“He tries to. We can hear him across the street.”
“Can you talk to him?”
“About what?”
“About Jonah Finn. I need to find out all I can about this kid. Right now he’s my only suspect and I need information.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“And April, this is top secret. I can’t get caught snooping around, and we can’t accuse anybody of anything. This is a long shot, you understand?”
“Got it, Theo.”
Other than April, the two friends Theo believed he could trust the most were Woody Lambert and Chase Whipple. Claiming the three needed to use a rainy Saturday afternoon to begin work on an upcoming project in Chemistry, Theo convinced his two friends to meet and make plans.
The truth was that Chase was the last person in the world Theo would partner with in a Chemistry lab. Chase was a brilliant, mad scientist with a long record of experiments gone haywire. He had started fires and set off explosions, and no lab was safe when Chase was at work. He had been banned from the labs at school unless a teacher was nearby for close surveillance. Woody was indifferent to Math and Science, but did well in History and Government.
They met in the basement game room of the Whipple home, and, after half an hour of Ping-Pong, they got down to business. Of course, first they had to replay the fight. Chase, who had never struck another person in anger, had witnessed the entire brawl and had been thrilled with the excitement. Woody reported that his mother yelled at him, then started crying. His father just shrugged and said, “Boys will be boys.”
Theo swore them to secrecy. He even made them raise their right hands and promise to tell nothing, and when he was satisfied they could be trusted, he told them the entire story. Everything. The slashed tires, broken window, vandalized locker, planted loot, meetings with the detectives, everything. Then he got around to Ike and his research, though Theo did not confess to lifting the password from Vince’s computer. He described how Ike had gone through the law firm’s divorce files and identified a probable suspect, or suspects.
“That’s brilliant,” Woody said.
“It makes sense,” Chase added. “The guy behind all of this is somebody who hates you and you don’t even realize it.”
Theo agreed, and then talked about the Finn boys and their parents’ ugly divorce.
“My brother is in the tenth grade,” Woody said. “I wonder if he knows Jessie Finn.”
“We gotta find out,” Theo said. “That’s our project right now-to find out all we can about these two guys.” Chase left to go upstairs and get his laptop. Woody pulled out his cell phone and called his brother, Tony, but got voice mail. Theo called Griff who reported he had made no progress in getting the name of the ninth grader who was trying to sell black market 0–4 Tablets for fifty dollars. Griff promised to keep trying.
Mrs. Whipple, who was also a lawyer and close friend of Mrs. Boone, brought down a platter of cookies and a carton of milk. She asked how the Chemistry project was going and all three claimed to be excited with their progress. After she left, Chase went to the website of Strattenburg High School, and after a few minutes of browsing said, “There are three hundred and twenty ninth graders at SHS. Guess how many are named Jessie?”
“Four,” Woody said.
“Three,” Theo said.
“Two,” Chase answered. “Jessie Finn and Jessie Neumeyer. We need to get the name from Griff.”
“I’m trying,” Theo said.
“Griff,” Woody hissed. “I’m going to punch that kid out next time I catch him off campus. I can’t believe he jumped on me like that. What a little twerp.”
“Knock it off,” Theo said. “As of now Griff is on our side. Besides, he apologized. So did Baxter.”
“Baxter hasn’t apologized to me. I’d like to see his eye right now. Probably black-and-blue.”
Chase went to Google Earth and typed in the Finn’s address on Edgecomb Street, near the college. He zoomed in and said, “Here’s their house.” Theo and Woody huddled behind Chase, and all three looked at the screen. The Finn home was a two-story white frame on a street lined with several just like it. There was nothing different or remarkable about it. In the backyard there was a small, aboveground pool, and along the back fence there was a storage shed. The information was nice to have, but of no real value.
Theo’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He yanked it out, opened it, looked at the screen, and said, “It’s Griff.”
Griff told Theo that his sister had finally made contact with Benny, and Benny had called Gordy, and Gordy had reluctantly said that the guy peddling the 0–4 Tablets was named Jessie somebody, didn’t know his last name and really didn’t know much about him. Griff assured Theo that his sister had not revealed the reason for her interest. Theo again stressed the need for secrecy.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Woody said.
“Why don’t we go to the police?” Chase asked. “They can talk to both Jessies in the ninth grade and find out which one is trying to sell the stuff.”
“It’s too early,” Theo said. “Suppose it’s Jessie Finn. When the cops approach him, what’s he gonna do? Admit he’s got a stash of stolen computers and cell phones? Fall on his knees and confess everything? No way. He’ll just deny it all, and if the cops can’t find any of the loot in his backpack, they can’t do anything. He’ll get scared and we’ll never find the stuff.”
“Theo’s right,” Woody added. “We have to buy it from him. Then we give it to the police and they check the registration numbers.”
“How are we going to buy it?” Chase asked.
“That’s the big question,” Theo said. “First, we start with Gordy. If he’ll agree to help us, then he can hook up with Jessie Finn and buy the tablet.”
“I don’t know this Gordy guy,” Woody said, “but I doubt if he’s that stupid. Why would anyone get involved in this mess? We can’t really expect him to buy a tablet he knows is stolen, and then hand it over to us when we’re taking it straight to the police.”
“He won’t get into trouble,” Theo said. “Not if he’s helping solve a crime.”
“I don’t think so,” Woody said.
“I agree with Woody,” Chase said.
“What about Tony, your brother?” Theo asked.
“Are you sure he won’t get into trouble?”
“I’m positive. If he helps the police find stolen goods, they’ll thank him and pat him on the back. I happen to know the law, remember?”
“How could we ever forget,” Chase said.
“Well, as you know, Tony will do anything. He’s an idiot and loves to meddle in everybody else’s business. That’s a great idea, Theo. But where do we get fifty bucks?”
“I’ve already got it,” Theo said.
Woody looked at Chase, who said, “Why am I not surprised?”
“Call him again,” Theo said, and Woody pulled out his cell phone. He smiled as it was ringing, then said, “Hey, Tony, it’s me.” They talked for a few minutes and Woody did not mention their idea of getting Tony involved. Woody explained that they needed some inside dirt on a ninth grader named Jessie Finn. Tony did not know him but said he would start digging.
For half an hour, the gang of three kicked around ideas of how to nail the Finn boys, who by now were guilty beyond any doubt. Chase found their photos from a student directory and printed enlarged copies of their faces. Theo stared at the two, certain he had never seen them before. Jessie Finn had a Facebook page (Jonah did not), and Chase scanned it but found nothing that would interest them or help in their search for clues. Woody, who was sprawled on the sofa playing catch with a Ping-Pong ball, remembered a story. “You know, this makes perfect sense. I have two cousins who live near Baltimore, and last year their parents went through a nasty divorce. It was awful. I remember my two cousins saying bad things about their father’s divorce lawyer. They really hated the guy, and I guess he was just doing his job. Does your mother worry about such things, Theo?”
“I’m sure she does, but she never talks about it.”
