Theo was horrified at the idea of the two detectives lining up his friends for questioning. Word would soon spread that Theo was under suspicion, that the cops were hot on his trail. Theo needed help. Mrs. Gladwell was doing her best to protect him, but Theo needed more firepower.
The door burst open and Ike stormed in. “What’s going on here!?” he demanded. “Theo, are you okay?”
“Not really,” Theo said.
Vorman stood and said, “I’m Detective Vorman, Strattenburg P.D. and this is my partner, Detective Hamilton. Who, may I ask, are you?” The introductions were stiff; none of the three men made any effort to shake hands.
“Ike Boone, formerly of Boone & Boone, attorneys, and Theo is my nephew.”
“And I’m Mrs. Gladwell, the principal. Welcome to my office.”
Ike nodded slightly and said, “A pleasure. I think we’ve met before. Now what’s going on?”
“Are you a lawyer?” Vorman asked.
Ike replied, “Former lawyer. Right now I’m Theo’s uncle, adviser, consultant, guardian, and anything else I need to be. If you want lawyers, just give me an hour or so and I’ll have them lined up.” Ike was wearing his usual attire: faded jeans, sandals with no socks, an ancient Red Stripe Beer T-shirt under a ragged brown-plaid sports coat, and his long, gray hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. He was highly agitated and looking for a fight, and Theo realized at that moment that he could have no better protector.
Detective Hamilton read the situation perfectly and took over. In a calm voice he said, “Fine, Mr. Boone. A computer store on Main Street was broken into last night. This morning we received an anonymous tip that some of the loot could be found in the locker of one Theodore Boone, here at the school. Theo consented to a search of his locker, and we found these three Linx 0-4 Tablets, valued at about four hundred dollars each. The owner of the store has checked the serial numbers and identified his goods.”
“Perfect!” Ike said loudly. “Then we know exactly who robbed the store. The punk who gave you the anonymous tip. Why aren’t you chasing him down instead of harassing Theo?”
“No harassment, Mr. Boone,” Hamilton said. “We are merely conducting an investigation, part of which is an effort to track down the anonymous caller. We’re trying to cover everything right now, okay?”
Ike took a breath and looked at his nephew. “Are you okay, Theo?”
“I guess,” he replied, but he was not. Two slashed bike tires, a rock through his window with broken glass all over him and his dog, the first invasion into his locker and the stolen cap, and now this. Someone was tormenting him, and doing a fine job of it.
Mrs. Gladwell said, “Well if you want my opinion, and we are in my office so I’ll just go ahead and give it anyway, the police have every right to pursue an investigation, as long as it does not disrupt my school. It’s also my opinion that Theodore Boone didn’t steal anything.”
The three men nodded. Theo agreed completely but didn’t move a muscle.
“What’s next?” Ike snarled at the detectives.
Detective Hamilton replied, “Well, we would like Theo to come down to the police station so we can take a formal statement from him. Just a routine matter. Then we’d like to talk to some of the other students.”
Theo had watched enough television to know that a trip downtown usually meant handcuffs and a ride in the back of the patrol car, and for a split second he was amused by the idea. He had never been handcuffed before, nor had he seen the backseat of a police car, and the entire adventure would be fun to talk about later, long after he was cleared. But any amusement soon faded when he realized that the gossip would race through the school and the town and soon the whole world would know that Theo was the prime suspect.
“School’s out at three thirty, right?” Ike asked Mrs. Gladwell.
“That’s correct.”
“Good. I’ll have Theo at the police station at four o’clock this afternoon, if that suits you. I’m sure his parents will be with him.”
The detectives exchanged glances, and it was obvious neither wanted to argue with Ike about this. “When can we have a chat with the other students?” Vorman asked.
“Well, I suppose at three thirty,” Mrs. Gladwell said.
“Whose lockers are next to yours, Theo?” Hamilton asked.
“Woody, Chase, Joey, Ricardo, most of the guys in my homeroom,” Theo replied. “Darren is directly below me.”
Vorman looked at Hamilton and said, “We’ll need to check with the lab and see if they can dust the area for fingerprints.”
“Right,” Hamilton replied. “And we’ll need to print you, too, Theo. We can do it this afternoon when you come in.”
“You want my fingerprints?” Theo asked.
“Of course.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Ike said. “I’ll discuss it with his parents.”
“I don’t care,” Theo said. “Take them. You won’t find any of my prints on those tablets because I’ve never touched them. And if you want to you can give me a lie detector test, fine. I have nothing to hide.”
“We’ll see,” Vorman said. The detectives were suddenly in a hurry to leave. Hamilton flipped his notepad shut and stuck it in a coat pocket. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Gladwell,” he said, standing. “And thanks, Theo, for your cooperation. Mr. Boone, it’s been a real pleasure.”
After they left, Theo sat down in the chair that Hamilton had used. “There’s something else we need to talk about,” he said, and Ike fell into the other chair. As Mrs. Gladwell listened intently, Theo described his two slashed tires, one of which happened on school property. When Theo recounted the story of the rock crashing into his office the day before, Ike said, “Someone’s after you.”
“No kidding,” Theo said.
Chapter 9
Not surprisingly, the situation changed dramatically when Theo’s mother got involved.
Theo called her during lunch, and fifteen minutes later she was at the school, in Mrs. Gladwell’s office, demanding answers. She was furious that Theo had been interrogated by the police without his parents being present, but Mrs. Gladwell assured her that Theo handled himself well. He was cautious with his answers and gave the officers as little information as possible. The search of his locker was unavoidable because the school had the right to open it for any good reason. School policy required Mrs. Gladwell and all other administrators to fully cooperate with law enforcement officials in all situations.
Mrs. Boone initially wanted to take Theo from school, to her office, and then to the police station. Mrs. Gladwell, though, thought it wiser to wait until classes were over. Theo had already been yanked out of class once that Wednesday, and to do so again would only create even more suspicion. Just keep things as normal as possible, she advised. Then she went on to discuss the rest of Theo’s rather exciting week. Theo had not yet told his parents about his slashed tires and the first locker break-in, and his mother was shocked to learn of these episodes. She was more than a bit irritated that Theo had kept it all quiet.
As she was leaving, she asked Mrs. Gladwell to give Theo strict instructions to go straight to the office after school.
At 3:30, Detective Hamilton was waiting in Mr. Mount’s classroom. He had called Mr. Mount and asked him to “invite” Darren, Woody, Chase, Joey, and Ricardo to hang around after school for a brief meeting. With Mr. Mount present, the detective spoke with each boy separately, and briefly. Darren was first, and after establishing the exact location of his locker in an enlarged photo, the detective asked, “What time did you first go to your locker this morning?”
Darren shrugged and said, “When I got to school, just before homeroom.”
“And homeroom begins when?”
“Eight forty.”
“Why did you go to your locker?”
“To get some books and drop off some books, same as always.”
“Did you see Theo Boone at the locker this morning?”
Darren
thought for a second, shrugged again, and said, “I don’t think so. I think Theo was already in homeroom.”
“Who do you remember seeing at your locker this morning?”
Another pause as he pondered the question. “Ricardo, maybe Woody. Just some of the guys. I really didn’t stop and think about who I was seeing at the time. We’re usually in a hurry to get to homeroom.”
“Did you see anyone near the lockers who didn’t belong there?” Hamilton asked slowly.
“Like who?”
“Like anybody who shouldn’t have been hanging around your lockers?”
“Did somebody do something wrong?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out, Darren. Did you see a stranger around the lockers at any time before ten o’clock this morning?”
“A stranger? Like an adult?”
“An adult, another student, anyone who would not normally be hanging around the locker area on this end of the hallway?”