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“Knowing things is kind of my jam,” I said. “Or at least, picking up on the signals the universe sends me. And I can tell you’re feeling guilty about the whole thing.”
His gaze moved away from mine, and he drank some of his peppermint latte. A stalling tactic, and so I waited. My sandwich was getting cold inside its bag, but that hardly mattered.
A long, long pause. Now Jack’s eyes moved toward the sidewalk, although whether that was because he hoped someone would come along and interrupt our conversation, or because he didn’t want it to be overheard, I couldn’t be sure.
At last he said, “Yeah, it’s for my aunt. The lawyers and the state took everything, but she had some money hidden away in the baby Jesus. I guess she had it hollowed out years ago and has been putting money in it ever since — she knew no one would think to look there.”
That was for sure. As hiding places went, I had to admit it was one of the cleverer ones I’d seen.
Only….
“You said ‘years’?” I inquired, and Jack nodded. “So, she didn’t just start putting money in there after she realized there was a chance of her losing everything because of Brant Thoreau’s murder?”
Jack reached back to scratch his head, now clearly even more uncomfortable. “I guess not. My mother didn’t tell me all the details, but it sort of sounded as though she’d been skimming it out of the Chamber of Commerce accounts for years.”
Now it was my turn to go wide-eyed. Although I knew Miriam Jacobsen was capable of a lot, I’d never in a million years thought she might be an embezzler on top of everything else.
However, it made a lot of sense. No wonder she’d kept going head to head with Josie over funding for various town projects. Josie had obviously assumed the money was there because of all the dues she and the other members of the Chamber had paid into its accounts over the years, but with Miriam siphoning some of it off, that just wouldn’t have been the case.
“Well,” I said, still trying to sound calm and reasonable, “since your aunt is already in prison, I’m not sure how all this will affect her. But you need to know, Jack, that what you did is a misdemeanor at worst, especially since you put baby Jesus back.” A sudden thought came to me, and I tilted my head at him. “You put the figure back the night of the Festival of Lights because you figured no one would be around to see you, right?”
Jack nodded, looking almost relieved. “Yeah, my mom told me not to worry about it, that they’d just make a replacement baby Jesus or something, but I didn’t know about that — the nativity scene looked pretty old to me, and a substitution would have been really obvious. So, I went and put it back after she’d gone to bed. She was kind of pissed off at me when she found out.” He shrugged, and drank some more of his latte. “But there wasn’t much she could do about it, so she told me to let it ride. We’re out of here tomorrow morning anyway.”
This news didn’t surprise me too much. Beth Faulkner had found her sister’s money, and even though there was probably more work to be done packing the house, no one could have expected her to hang around on Christmas.
However, that meant I didn’t have a lot of time.
I said firmly, “I think you should go to Chief Lewis and tell him what you just told me.”
Jack stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Why should I do that? I put baby Jesus back. No harm, no foul, right?”
Some people might have looked at the situation that way. On the other hand….
“I’m not talking about baby Jesus,” I said gently. “I’m talking about the money your aunt stole from the Chamber. I have friends who contributed to that fund. They’re all small business owners who’re just trying to make a living. Do you think it’s fair for her to hang on to that money, especially after everything she’s done?”
Silence for a moment as Jack wrestled with that question. This was a heck of a lot to put on a kid who had to be struggling with the notion of familial loyalty versus doing the right thing.
Then he let out a breath and said, “Sure. I guess so.” He paused there so he could drink the last of his latte. Then he crumpled the cardboard cup in his hand and stood up, looking way more tired than someone so young should have. A hitch of his shoulders and he added, “I guess we’d better get this over with.”
6
Let It Snow
My sandwich wasstone cold by the time I got around to eating it, but that was okay. I’d walked Jack over to the police station and waited while he made his statement. Afterward, I asked him if he wanted me to walk him home, and he gave me a sheepish smile and shook his head.
“No, probably not,” he told me. “I’m going to be in big enough trouble as it is. Having you show up with me at the house isn’t a very good idea.”
I smiled at him and told him I understood, and thanked him for his honesty. He just shrugged again and headed off down the street, zipping up his jacket as he went, since the day was only getting colder and colder.
About an hour after that, during which time I’d waited on what felt like at least half the population of Globe, Chief Lewis showed up at the store. For once, he didn’t scowl at me, but seemed strangely mellow.
Or maybe a bit sheepish.
“That was a good thing you did with the Faulkner boy,” the police chief said, his gaze not precisely meeting mine.
“Well, he’s a good kid,” I replied, thinking that particular apple had fallen pretty far from the tree, since Miriam and her sister appeared to be birds of a feather…to mix a couple of metaphors. “He wanted to do the right thing.” I paused there, then asked, “He’s not going to be in any trouble for the whole baby Jesus thing, is he?”
Henry Lewis shook his head. “No. The figure was returned and the kid’s a minor…barely…so I think we’re going to let that slide, especially since we’ve got bigger fish to fry. I already contacted the D.A.’s office about this possible charge of embezzlement against Miriam Jacobsen.”
