“Help! Someone! I’ve been robbed!”

I snapped my head up, stopped picking my way through the puddles covering the sidewalk, and ran in the direction of the cry. My sneakers squished as I cut across the wet grassy area surrounding the small apartment complex. I turned a corner, slipped, and met the turf face first.

“Hey - you!” A burly kid a couple years older and six inches taller hauled me to my feet. “Where do you think you’re going?” 

“I heard someone shout,” I said. “I was coming to see if I could help.”

“You were, were you?” The kid glared at me. “Or maybe you were running away, huh?”

“What?” I blinked. 

“You’re coming with me. Move it.”

He propelled me onto the little patio of one of the apartments where three other kids were already gathered.

“Who’s he, Phil?” asked a boy about my own size.

“I think the thief,” my captor replied.

“Nah, I’ve got the thief right here.” 

“Huh?” Phil relaxed his grip on my arm and stared at the dark-haired frightened kid held in the other boy’s grasp. “You sure he’s the one, C.J.?” 

“Well, he’s been hanging around the apartments a lot lately. Hasn’t he, Lynn?”

The third person, a blonde girl seated beside a small bare plastic table, nodded. 

“Yes. But-”

“What’s he supposed to have stolen?” I cut in?

“Lynn’s mother’s jewelry,” the kid named C.J. said. “Lynn was sitting out here polishing it-”

“Hey, what business is this of his?” Phil interrupted. He gave me a shove. “You can go now. If I was a little rough, I’m sorry.”

“Not nearly as sorry as you’ll be if this kid is also innocent,” I shot back. I turned to the scared boy. “What’s your name?”

“B-Brad. And I didn’t take anything. Honest.”

“Of course he’s gonna say that,” C.J. said. 

“It might be the truth,” I said. I turned back to the kid. “Hi, Brad, I’m Jesse. Jesse McKinley. Do you live in one of these apartments?”

He bobbed his head. “Y-yes. That one right over there. We just moved in a couple days ago.”

“So maybe that’s why you’ve seen him around,” I told the others. “He’s probably just trying to learn the area.”

“Well...maybe.” C.J. frowned. “I didn’t actually find any of the stuff on him.”

“So”- Phil gave me a look -“maybe you’re the thief after all.”

“Oh, Phil!” Lynn sounded angry. “Knock off the tough guy attitude. I doubt either of these guys did anything. I shouldn’t have even yelled-”

“Hey, someone swiped your mom’s jewelry, right?” Phil asked. 

“Well...yes.”

“So then you had a right to yell.”

“Can you tell me exactly what happened?” I asked the girl.

C.J. flashed a sharp glance at me, and Phil started to protest, but Lynn shrugged. 

“My mom needed some old jewelry polished. She told me if did it before she got home from work today she’d pay me. I sure could use the money - there’s three new CD’s I want - so I said sure.” 

“You were doing the polishing out here?”

“Yes. That rain we had earlier made the air feel great. I laid the pieces out on the table and got started. After a few minutes I went in to get a glass of water to drink while I worked. When I came out to finish the polishing the jewelry was gone!”

“And I heard her yell,” C.J. put in. “I live in the next door apartment and had my bedroom window open. I started over here, spotted the kid coming from this direction, so I grabbed him. Then, a moment later, you and Phil showed up.”

“You live here, too?” I asked Phil.

“Yeah. On the other side of C.J. I was walking over to get the mail when I hear Lynn shout. I saw you sprawled there on the grass, figured maybe you’d slipped while trying to run away. But, hey, I don’t have to explain myself. I did nothin’ wrong.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Lynn said. “None of you did. I’m convinced of that now.” 

She looked at me, then at Brad. “And I apologize for Phil and C.J.’s silly behavior.”

“What do you mean silly-”

Lynn cut Phil off with a glare. “Issue is closed.”

“But what about your mom’s jewelry?”

She scowled. “I don’t know. Maybe whoever took it will get a guilty conscience.”

“Yes,” I said. “In fact, I think someone already has.” 

I gave one of them a hard look, and the person flushed and looked at the ground. 

“Lynn,” I said, “one of the first things I noticed when Phil marched me over here was your patio table.”

“My table?” she asked. 

“Yes. It was bare. But if you were polishing your mom’s jewelry then where’s the polish and polishing rag? Why would a thief steal those? And, also, where is that glass of water you went inside to get?”

The girl closed her eyes, and when she opened them they contained tears. “You’re right of course.”

“What?” Phil burst out.

“What’s he right about?” C.J. asked.

“The jewelry,” I said. “It was never stolen.” I looked at the girl. “Was it?” 

“Well...no.”

“Lynn!” C.J. blinked, and even Brad looked surprised.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I honestly didn’t want to hurt anyone...never thought someone might get blamed.”

“But why?” asked Phil. “Why make up such a story?”

“I...I guess I thought I could sell some of the jewelry somewhere, get more money than my mom was paying me to polish it. She wasn’t paying me enough so I could afford all three of those new CDs. And, well, she was going sell the jewelry to a pawn shop or something anyway. I know it was wrong. And when you guys started hauling in suspects I knew I had to stop things. My mom...friends like you guys...are too valuable. I’ll never do something like this again. Please believe me.” 

The four of us looked at one another, then nodded. We all agreed Lynn deserved another chance.