hot, steamy activities his subconscious had conjured up for them to do together. Hell, even he was horror-struck when he woke up and found himself hard and ready for action. She wasnât at all his type. So why couldnât he seem to stop thinking about her? âAre you listening to me?â âSure.â He snapped his attention back to Chuck Hendricks, chagrined that heâd let himself get so distracted from the investigation by the soft, pretty Sarah McKenzie. He also didnât like the fact that the principal could make him feel as if he had somehow traveled twenty years back in time and was once more the troublemaker du jour in Up-Chuckâs sixth-grade class. âWhat are you going to do to get to the bottom of this?â Hendricks snapped. âThese criminals must be caught and punished severely. I can tell you right where to start. Corey Sylvester.â The principal said the name with such seething animosity that a wave of sympathy for the kid washed through Jesse. He knew all too well what it was like to be at the top of Chuckâs scapegoat list. âWhy Corey?â he asked. âItâs exactly the sort of thing he would do. After thirty-five years of teaching hooligans, I know a bad apple and I can tell you that boy is just plain rotten.â The principal didnât seem to notice the sudden frown and narrowed gaze of one of those former hooligans. âBesides that,â he went on, âI saw him hanging around by the jar yesterday before lunch recess. Itâs the second or third time Iâve seen him there. I know he was up to no good.â âMaybe he was putting some quarters in.â Hendricks harrumphed as if the idea was the most ridiculous thing heâd ever heard. âI doubt it.â Jesse felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. He would have liked to tell Up-Chuck exactly what he thought of him, but he knew that wouldnât help him solve the case of the missing quarters. âIâll talk to him. But Iâve got to tell you, my instincts are telling me youâre on the wrong track. I donât think he did it. Or if he did, he couldnât have acted alone.â âWhy not?â âDo the math, Chuck.â His smile would have curdled milk, but his former teacher didnât seem to notice. âCorey weighs no more than sixty-five pounds. A jar with six thousand quarters would weigh a whole lot more than that. He wouldnât even be able to wrestle it onto a dolly by himself, let alone push the thing out of the building.â He paused to give the information time to sink through Hendricksâs thick skull. âThen you have the matter of getting it out of here. You think he could haul a dolly weighing that much all the way to his house?â âWell, he probably had help. Most likely that troublemaking Connor kid. Youâll probably find both of them spending the loot all over town on any manner of illegalânot to mention immoralâactivity.â Yeah. Paying for booze and hookers with quarters always went over real well. âThanks for all the leads. Iâll do my best to get the money back for the kids.â The principal sniffed. âI sincerely hope you do.â Jesse sighed. Having Chuck on his case over this was going to be a major pain in the keister until he found the culprits.
Chapter 5 H e managed to put off talking to Corey Sylvester for nearly two hours. Finally he had to admit that he had nobody left to interview. He had talked to the janitor and the assistant principal, to several of the faculty members and the custodial staff. He had interviewed the residents of the three houses across the street from the school to see if any of them had heard or seen anything in the night, and he had Lou notifying local merchants and banks to give him a buzz if anybody brought in an unusual number of quarters. He had half a mind to wrap up the initial canvas right now and forget