“Can I shoot him, Judge?” Mr. Murray blurted.
“Who? Otto or Theo?”
“That damned otter. Oh, sorry. That stinking otter.”
“No, you cannot. Discharging a firearm within the city limits is against the law.”
“Okay, then can I poison him?”
Judge Yeck thought for a second and said, “Yes, you can. The law says you cannot kill a dog, cat, horse, pig, lamb, goat, deer, bear, eagle, hawk, or an owl. It says nothing about otters.”
“Don’t forget beavers,” Theo added helpfully.
“Right, and for some reason, beavers.”
“Good,” Mr. Murray said smugly. “Then, if Mr. Kerr will not take care of the otter, I’ll get some poison and handle things myself.”
Judge Yeck looked at Mr. Kerr and asked, “Are you familiar with the Wildlife Center over in Waynesburg?”
“No, sir.”
“It’s a refuge for wild animals that have been caught or need to be restrained for some time. I’ve ordered several animals to be sent over there, and the folks do a good job. I suggest you take Otto there, let the staff keep him for a few weeks while they find a place to relocate him. Somewhere far away.”
“I guess we could do that,” Mr. Kerr said.
“What about my dead fish?” Mr. Murray asked. “That otter ate about twenty of them and they cost forty bucks each.”
Theo said, “Well, Your Honor, the proof shows that Otto ate only three of the fish. There’s no proof that he ate the others. Could’ve been a raccoon or a fox.”
“I doubt it,” Judge Yeck said. “On the video he looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing. I’ll reduce it a little, but I’m ordering your client to pay five hundred dollars in damages.”
“That sounds like a lot,” Mr. Kerr said.
“Well, keep in mind, Mr. Kerr, that I could send Animal Control out there tomorrow and have the otter caught and put to sleep.”
Mr. Kerr fell silent, and Theo had nothing else to say. Mr. Murray shrugged as if he was okay with the ruling. Judge Yeck said, “So ordered. Five hundred in damages and take the otter to the Wildlife Center. Anything else? Good. Court’s adjourned.”
They filed out of the courtroom and walked outside. Theo followed Byron and Mr. Kerr to their truck. Sitting in the cab was Byron’s older brother, Billy, and Otto, who was asleep behind the steering wheel.
Byron said, “Thanks, Theo, you did the best you could.”
Mr. Kerr said, “Nice job, Theo. You’re gonna make a fine lawyer someday. Do I owe you anything?”
“No, sir. I can’t charge fees yet. I’m only thirteen.”
“Thanks, son.”
Theo watched them drive away. It wasn’t a good win, but then it wasn’t a bad loss either. Neither side was satisfied with the outcome, so, as Judge Gantry often said, justice prevailed.
Chapter 21
The offices of Boone & Boone were usually deserted by six p.m. Elsa left every day at five on the dot, with few exceptions. Vince and Dorothy, the two paralegals, soon followed. Mr. Boone was known to ease out even earlier, often under the guise of “running by the courthouse,” which everyone knew was an excuse to meet his buddies for a drink. Mrs. Boone was always the last to leave, but it was unusual for her to be there until six.
After leaving Animal Court, Theo rode his bike to the office and was surprised that everyone was still there. All the lights were on. A big meeting of some sort was taking place in the conference room. He tiptoed down the hallway and tried to eavesdrop through the door, but couldn’t hear much. Elsa, Vince, and Dorothy were in the meeting, along with his parents, who never worked together on a case. Theo could not remember such a gathering. He went back to his office and finished his homework, most of which he’d completed during his extra study hall.
Vince tapped on his door and stepped in. “Say, Theo, your mother wants to see you in the conference room.”
What have I done now, Theo wondered. “What’s going on in there?” he asked.
“We’re meeting with the five schoolteachers. They’ve hired the firm to represent them.”
“All five?”
“Yep.”
“That’s unusual in a criminal case, isn’t it?”
“Very. They plan to stick together while we try to get the charges dismissed. If that doesn’t happen, then they’ll be forced to hire separate lawyers.”
“Okay. Why does my mother want me in the conference room?”
“I guess you’ll have to find out.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
Theo followed Vince to the conference room, where everyone was sitting around the long table and waiting for him. His mother, in charge, of course, stood and said, “Theo, our firm is representing these five teachers from East Middle School.” She introduced each of the five. Theo just stood at one end of the table and nodded. This is weird, he thought. What am I doing here?
Mr. Paul London stood and said, “Theo, we have something we would like to say to you. We are completely to blame for this scandal, and we accept responsibility. We changed the test scores for a number of our eighth graders, and this enabled them to qualify for the Honors track next year at Strattenburg High. We had our reasons for doing so, but our reasons are not good enough. We offer no excuses. Our actions unfairly helped some of our students and unfairly harmed those at other schools. Including you. If we had not cheated on behalf of our kids, there is an excellent chance you would have made Honors. We feel terrible about this, and we offer you our sincere apology.”
Theo thought the poor guy was going to cry. It was obvious he felt far worse about the cheating than Theo did. The other teachers were staring at him with sad, mournful eyes.
Theo had been taught to accept an apology as soon as it was offered. Shake hands. Forget about it, and move on. He said, “Sure, Mr. London, I accept your apology. I just hope you guys are not punished too severely.”
“We’ll survive. We have a good lawyer.”
“I’m gonna be okay, too,” Theo said. “Whatever happens. I just don’t want to take those tests again.” Everyone laughed, and the humor cut the tension. Theo was excused and walked back to his office.
Thursday dinner was always at the same Turkish café, usually at the same table. Omar owned the place and greeted them warmly each week. Menus were not needed because they had the same red pepper hummus with pita bread, followed by the same roasted chicken. Mr. Boone once made the mistake of having a cup of Omar’s Turkish coffee with dessert, and he didn’t sleep for three days. Now, they drank only water. Theo enjoyed the place but often grew tired of Omar’s constant interruptions. While his son ran the kitchen, Omar worked the front and felt like it was his business to engage his customers with nonstop chatting. He was also known to eavesdrop on conversations.
In low voices, the Boones tried to talk about the cheating scandal, but Omar was lurking nearby. They changed subjects and tried to talk about Ike and his latest problem, but Omar was too close. So they talked about an upcoming camping trip Troop 1440 was planning.
Theo didn’t mind the five days of extra study hall punishment handed down by Mrs. Gladwell, but the month of no golf was painful. On Saturday morning, he sat at the kitchen table and tried to look as pitiful as possible as his father went about his routine as if life was just perfect. The weather was gorgeous, the golf course was calling, and Theo couldn’t play. Mr. Boone, however, was planning a marvelous outing with three of his buddies.
“Sorry you can’t play today, Theo,” his father said. “But when you skip school you have to take your punishment.”
“Thanks, Dad. I thought we already had this conversation.”