The line between right and wrong had always been clear; now, though, nothing was clear. The wrongs were piling on top of him. It was wrong for someone to break into his locker and plant stolen loot with the obvious goal of getting him in serious trouble. It was wrong for someone to stalk him, to slash his tires and throw a rock through his window. Theo had done nothing wrong, yet he was now being treated like a criminal. The police had the wrong suspect. The police were wrong in not believing him, and if Theo were to be charged by the police, another wrong would occur. It was wrong for Theo to jump into the fight, though his father and Vince and Ike seemed to think it was not so wrong. Was it wrong for Theo to break an office rule and steal a password, all in an effort to prevent another, much larger wrong? Could doing something wrong lead to the right result?
It was all so confusing, but Theo trusted Ike, and Ike had no doubt that taking the password was the right thing to do.
Theo led Judge back to his office and told him to take a nap. When the dog was situated, Theo eased down the hallway and listened for voices. Dorothy and Elsa were talking about recipes. No sound from his father upstairs—Woods Boone was known to take his own nap during lunch. Theo slipped into Vince’s office, closed the door, and locked it. He sat in Vince’s chair, and, careful not to disturb anything on his desk, examined his PC. The screen saver was a stock photo of a sunset over the ocean. Theo clicked on Main Menu, then on InfoBrief. A password was demanded, so he exited and went to My Computer. He clicked on Desktop, then Control Panel, then System and Security, then Passwords. Vince had a lot of passwords, and Theo felt like a creep for looking at them. Passwords for online retail accounts, cell phones, two dating sites, a travel site, fantasy football, and at least a dozen others. At the end of the list was InfoBrief, and Theo clicked on it. The password Avalanche88TeeBone33 appeared. Theo quickly wrote it down, then exited to Main Menu. He clicked on InfoBrief, entered the password, and the screen went blank for five seconds until “InfoBrief-Boone & Boone-Account Code: 647R” appeared. Theo wrote down the code and clicked on Enter. A long list of case names appeared, names such as
Denise Sneiter versus William B. Sneiter
, and Theo knew he had found his mother’s divorce cases. He quickly exited, returned to the screen saver, and stood without touching anything else. He took a deep breath and turned the doorknob, certain that someone was outside just waiting to pounce on him. But the coast was clear, and he hurried back to his little office where his dog was still sleeping and everything was safe.
Theo knew that the InfoBrief account would record an entry at 12:14 p.m., Friday, from Vince’s computer, but he doubted if it would be noticed anytime soon. If anyone questioned him, he would simply deny everything. It was, after all, Friday afternoon and there was a good chance neither Vince nor his mother nor anyone else would use InfoBrief until Monday morning, and, more importantly, the system’s entry record was not something that was routinely pulled up and examined.
Though his little crime so far seemed perfect, Theo felt lousy about it. He debated whether he would actually give Ike the password and code, and as the minutes passed he was inclined not to. It was one thing to sneak around and lift them from Vince’s lightly secured computer, but it was something far more serious for Ike to actually open the files and dig for sensitive information.
His mother arrived just before 1:00 p.m. She had brought lunch and they ate at the conference room table with Mr. Boone. The mood was somber and they talked about things other than Theo’s mess. As he nibbled on a sandwich, he was tempted to bring up the idea that the conspiracy against him could be related to one of his mother’s bad divorce cases, but Ike had told him to wait.
So he waited.
Theo was in his office, plowing through homework and watching the clock move slowly, when Elsa buzzed him through the phone intercom. “Theo, there’s someone here to see you,” she said.
“Who is it?” he asked, startled and then afraid the police were back.
“A friend.”
Theo hurried to the front of the building. Standing awkwardly by Elsa’s desk was Griff, who, when last seen the morning before, was receiving suspension from Mrs. Gladwell just like Theo. They walked into the conference room and Theo closed the door. They sat in the heavy leather chairs and Griff looked around the room. “Pretty cool,” he said. “Is this yours?”
“I use it sometimes,” Theo said. “I have a small office in the back.”
After an awkward pause, Griff asked, “Did your parents yell at you?”
