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“How many students are in the middle school, Theo?” Mrs. Boone asked.
“Five sections in grades five through eight. That’s about eighty for each grade, times four, so somewhere around three hundred and twenty.”
“Let’s eliminate the girls,” Mr. Boone said. “I can’t see a girl slashing tires or throwing rocks through windows.”
“I don’t know, Dad. We have some pretty rough girls in our school.”
“Humor me for now, Theo. We can talk about the girls later.”
“Okay, now we’re down to a hundred and sixty boys,” Theo said. “Where do we start?”
The trail suddenly seemed a bit cooler. Mr. and Mrs. Boone knew Theo was a popular kid who did not bully or fight or start trouble.
Mr. Boone said, “We know your friends, Theo, but that’s only a handful. We don’t know the majority of the students at school. Why don’t you make a list of possible suspects? Kids you’ve had disagreements with. Kids who may carry a grudge for something that happened recently, or a year ago.”
“What about the Debate Team?” Mrs. Boone asked. “You’ve never lost a debate. Maybe someone on the losing side got their feelings hurt.”
“Maybe one of your fellow Scouts is jealous,” added Mr. Boone.
Theo was nodding along, his mind racing and trying to imagine possible enemies. He said, “Well, I’m sure there are kids who don’t like me, but why this? It seems like they’re going overboard to settle a grudge, a grudge I know nothing about.”
“Indeed it does,” said Mrs. Boone.
“Think about it, Theo. Make a list of your top suspects, and we’ll discuss them over di
“I’ll try,” Theo said.
Chapter 11
Thursday morning. Theo was wide awake when his alarm rang at 7:30. There was a knot in his stomach, and he was certain he was too sick to go to school. He stared at the ceiling and waited for his illness to grow worse, to hopefully become a full-blown bout of nausea that would make him heave and vomit. His head hurt, too, and he was convinced a migraine was on its way, though he had never had one. Minutes passed, unfortunately his condition did not deteriorate.
How could he walk into school and face all the suspicion? How could he survive the jokes and snide comments and teasing? If there had ever been a perfect day to skip school, play hooky, call in sick, whatever, then it was today.
Judge moved first. He popped up from under the bed and was ready to go. Theo envied him. His day would be spent at the office, sleeping next to Elsa’s desk, roaming from one room to the next, hanging out in the kitchen looking for food, and napping in Theo’s office, waiting for him to arrive from school. No worries, no stress, no fears of someone stalking him and plotting more mischief. What a life, thought Theo. A dog’s life. It didn’t seem fair.
Theo sat on the edge of his bed, waited for a moment in hopes he would throw up, but soon admitted that he was feeling better. Judge just stared at him. There were footsteps outside his door, then a gentle knock. “Theo,” his mother said softly. “Are you awake?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Theo said in a fake scratchy voice, as if he might be taking his last breath.
She opened the door, stepped inside, and sat next to him on the bed. “Here, I brought you a cup of hot chocolate.” Theo took the cup and held it with both hands. The aroma was strong and delicious.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked. She was still in her heavy bathrobe and her favorite pink fuzzy slippers.
“Not really,” Theo said. “I had this nightmare that wouldn’t go away.”
“Tell me about it,” she said as she tussled his hair.
Theo took a sip of the hot chocolate and smacked his lips. “It was a really weird dream that made no sense at all, and it seemed to go on and on. I was ru
Theo paused, took another sip. Judge was staring at him with only one thought—where’s breakfast?
“Did you get away?” his mom asked. She seemed to be amused by the story.
“I’m not sure. I don’t think I finished the dream. We were ru
He took another sip.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Don’t know. That dive lasted for a long time, and I woke up before I hit the water. I tried to go back to sleep to finish the dive but couldn’t get it to work.”
“That’s a pretty cool dream, Theo. Lots of action and excitement.”
“It wasn’t very cool at the time. I was scared to death. You ever been shot at by the police?”
“No, I have not. You were going to think about some possible enemies who might be carrying a grudge of some sort.”
Theo took another sip and thought for a moment. “Come on, Mom. Kids don’t have enemies, do they? Look, we all have people we don’t like, and don’t like us, right? But I can’t think of a single person I’d call an enemy.”
“Fair enough. Who is the kid who dislikes you the most?”
“Betty A
“And what’s the history?”
“We had a debate several months ago, boys versus girls. The issue was gun control. Things got pretty heated, but it was all fair. We won the debate and she was really upset. I heard later that she called me a ‘jerk’ and a ‘cheap-shot artist.’ I’ve seen her almost every day since then, and she gives me these looks like she would love to slit my throat.”
“You should reach out to her, Theo.”
“No way.”
“And why not?”
“I’m afraid she’ll slit my throat.”
“Could she slash your tires and throw a rock through a window?”
Theo shook his head and thought for a second. “Not really. She’s a nice girl, but she’s not very popular. I kinda feel sorry for her. She’s not our suspect.”
“So who is?”
“I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”