Mr. Boone said, “Well, the important thing right now is to get Geneva out of jail.”
“I know that. The poor girl is probably terrified. Picked up by the cops, handcuffed, thrown into the backseat of a patrol car, hauled off to jail. And I’m sure the police notified the reporters just to add to the embarrassment. This is an outrage.”
“Has a bond been set?” Mr. Boone asked carefully. His wife was really upset, and he wanted to be supportive. For once, Elsa had nothing to say. Theo tried to hide in a corner, though he wasn’t about to miss the drama.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Boone said. “I’m going down to the jail right now to find out. See if you can get Henry Gantry on the phone and call me.”
“Can I go with you?” Theo asked. “Maybe I can help.”
“I don’t see any way you can help matters, Theo,” his mother said.
“Probably not, but I’d hate to miss all the fun.”
“This is not fun, Theo,” she scolded. “This is an extremely important matter, and an outrage.”
“I’ll stay out of the way. I’ve already been there once today.”
All four froze and looked at him. He said, “It’s a long story, for later.”
“I don’t have time for a story,” Mrs. Boone replied. She threw up her hands and walked to her office. Seconds later, she came out with her briefcase and stomped out the front door. Vince followed her. And Theo decided to follow, too. He wasn’t sure how far he would get, but he was willing to try. What did he have to lose? Mrs. Boone got behind the wheel of her car and slammed the door. Vince hopped into the front passenger’s seat. Theo crawled into the backseat and waited for his mother to order him out. She did not. She drove fast and recklessly to Main Street and parked illegally, as if she was just looking for a fight. Vince and Theo followed her into the police station, and she barked at the first officer she encountered.
“My name is Marcella Boone, attorney-at-law, and I represent Geneva Hull, who was arrested about an hour ago. I demand to see her immediately!”
Theo could not remember a time when he’d seen his mother this angry. Luckily, there were no reporters hanging around.
There were a few other cops milling about, and they disappeared into thin air. The first officer said, “Well, uh, sure, Mrs. Boone. I think you need to see the head jailer, just down the hall.”
“What’s his name?” she demanded. Mrs. Boone handled few criminal cases and as far as Theo knew had never been to the jail. At the moment, though, that didn’t matter.
“Officer Brock.”
As they headed toward the jail area, Officer Stu Peckinpaw came around a corner, saw Theo, smiled, and said, “Well, hello, Theo. You can’t stay away from this place, can you?” Mrs. Boone and Vince stopped and stared.
“It’s a long story,” Theo said, then quickly had an idea. “Say, look, Officer, this is my mother, and we need some help.” Introductions were quickly made, and the officer volunteered to help. He led them down the hall to the jailer’s desk. As they walked, Mrs. Boone said, “What was that all about?”
Theo replied, “I’ll tell you later. Another long story.”
Officer Brock was very helpful and informed them that Geneva Hull and the other four teachers were being “processed,” which meant they were being mug-shot, fingerprinted, and would soon be placed in cells. Each had a bond of ten thousand dollars.
“Ten thousand dollars!” Mrs. Boone practically yelled. “That’s outrageous. These are schoolteachers, not criminals.”
Officer Brock said, “Maybe so, ma’am, but they were arrested under a warrant, and that warrant says the bond is ten thousand dollars. I can’t change that.”
“Well I can,” she said. She looked at Vince and said, “Get Judge Gantry on the phone.” Vince grabbed his phone and made the call. Mrs. Boone demanded, “When can I see my client?”
“Uh, well, I’m not sure.”
“I demand to see my client as soon as possible.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll do what I can.”
Vince handed over his phone and said, “He’s on the line.”
She grabbed it and said, “Henry, this is Marcella. I’m sorry, Judge Gantry. They’ve arrested the five teachers and are holding them on ten-thousand-dollars bond each. That’s an outrageous sum of money, and I want it reduced.” She listened for a moment, then asked, “Are you in your office? Fine, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
She gave the phone back to Vince and said to Officer Brock, “We’ll be back.” Vince and Theo followed her out of the building, onto the sidewalk, and down Main Street. She walked fast, her heels clicking away, and Theo had to practically jog to keep up. They entered the courthouse, took the elevator to the second floor, and sprinted to Judge Gantry’s office. His secretary, Mrs. Hardy, was Theo’s favorite in the entire courthouse, and she was waiting. She led them into his chambers and closed the door behind them. Everyone said hello, how you doing, and so on, and then Judge Gantry looked at Theo. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s a good question,” his mother said.
“I’m a paralegal today,” Theo said with a smile.
Mrs. Boone wasted no time. “Judge, I represent one of the teachers. All five have been arrested and are currently at the jail posing for their mug shots and being fingerprinted like common criminals. This is an outrage, and I want them released immediately.”
Theo watched the judge’s face, and at that moment there was no doubt his mother would get exactly what she wanted. His parents and Henry Gantry had been friends for many years. She was angry, upset, and she was right.
Judge Gantry said, “This case has not been assigned to me, and I know very little about it, only what I’ve read in the newspaper.”
Mrs. Boone said, “Well, it’s some sort of crazy conspiracy charge that Jack Hogan has cooked up. The teachers have been suspended and will probably be fired. But they are not criminals.”
Vince had picked up some paperwork at the jail. He flipped through it and said, “The bond was set by the city court judge, Your Honor, but the case will be assigned to your court. We can make an oral motion to reduce the bond.”
“I know that,” Judge Gantry said politely. Theo had never seen him ruffled or upset.
“Then I make an oral motion to reduce the bond for all five,” Mrs. Boone said.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Why not a simple recognition bond?” Vince asked.
“Exactly,” said Mrs. Boone. “These people pose no risk of running away. They’ll show up in court when they’re supposed to. I guarantee it. Just release them on their own recognizance. They don’t have the money to go through a bail bondsman, and it’s so unnecessary anyway. I want them out of jail right now, Henry. Is that clear?”
“Relax, Marcella.”
“No, I will not relax until they are out of jail. And once they’re out, I’ll file a motion to dismiss these ridiculous charges. Just wait until I have a chat with Jack Hogan.”
“I’d like to witness that conversation,” Judge Gantry said with a smile.
“Please, Henry, you know I’m right,” she said.
“Okay. So ordered. I’ll call the jail.”
“Thank you, Henry.”
“And thank you, Marcella. Please say hello to Woods.”
They marched out of his office, past Mrs. Hardy, down the hallway and the stairs, out of the building, and back to the police station. It took an hour to shuffle the paperwork, even with Mrs. Boone glaring at Officer Brock and snapping at anything he said. Finally, a door opened and Geneva Hull, Tom Willingham, Penn Norman, Paul London, and Emily Novak emerged, free to go. Geneva started crying when she saw Mrs. Boone, who huddled with them for a few minutes and told them what had happened. Theo and Vince drifted away.