“Not too bad. What about you?”
“They weren’t too happy. I’m grounded for a month, extra work around the house, no allowance for two weeks, but I guess it could’ve been worse.”
“Sounds pretty bad.”
“Look, Theo, the reason I’m here is that my parents want me to apologize for the fight. So, I apologize.”
“No problem,” Theo said. “I apologize, too. It was all pretty stupid, you know?”
“Yep, pretty stupid. Baxter’s got a big mouth and it gets him in trouble.”
“Baxter apologized, too. Let’s forget about it.”
“Done.” Another pause, but Griff had something else on his mind. “Look, Theo, the rumor is that the cops think you broke into Big Mac’s and stole a bunch of stuff and some of it was found in your locker. Is that right?”
Theo nodded.
“Well, I find it hard to believe because I don’t think you would break into a store at night and steal stuff, you know. That’s not like you.”
“Tell that to the police.”
“I will if you want me to.”
“Thanks.”
“Anyway, Big Mac has been telling people in the store that the police have caught the thief, Theodore Boone, and that they found three Linx 0-4 Tablets in your locker. I guess the guy’s got a big mouth.”
Theo’s shoulders sunk and he looked out a window. “I guess he does.”
“You wanna hear something strange? My sister Amy is in the tenth grade and she knows a guy named Benny. He’s not a boyfriend or anything like that, just a friend. This guy Benny knows a guy named Gordy, and, according to Gordy, some guy offered to sell him an 0-4 Tablet for fifty dollars a couple of days ago at school, in the parking lot. Brand new, still in the box. Those things cost four hundred dollars, and this guy is trying to sell one for fifty. You gotta figure it’s stolen, right?”
“Right,” Theo said, suddenly staring at Griff. “What’s his name?”
“I don’t know, but I can probably find out. How many of the 0-4s were stolen?”
“I’m not sure, but I think more than three, along with some laptops and cell phones.”
“Why would someone plant the stuff in your locker and then call the police?”
“That’s the key question here, Griff, the one we’re trying to answer. Look, there can’t be too many stolen 0-4s on the black market out there. We need to get the name of the guy who’s trying to sell them. And the sooner the better. Can you talk to your sister?”
“Sure I can.”
“Please do it, Griff. And hurry.”
Griff hustled away and Theo returned to his office. The suspension was really getting old.
At 3:45, his mother gave him permission to leave the office for personal reasons. Theo said good-bye to Judge and sped away on his bike. School was out, for the day and for the week, and other kids were loose on the streets of Strattenburg, ready to play and enjoy the short break. Theo was happy that the week was over. It had begun Monday with a slashed front tire and plunged straight downhill from there. He was also worried, and for obvious reasons. If he didn’t find out who was after him, and quickly, the upcoming week could be even worse.
Major Ludwig was waiting in the basement of the VFW building, the home of Boy Scout Troop 1440. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. sharp, but the Major expected his scouts to arrive at least five minutes early. He despised tardiness and was known to bark and growl if you showed up late for anything. Theo arrived at 3:57. Brian and Edward, two friends from Mr. Mount’s homeroom, were there, along with Sam, Isaac, and Bart, three seventh graders. All six Scouts had signed on for the Aviation merit badge, and Major Ludwig would be their counselor. He had flown fighter jets in the Marines and now worked part-time as a flight instructor at the city airport.
At first, Theo was a little awkward around Brian and Edward, his classmates. He wasn’t sure if he should feel embarrassed, or proud. How much gossip was making the rounds at school in his absence? Plenty, he figured. The Major sensed the unease and wasted no time in discussing his plans.
