me.”
After a brief meeting with Mrs. Gladwell, Jonah was taken to a small study room in the library where he would be confined for the next four hours, under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Dunleavy, the librarian. His books were placed on a study table as if he were expected to plow through some extra homework as part of his punishment. Instead, Jonah put his head on the table and promptly went to sleep.
Mrs. Gladwell called Detective Vorman and gave him the registration number of the cell phone.
At Strattenburg High School, second period ended at 10:30 and was followed by a twenty-minute break. Tony Lambert, Woody’s brother, tracked Jessie Finn from a distance and watched as he left the main building and walked into the large open courtyard where many of the students killed time on break and during lunch. Jessie sat by himself at a picnic table and was about to check his cell phone when Tony came out of nowhere.
“Hey, man, I hear you got some 0–4 Tablets for a good price,” Tony said, glancing around as if a drug deal was in process.
Jessie eyed him suspiciously and said, “Who are you?”
“Tony Lambert, tenth grade,” he replied, shoving a hand forward. Jessie shook it reluctantly and asked, “Oh yeah, where did you hear that?”
“Word gets around. How much are you asking?”
“For what?”
“For an 0–4. I got fifty bucks.”
“Who told you I was selling something?”
“Come on, Jessie, word gets around. I really want that tablet.”
“I don’t have anything, man. I’ve already sold it.”
“Can you get another one?”
“Maybe, but the price has gone up. Seventy-five bucks.”
“I can get seventy-five. When can you get the tablet?”
“Here, tomorrow. Same time, same place.”
“You got it.”
They shook hands and Tony left. He walked inside the main building and sent a text to Woody. No deal, maybe tomorrow.
Theo’s Monday morning had been uneventful. During homeroom, Mr. Mount made a big deal out of welcoming him and Woody back to school, and there were some smart comments from his classmates. Most, though, seemed to be proud of their two buddies for not being afraid to take a stand. In first period Spanish, Madame Monique asked Theo how he was doing and seemed a little too concerned about him. He brushed it off and said everything was fine. In second period Geometry, Mrs. Garman acted as though nothing had happened, which suited Theo just fine. During the morning break, April informed Theo that Rodney had passed along the news that Jonah Finn had been in homeroom, but then disappeared. Rodney did not know where he was.
While Jonah was napping in the library study room, Detective Vorman arrived at the school and met with Mrs. Gladwell. The two of them casually walked to a row of seventh-grade lockers, not far from Theo’s, and she punched in the code for Jonah’s. Inside they found the usual assortment of textbooks, notebooks, supplies, and junk. Hidden in a three-ring binder were two brand-new Linx 0–4 Tablets. They took them back to her office where Detective Vorman, using rubber gloves, removed the back panels and wrote down the registration numbers. They then returned to Jonah’s locker and carefully replaced the tablets in the three-ring binder.
Detective Vorman thanked Mrs. Gladwell, left the school, and went to his desk at the police station where he checked the registration numbers against the list from Big Mac’s System. Not surprisingly, they matched. He reported his findings to Detective Hamilton, and they decided to get a search warrant for the Finn home. Vorman filled in the blanks of a standard affidavit, a sworn written statement, and set forth the details of what he had found. He also included a statement that the subject’s brother, Jessie Finn, had “allegedly” attempted to sell a Linx 0–4 Tablet to a classmate the previous week. Once the affidavit was completed and signed by Detective Vorman, he prepared a two-page search warrant in which he described the area he wished to search-the Finn home and its outbuildings. With his paperwork done, he walked four blocks down Main Street to the courthouse and left the affidavit and search warrant with the secretary for Judge Daniel Showalter, Youth Court, Division 1. The secretary informed him that the judge was in the middle of a hearing, and it might be two hours before he could review the affidavit and search warrant.
Detective Vorman walked back to his office, confident he had solved another crime, though a rather small one. He would have preferred to spend his time chasing drug dealers and serious criminals.
Chapter 23
At 3:15 Monday afternoon, Detective Vorman arrived at the school and went to Mrs. Gladwell’s office. He waited as she walked to a classroom on the second floor and pulled Jonah Finn out of last period study hall. Jonah, who had already endured a half-day suspension, mumbled, “What’s the matter now?” as he followed her from the room.
“Just follow me,” she said, and the two walked without a word back to her office. They waited in the reception area by Miss Gloria’s desk as the last bell rang and the students rushed out of the building. During the chaos of dismissal, Jonah and Mrs. Gladwell stepped into her office and closed the door. Vorman stood, flashed a badge, and said, “Are you Jonah Finn?”
He replied, “Yes.” He looked at Mrs. Gladwell for help.
“Have a seat,” Vorman said. “I’d like to ask you some questions.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Maybe.”
Jonah sat down and put his backpack in his lap. He was obviously frightened and not sure what to do or say.
Vorman sat on the edge of the desk and looked down at Jonah. It was not a fair fight. A tough cop in a dark suit and a frightful scowl glaring down at a scared, skinny kid with bangs in his eyes. Vorman knew exactly where the conversation was going; Jonah wasn’t so sure.
The detective began: “We’re investigating a burglary that happened last week at a computer store downtown, Big Mac’s Systems, and I just have a few routine questions. That’s all.”
Jonah took a deep breath, almost gasped, and dropped his head. He stared at the floor, his mouth open in shock. Vorman had never seen a guiltier face. “That cell phone you got busted with this morning, where did you get it?”
“Uh, I bought it.”
Vorman opened his notepad, licked his pen, and asked, “Okay, who’d you buy it from?”
“Uh, some guy named Randy.”
Vorman scribbled on his notepad and asked, “How much did you pay for it?”
“Uh, fifty dollars.”
“The phone was stolen from Big Mac’s. Did you know it was stolen when you bought it?”
“No, sir, I swear.”
“What’s Randy’s last name?”
“Uh, I’m not sure.”
“Do you know where he lives? Where I can find him and go talk to him?”
“No, sir.”
“Okay, so this mysterious guy Randy just pops up and offers to sell you a brand-new SmartPhone for fifty bucks, one that’s valued at three hundred, and you don’t think it might be stolen?”
“No, sir.”
“That’s not too smart on your part, is it?”
“I guess not.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“No, sir.”
