But that was a few years away. He had more pressing issues at hand. A book report for English. A speech for Government. The Major was watching him closely and monitoring his merit badge progress. The guy had practically set a deadline for Theo to become an Eagle Scout. April Finnemore’s father had left home again, for the umpteenth time, and her mother was still crazy. Theo was afraid she, April, might just run away and vanish forever.
The hours passed and the sky grew darker and Theo kept daydreaming. A soft knock on the rear door startled him and brought him back to life. Woody barreled in, shaking off rainwater. He was soaked.
“Come in,” Theo said.
“I’m in, Theo, and I’m freezing. Give me your coat.”
Theo pulled his jacket off a wall hook and tossed it to Woody. “What in the world are you doing out on the streets in a rainstorm?”
“Well, I’m not here just because I miss you, I can promise you that,” Woody said as he put on the coat. Judge was awake and sniffing around Woody’s ankles. Woody glanced at the open door and asked, “Can we talk?”
“Sure.” Theo got up, closed the door, and retook his seat. “This must be important.”
“It is. Tony and I just spent an hour with Rodney Wall. The guy’s a creep. He fed us this line about buying into Garth’s story of the gun. Wall wants Tony and me to help cover Garth’s butt by saying the gun belonged to me, that Tony knew about it, that we offered it to Garth so that he could get us some more beer, which we all wanted.”
“Your lawyer wants you to lie?”
“Yes. He says that we need to go along with the story because Clifford Nance is tight with the prosecutor, what’s his name—”
“Jack Hogan.”
“Right, Hogan, and that if we all tell the same story and we all take some of the blame then we’ll all get off light, including, of course, Garth.”
“That’s terrible, Woody. You had never seen the gun before.”
“Tell me about it. The bad part is that Wall, our very own lawyer and the one we’re stuck with because we can’t afford another one, wants us to take the deal. He kept calling it a ‘good deal.’ He said Mr. Nance had pretty much worked out everything with Jack Hogan. We’ll all get light sentences and Garth will avoid a felony conviction, which will stay on his record forever and ruin his life in every way possible. You should’ve been there, Theo. It was pathetic watching our lawyer try to convince us to take a deal and lie about everything.”
“What did you say?”
“I said no. Tony said no. Wall got ticked off at us for saying no, said we’ll have to go to trial and that Judge Pendergrast will probably not believe us because we’re brothers and brothers tend to stick together. Wall said that. He also said that it was unlikely the judge would believe that we, Tony and me, knew nothing about what Garth was up to. The bottom line, Theo, is that our lawyer doesn’t believe us and he wants to cut a deal to impress Mr. Bigshot Clifford Nance.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I know, I know. The guy is more concerned with taking care of Garth Tucker than us. We have to get another lawyer, Theo. Can you represent us? I know you’re only thirteen but you’d do a better job than Wall.”
“Sorry. Come back in about twelve years.”
“What about your mother?”
“No. I had to twist her arm to do the bail hearing, and she’s convinced she did a lousy job there. She doesn’t like criminal law and wants to stay away from it.”
“Your dad?”
Theo snorted. “You’d probably get the death penalty. My dad hasn’t seen a courtroom in decades.”
“What about Ike?”
“No license, same as me. I have an idea. Let’s talk to the Major, tell him everything. He’s worked with Wall before and I’ll bet he’s not afraid to get in the guy’s face.”
Woody had stopped shivering, though water still dripped from his hair and ran down his cheeks. “I like it,” he said softly. “You gotta do something, Theo.”
“Did Wall say what would happen if you and Tony got convicted?”
“Yeah. That’s the sick part. He said we would be sent to a juvenile prison for a long time. How scary is that, Theo? Our own lawyer trying to scare us with prison if we don’t do what he says.”
“What did you say?”
“Tony got mad, got real mad, and said if he was any good at being a lawyer then we wouldn’t get convicted because we are innocent. They exchanged words, things got pretty ugly, and he told us to leave. We’re at war with our own lawyer.”
“Let’s go find the Major.”
They found him at home. On the phone he invited them over, and they rode their bikes through the rain. Luckily, he didn’t live too far away. His home was a quaint bungalow in the center of town, an older house he and his wife had beautifully renovated when they retired to Strattenburg. The boys had been there before several times for scouting sessions and merit badge workshops.
Mrs. Ludwig gave them towels and served them hot cocoa, which had never tasted better. After she disappeared, Woody retold the story of his and Tony’s disastrous meeting with their lawyer. As always, the Major listened carefully without comment until Woody finished.
“This is disturbing,” he said.
Theo, ever ready to join the conversation, asked, “If Woody tells this new story, isn’t that perjury?”
The Major replied, “Of course it is. A false statement made under oath in court is perjury, which is another crime. It will only make matters worse, Woody. There’s no way you can take the stand and tell this story.”
“Oh, I’m not going to,” Woody said.
“What about Tony?” the Major asked.
“We’re sticking together and we’re sticking to the truth. It’s that simple. We don’t care what happens to Garth. He’s got his own lawyer and his family has some money.”
The Major rubbed his chin, deep in thought. He was frowning and not pleased with what he was hearing. Theo interrupted things with, “Shouldn’t you report this to the judge, Major, tell him that this lawyer is trying to get his clients to lie in court?”
“Maybe, but not right now. Let’s see how things play out. Your trial is a week from Wednesday so we have some time. Perhaps I’ll meet with Rodney Wall and explain things to him, let him know that you and Tony are not going along with this new story.”
Woody said, “Okay, but here’s what’s bugging me. Wall says that our story, the true story, is not that believable. Three teenagers in a car drinking beer and needing some more. The plan to rob a place for more beer and a little cash to boot. And two of the three know nothing of the plan? I kind of see his point. Maybe that is too hard to believe. Then, the two guys who claim to be innocent are also brothers, who, of course, can be expected to say anything to cover for each other. Maybe our case is not as strong as we think.”
“I agree,” said Theo, though no one asked his opinion. “So the big question is: What if you go to trial and the judge finds you guilty?”
“Exactly,” Woody said. “What if we’re found guilty and sent away for a year or two? That would be the end of the world. Just go ahead and shoot me.”
The Major said, “Let’s not overreact here. I’ll meet with Mr. Wall as soon as possible and let’s see how that goes.”
“I have a question,” Theo said. “If Woody and Tony decide to go along with the plan here and take some of the blame, what crime will they plead guilty to? I don’t understand.”