The bus ride home went quickly, and I was glad to be back in Little River. The next step was deciding what to do with the information I now had that would save Amber.
I thought the house was empty when I first got home, since the car wasn't in the driveway. When I walked past the living room, though, I saw Dad sitting in his easy chair, reading the paper. He put it aside when he saw me and beckoned me into the room.
“So, Shelby,” he asked in a tone that was just a little
too
casual. “Would you like to tell me what you were up to today?”
“I was with Greg,” I answered Dad's question with a sinking heart. “I thought I told you and Mom that he and I had plans today.”
“So you did.” He looked serious. “In fact, you mentioned it more than once. Three or four times, if I'm not mistaken. Bit of overkill, wouldn't you say?”
“What do you mean?” I could feel my face getting warm and tried to take deep, even breaths to calm myself. Turning red wouldn't do anything to help me look innocent.
“I mean that I know my daughter well enough to see when she's up to something. Want to tell me about it?”
I didn't. Not at all. But it wasn't as if I had a choice. Somehow, I'd given myself away, though I can never understand out how parents figure these things out. It's
like they have some kind of radar, sort of like the way dogs hear sounds no one else can hear.
I sank down onto the couch and faced him, though it was pretty hard to look him in the eye. And I told him the whole story, from start to finish. He didn't interrupt.
“So you went to Veander.”
“Yes.”
“Bit of a waste of money, wasn't it?”
“I
had
to go.” Hadn't he heard me explain how we'd found the watch, the evidence that would help to clear Amber's name?
“Well, yes, I can see that. But I'd have driven you over if you'd asked.”
“You
would
have?”
“Sure.”
“You'd have let me go? And not said anything to the police first?”
“Listen, munchkin, I have no problem with what you did. None. Only with the way you went about it, being sneaky and all. You tend to make these assumptions about your mother and I that end up backfiring on you. If you'd told us the truth right from the start, we'd have done anything we could to help.”
“I didn't know ⦔ I trailed off, searching for words, feeling ashamed. “I thought if I told you what was going on ⦔
“We'd have mucked it all up somehow?”
“I guess.” I figure I was about the same shade of red as a checker piece by then. “I'm sorry, Dad.”
“Well, now, nothing to be sorry about.” He reached across and patted my arm, which almost made me cry. “You're a great girl and your mother and I are always proud of you.
“You did a wonderful thing, solving this robbery business and helping your friend. And I'm not trying to take away any of the thrill that must give you. I just want you to see that you can trust us. With anything.”
I did cry then, but I'm not exactly sure why since I wasn't in trouble after all. It seemed that Dad being so understanding and nice about it somehow made me feel worse than if he'd grounded me.
When I'd gotten myself under control, dried my tears, and blown my nose, I asked Dad what he thought I should do next. I explained my one remaining worry.
“I'm a bit afraid the police might not listen to me, seeing as I'm just a kid. Especially since they had the crazy idea I might have been involved.”
“Sadly enough, you could be right.”
“The worst thing is that they might resent the fact that they made a mistake in arresting Amber for the robberies. And the watch at the pawnshop doesn't prove Tony committed those, just the thefts at school. They might dismiss what I tell them as not being related.”
He nodded but didn't make any suggestions or offer to help. It occurred to me that he could be waiting for me to ask first.
“Will you go with me? To the police station? They'd listen to you.”
“Of course I will. Be glad to.” His face told me I'd been right, he'd been hoping I'd ask him to go along. “Your mother should be home shortly. We'll go then.”
Mom did indeed arrive not long after that, but there was a delay while Dad filled her in on everything before we left for the police station. He made it easy on me (not that I deserved it) by talking to her himself while I stayed in my room feeling cowardly. He must have done a good job smoothing things over, because she didn't seem cross when I finally emerged and faced her.
When we got to the police station Dad asked to speak to the desk sergeant, and a moment later an officer came along.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“You can. My daughter here, Shelby, has some important information related to the recent robberies in Little River.”
We were ushered into an interview room right away and the officer sat down with us, leaning forward to listen.
I explained about the thefts at school, and how the robberies had started when everyone began to take precautions
to prevent anything further being stolen from lockers and so on.
“You should have at least one of these on file,” I added. “Laura Peters's watch was stolen first, and I'm pretty sure she reported it to the police.”
“Yes, I recall seeing that file.” He nodded encouragingly. I got the feeling he was waiting for me to say something incriminating about Amber.
I went on and told him about how I'd become suspicious of one of the students and detailed the various things that had happened. Then I told him about the trip to the pawnshop and how the stolen watch was there. It wasn't until I mentioned Tony Carter that his expression changed.
“Our suspect is another individual,” he commented, as though everyone in town didn't already know that.
“But she didn't do it. Tony did.”
“Well, I'm sure you mean to help.” His voice was condescending, which really annoyed me. “But there's no reason to think the stolen watch has any connection to the robberies. One is petty theft, the other armed robbery. There's quite a difference.”
Then his tone turned downright dismissive and he told us he appreciated us coming and he'd look into the matter of the watch.
“Aren't you even going to check it out?” I know I sounded desperate, which was how I felt at the moment.
It looked as if everything I'd done was for nothing.
“We'll question the youth,” he said in a way that made me feel I was being humoured.
“What about the key?”
“What about it?”
“Aren't you going to see if it fits the Carters' door?” I explained about the initials on the key chain and how they fit Tony as well as Amber.
“We'll look into it.” His voice was unconvinced, and he seemed tired and disinterested. I was furious.
