Gordy was offered a new Linx 0–4 Tablet for fifty dollars by some unknown kid in the high school parking lot. Ike’s red eyes lit up when he heard this.
“This could be huge, Theo,” he said.
“What if it’s Jessie Finn who’s trying to sell the tablet?” Theo asked.
“You gotta make this happen, Theo.”
“But how?”
“If we can get our hands on a stolen tablet, we take it straight to the police who’ll check the registration number. If it came from Big Mac’s, then they’ll get off your back and go after these little Finn thugs.”
From a rear pocket, Ike pulled out his wallet, opened it, and withdrew some cash. He counted out two twenty-dollar bills and a ten. “Here’s fifty bucks. Stick it in your pocket. Go find Griff, tell him to talk to his sister. Make this happen, Theo.”
Theo took the money and stuck it deep in his pocket. He sat down again and said, “But what if it doesn’t work? What if this Gordy guy doesn’t want to handle a stolen tablet, or what if the dude has already sold it to someone else?”
“We won’t know until we try. Do it, Theo. Get it done. And in the meantime, find out all you can about Jonah and Jessie Finn.”
“Thanks, Ike.”
“And don’t worry about the fact that I snooped through your mother’s files. If it is the Finns, and if we solve this little mystery, I’ll talk to Marcella and Woods and take all the blame. Believe me, I’ve done much worse.”
“Thanks, Ike.”
“You’ve already said that. Now get out of here.”
“What about lunch?”
“I’m not hungry. I’m sleepy. See you later.”
Chapter 20
The showers had stopped, but the skies were still threatening. Theo raced across town to Levi Park, on a bluff above the Yancey River, on the eastern edge of Strattenburg. As he pedaled furiously he was hoping the rain had not canceled the Farmer’s Market because he was curious about Lucy the llama. Had she attacked Buck Baloney again? Had she attacked his sidekick Frankie? Would he, Theo, be forced to make another appearance in Animal Court to once more save Miss Petunia’s beloved pet?
The market was still open, with many of the vendors huddled under tent roofs as their customers roamed about with shopping bags and umbrellas. The ground was wet and sticky, everyone’s shoes and boots had at least an inch of mud on the soles. Lucy was next to Miss Petunia’s booth, soaking wet but not perturbed at all. She looked harmless as two small children stopped and gawked. Across the way, on the other side of the entrance, a tiny man in a brown uniform was eating popcorn and talking to a lady who sold corn dogs. Theo presumed he was Frankie. Buck was nowhere in sight.
Theo said hello to Miss Petunia, who was delighted to see her lawyer. She squeezed him and thanked him again for his incredible courtroom heroics, and she happily reported that so far that morning Lucy had behaved herself, as had the two security guards. No spitting, no chasing, nothing out of the ordinary. No complaints from anyone.
Next to her booth was one displaying goat cheese, the handiwork of May Finnemore, who was sitting in a folding chair, knitting, while her spider monkey, Frog, hung from a tent pole that supported the roof over the booth. Why a spider monkey was named Frog had never been adequately explained to Theo. He had asked April, and more than once, but her response had been, “It’s just my mother, Theo.” So much of what May Finnemore did made little sense to anyone. Theo avoided the woman when possible, but not today. May stood and gave Theo an awkward hug. She said, “April’s here.”
“Where?” Theo asked, delighted that he would see her. April despised the Farmer’s Market and rarely sat with her mother as she peddled her dreadful cheese. Theo had tasted it a couple of times and felt like vomiting whenever he saw or smelled it.
“She went that way,” Mrs. Finnemore said, pointing at a row of booths.
“Thanks,” Theo said, and disappeared as quickly as possible. Keeping a sharp eye out for Buck Baloney, he walked past dozens of vendors, most of them in the process of repacking their unsold goods and closing shop. April was standing near a tiny booth where an old bearded man was at work sketching in pencil the portrait of a teenage girl who was seated on a small crate in front of him. For only ten dollars “Mr. Picasso” would do your portrait in less than ten minutes. He had half a dozen samples on display-Elvis, John Wayne, and others.
Theo stopped next to April and said, “Hi.”
“Hello, Theo,” she said with a smile, then she turned and drew close for a better look at his face. “I thought you had a busted lip.”
“I did. The swelling’s gone.”
She was disappointed with his wound. “How was the suspension?”
“Overrated. Pretty boring, really. I actually missed school.” They began to slowly walk away. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“My mom begged me to come today. She said we might need an extra eyewitness in case Lucy started spitting at people. So far, she hasn’t felt the urge. What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on Lucy, to see if I might be needed in Animal Court again. Can we talk, in secret?”
“Sure.” April was a quiet girl who understood the importance of secrets. Her family life was a wreck, and she often confided in Theo, who always listened thoughtfully. Now, it was her turn to listen. They sat at a small table near an ice-cream vendor, and when Theo was certain no one else could hear, he told April everything.
The ice-cream vendor was closing his booth and needed their table. They began walking again, slowly ambling toward the front of the market. “This is awful, Theo,” she said. “I can’t believe the police are accusing you.”
“I can’t either, but I guess I look pretty guilty.”
“What do your parents think?”
“They’re worried, and I get the feeling they’re doing a lot of talking when I’m not around. You know how parents are.”
“Not really. You have normal parents, Theo. I do not.”
Theo wasn’t sure how to respond to this.
“And Ike thinks it could be related to a bad divorce?”
“Yes, that’s his theory, and it’s a pretty good one. Nothing else makes sense.”
“I sort of know Jonah Finn.”
“You do?”
“Not well, just a little.”
“What’s the scouting report?”
She thought about this as they walked, then said, “Trouble, a loner, misfit, really smart guy who makes bad grades. I think his family is about as whacked-out as mine.”
“How do you know this?”
“There’s a guy in his class, Rodney Tapscott, who lives across the street from me, and he and Jonah hang out some. Do you know Rodney?”
“I know who he is, but I don’t really know him. Doesn’t he play the drums?”