“This is going to be very exciting,” he began. “I’ve been flying for almost forty years, and I have loved every minute of it. We are going to study airplanes—piston engines, turboprops, and jets. We’re going to build a model airplane, powered by batteries and able to climb to an altitude of two hundred feet. This will teach you the principles of flight—airspeed, lift, drag, aerodynamics—as well as the control surfaces—the ailerons, elevators, and rudder. You will learn how to read an aeronautical chart and plot a course for a real flight, a flight you will make using some really cool simulator software. We will visit the airport here in Strattenburg, look at various airplanes, then climb up into the tower and watch the air traffic controller as he directs traffic. There’s not a lot of traffic here, but it will still be interesting to see how a controller handles things. Then, last but not least, when you’ve learned all the basics, we’ll go for a real flight. With your parents’ permission, I’ll take you up two at a time in my little Cessna. We’ll climb to about five thousand feet, and I’ll let you handle the airplane. I’ll keep my hands on the controls at all times, but you’ll get a real good feel for the airplane. We’ll do turns, climbs, and descents. We’ll pick a beautiful day so you’ll have a perfect bird’s-eye view of where we live and the land around us. How about it, men? Sound like fun?”
The six boys were in a trance, thoroughly engrossed in their upcoming adventure. All six nodded eagerly. For the moment, Theo forgot about his problems. The Major handed out Aviation merit badge booklets and outlined the assignment for their meeting next Friday, then he picked up a large model airplane, the same one he used for real instruction, and began describing its various parts.
Theo, ever the dreamer, began thinking of how cool it would be to fly airplanes—fighter jets and 747s. What a great life—first the adventure of dogfights high above the battlefield, then traveling the world as the captain of a luxury commercial airliner. He had always wanted to be a lawyer, but right now the law had lost some of its appeal. Being a pilot seemed far more exciting.
At 5:00 p.m. sharp, the Major said the meeting was over. When they gathered for the next meeting, he expected all assignments to be in perfect order. As the Scouts said their good-byes, he waited until they were almost out of the door when he said, “Say, Theo, could I have a word with you?”
“Sure, Major,” Theo said. The other Scouts got on their bikes and left. Theo and the Major stood near the door.
“None of my business,” the Major said, “but I hear things are not going too well, some kind of problem with the police involving a burglary. I’m not being nosy, Theo, I’m just concerned.”
Theo nodded and for a second thought it would be wiser to reveal nothing. However, with his face plastered all over the Internet, his name linked to the crime, and his guilt already determined, it seemed silly acting as though he couldn’t talk about it. “Yes, sir,” he said. “It looks like I’m the number one suspect.”
“So you’ve met with the police?”
“Several times.” In fact, Theo could not remember how many times. “They don’t believe me, and they seem determined to charge me with the crime.”
“That’s absurd, Theo.”
“I sure think so.”
“Look, Theo, I do some volunteer work in Youth Court. If a kid in trouble needs a volunteer, someone to listen to him and give him advice, the Court will appoint me to lend a hand. The kid has a lawyer, of course, but you know how busy lawyers are. I work with the lawyer to do what’s best for the kid. My point is that I know both of the Youth Court judges very well. I’ll be happy to get involved on your behalf if you would like, not as a volunteer because you don’t need one, but as someone who can talk to the judges off the record. The idea of accusing you of a burglary is ridiculous.”
Theo felt himself getting choked up, but managed to say, “Thanks, Major.”
“I know you’re innocent, Theo, and I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“Thanks,” Theo said, trying to hide his emotions.
Chapter 18
The Major shook hands with Theo, gave him a pat on the back, and closed the door behind him. When Theo was outside he walked to his bike and got on it. He pushed off, felt something strange, and realized his front tire was flat.
A sharp pain hit low in his stomach, and Theo wasn’t sure if it was anger or fear, or both. He looked around to see if anyone was watching, then he stared at the tire and thought about what he should do next. Nothing came to mind. He was so angry and confused his brain was a jumbled mess. Slowly, he got off his bike and looked at the front tire. The small gash looked familiar.
He decided not to bother the Major, so he began pushing his bike through the parking lot of the VFW and onto the sidewalk. The more he walked, the clearer he could think. How many people knew he would be at a merit badge meeting on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.? He suddenly had five suspects—the other Scouts. Brian and Edward from his homeroom, and Bart, Isaac, and Sam from the seventh grade. They had parked their bikes in the same rack Theo had parked his, and when his departure was delayed by the Major, there was the split-second opportunity for one of them to stick a knife in his front tire.