“I certainly hope you'll investigate this thoroughly,” Dad spoke for the first time since the interview had begun. His tone was firm and almost angry. He looked as if he was going to add something bordering on a threat, probably about the press, but before he could go on, I thought of something else.
“Remember how Mrs. Carter gave a statement about seeing Amber the night of the gas station robbery?” I blurted, not ready to accept defeat. “Why would she have done that, unless she was trying to protect her son?”
That was the turning point. Though his expression didn't change, I could see something in the officer's eyes that told me he was finally interested in my theory.
“We
will
look into it,” he said in a new tone. Relief washed over me. I knew that he meant it this time and that he'd keep his word.
“Oh, Shelby!” Amber's voice was breathless and happy. “It's over. The police have dropped the charges against me.”
After all the anxiety and mental strain of the past weeks I actually felt myself sag with relief at the announcement. It was as if all the energy had drained out of me.
“That's great, Amber!” was all I could think to say.
“I guess they found out who really did it and have already made another arrest. And I thought they weren't even looking for anyone else.”
I could have told her that I was the one who'd solved the crime and gone to the police. But I didn't. It might have sounded as if I was bragging or looking for thanks from her. The truth was that since the day I'd tricked her into picking up my watch in the girls' room
at school, I'd felt I owed her something. Now I could stop feeling guilty about that.
The very next day I had a surprise phone call from the desk sergeant I'd spoken to about Tony.
“Miss Belgarden,” his voice boomed in the receiver, “I want to congratulate you on a fine piece of detective work. I checked out the lead you gave us and you were right on.”
“So the key fit the Carters' door?” I asked.
“Nope, we tried both doors, but it didn't work in either.”
“Then how â¦?”
“I was convinced you were on to something. What you said about his mother protecting him made me keep looking. So I started calling locksmiths and found out that Mrs. Carter had the lock to the front door replaced a few weeks ago. The locksmith who'd taken out the old set had kept it, since it still worked just fine. The key fit that lock.”
“Wow! That was pretty smart,” I blurted, realizing too late that the surprised tone of my voice might be insulting. But the officer only laughed.
“Well, thanks. Actually, we should have picked up on that earlier. Any experienced officer knows that things that don't fit are often important pieces of evidence. We should have realized that something was up when Mrs. Carter made the false report. She's not a
crank who does that sort of thing. But we were caught up in investigating Miss Chapman, and missed it.”
“I was worried that you were so sure Amber was guilty you might not check out my story,” I confessed.
“Heck, we're just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else,” he replied. “But we're willing to admit when we're wrong.”
I'd been pretty disgusted with the police before talking to the sergeant, but afterward I had a whole new opinion. I realized they'd done what anyone would do with the information they had. It was true that it had all seemed to point toward Amber.
And of course I'd been in a position to see things they couldn't â because I was around Tony. They didn't know about his “lucky” deck of cards, or his weekends in Veander, or the other things that had led me to the conclusion I'd reached. If they'd missed the clue about his mother, it was the only thing they'd overlooked.
Greg's prediction about what would happen at school turned out to be absolutely correct. Everyone was enormously embarrassed for the way they'd treated us and went out of their way to make amends. Amber was suddenly swamped with people wanting to be friends with her. Only this time she accepted friendly overtures graciously, and before long it seemed she was the most popular student at Little River High. There
were even a few other girls who started wearing unusual outfits, trying to copy her unique style.
Betts was almost shy when she first came back to sit at our table at lunch, which, if you know Betts, is highly out of character. I could see that she was uncomfortable and maybe a little ashamed for not sticking with us when things got rough. But there have been lots of times when Betts has been there for me when I was down or having some sort of problem, and remembering that helped me get past any resentment I might have felt over her bailing on us this time. In no time things were back to normal and we were hanging out at each other's places as usual.
Amber (and everyone else) found out about my involvement in solving the crime because of Greg, even though I'd asked him not to say anything. She and her father showed up at our door one evening, and once they'd come in and been introduced to my parents, Amber drew me aside to speak privately for a moment.
“Greg filled me in on everything you did,” she said softly. “You know, I feel so bad when I think of the way I acted the first day we met. I was just so unhappy at the time that I was horrid to you.”
“It's okay.” I hugged her, remembering how lost and sad she'd been. “I understand. Anyway, it all turned out okay and that's what matters.”
“I can never tell you how much I appreciate what you did for my daughter,” her father told me. He was all misty-eyed and choked up, which made me feel like crying myself, though that would have been dumb. He shook my hand solemnly and told my parents what a fine young woman I was to have helped someone I barely knew.
“You must have done a great job raising her,” he added, and there was pain in his voice. I figured he was thinking with regret about his own daughter and how she'd taken second place to her mother's new husband and to her father's job. I was glad his eyes had been opened and he was going to change things for her.
Then he told us that his company had agreed to give him a permanent job in Mississauga and that Amber would be going to live with him once the school year ended. I was really happy for her.
When they were leaving, he gave me a large manila envelope. I opened it after they were gone and saw that it held a thank-you card and another large envelope. The card read:
Once in a long while in this journey we call life (and only if we are very, very lucky) we encounter those rare individuals whose selfless actions make our world a better place. You are such a person. It will give us great
pleasure if you will accept this small token of our appreciation and esteem.
Curious, I drew a single sheet from the other envelope, then gasped as I saw that it was a certificate bearing my name. What he'd referred to as a “small token” was a scholarship fund in the amount of ten thousand dollars!