“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?”

“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.”