by Susan Kohler
John’s first case was a teenager named Wendy. She was on tape taking lunch money from the till. At first, she was defiant, but it took very little for John to reduce her to tears.
He turned to her. “Here’s the deal. If you sign a confession and an agreement to pay the company back in the amount of two hundred dollars, we will ask the D. A. to give you community service and probation instead of jail time. If you do not sign, we will push him to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We will also sue you in civil court to collect the money, and we will try for well over four hundred dollars. We figure that you took between $5.00 and $10.00 a day for two months, and you worked an average of 20 days per month at the cash register. It’s up to you which way we go.”
“Why go easy on her? She’s just another fatheaded thief,” John’s teammate said. “She’s too stupid to deserve any mercy, and she isn’t showing any remorse at all.”
“I hate to admit it, but it looks like you’re right,” John said. “Make the call. And call her house, too. I think she still lives with her mother.”
That did it, Wendy finally broke down. “No! Please don’t call my mom! She’ll kill me.” Tears streamed down her young face.
John’s teammate sat back in her chair and smiled wickedly. “Good.” Her comment was quiet and chilling.
John and his partner left Wendy in the manager’s office under his watchful eye.
“I think it worked.” John said, “We’ll know as soon as we go back in there. If she offers to pay us back out of her last paycheck, I’ll believe she’s really seen the light. If that happens, I will speak to the attorneys and see if she can get probation. If not, I’ll recommend jail time. Either way, I call the cops, and either way, her mother gets a call.” John decided, “Maybe if we do prosecute, we’ll ask the D. A. to try for community service instead of jail time. I do think she’s, uh, worth salvaging. What do you think?”
“Let’s get back to it,” his partner said.
When they got back to the manager’s office, Wendy did what John had hoped. She offered to pay back the money that she had stolen from her final paycheck. The store manager cashed it, and brought her the change. Since she was under eighteen, John called Wendy’s mother and told her about the thefts, and why Wendy was fired. He also told her how Wendy had repaid the money from her final check. She promised to have a long talk with Wendy when the girl got home. A noticeably changed girl stopped and looked back at them as she walked out the door.
“I know you don’t believe this, but I’m sorry,” Wendy sniffed.
“Sure, you’re sorry because you got caught,” John said. “But why weren’t you sorry before you got caught and fired? Why did you do it in the first place? And most important of all, did you learn something or will you do this again?”
“I won’t do this again, you’ll see,” the girl promised as she left.
“I give it a fifty-fifty chance. But I think sending her to jail wouldn’t help the odds either way. She hasn’t heard the last of this. The way her mother sounded on the phone, she’s going to be sorrier still.” John said tightly, “I’m not a psychic but eighteen or not, I see a bright red bottom in that girl’s future.”
“Good,” his partner said.
When he got outside his cell phone rang. It was Kate.
“John? How will I be able to go to Laura’s party Saturday? Won’t Cheryl think it’s strange if I’m there after supposedly being sent away from the office in complete disgrace?” she asked.
“We’ll have to solve everything by then, or ask Bob if he feels that he can take Cheryl into his confidence.” John smiled, “This is Tuesday, I hope by Friday you’ll know who the thief is. And remember, I’m taking care of the cash room losses.”
“I still need to meet with you, away from the office, and without Bob,” she said firmly.
“You don’t suspect him?” John asked with a hint of shock.
“Of course not, or Laura either. I do, however, feel that the person I do suspect is trying to point the blame on one of them and away from himself.” Kate smiled, “And while I have the experience to follow the paper trail, I don’t know how to gather hard evidence. That’s where you come in.”
“Okay, I’ll come over to your house first thing in the morning.” John wrote down her address and they set a time.
“John, you used to be a cop, didn’t you?” Kate had mischief in her voice.
“Yes.”
“Good, then you bring the donuts,” she laughed openly as she disconnected the call.
As soon as Kate got home she went in to look at the puppies. Ida sat beside her on the floor. They talked to Teddy and gently stroked the little puppies. They were almost a week old and already too cute for words. Ida asked her several gentle but probing questions about Bob and her new job before she left to get ready for her date that night with George.
When she could finally tear herself away from the litter Kate visited with Charger, giving him some extra love and attention before she settled down to work.
It was ludicrous, she thought to herself, she sometimes felt guilty about going to work late so many times and her poor attendance record. Most of the staff would probably agree. The truth, she had to keep reminding herself, was completely different. The truth was that if she added up all the work she had done from her home, the company would owe her a lot of overtime pay. She wouldn’t get it until everything was solved but she had already planned to put a down payment on a newer van. With air conditioning that worked, and a good stereo, and . . .
She pulled her attention back to the reports in front of her. She went over her figures from the day before and came to the same conclusion. She hoped she was right. More than that, she knew she was right. She had to be.
The alternative was unthinkable.
Chapter Nine
The next morning John arrived on her doorstep with a dozen donuts. Kate made coffee and they sat at the kitchen table. After the dogs greeted John and managed to weasel several bites of donut from both of them, they were banished to the backyard. However when they scratched at the door to get back in, Kate shut Teddy in the den with her litter and left Charger outside.
Kate spread out her paperwork on the table. She asked John if he would fill her in on the problems in the cash room.
“We traced the money and we’re satisfied that there is only one culprit. The other woman is completely innocent.” John sipped his coffee. “And this time the guilty one will go to jail. This is no stupid, rebellious teenager; this is a woman who has betrayed a position of trust.”
“Which one was it?” She thought about both of the women. She hadn’t spent as much time with them as she had with the other office girls, but she liked them.
Sherry was tall and slender, Hispanic with long, chocolate hair. She was always smiling and full of energy. She was single and liked to talk about her boyfriend. Tonya was more quiet, a short curvy brunette, who seemed to care only about her two kids.
“Tonya. When her husband left her she got desperate and stupid. Instead of trying to get child support from him, she began to steal from us. One of our problems was that we couldn’t see anything she was spending money on. There was no extravagant shopping or drugs. No wild lifestyle. She was using what she stole to pay her rent and feed her kids,” John said. “But I don’t feel sorry for her. If she had come to us, any one of several things could have been done to help. The company would have offered her low-cost legal services, credit counseling, even help in finding a nice apartment with lower rent. Hell, she was even due for a raise and a promotion in two months. You know Bob, if she had gone to him, he would have helped her.”
“Of course he would have.” Kate was still saddened at the thought of what this would do to Tonya and her kids. “But what will happen to her family now that she’ll be fired? And arrested.”
“Those kids are her only hope for any mercy at all. Bob and the regional manager have been worried about the kids.” John grabbed a second donut
. “But we have to prosecute. We have no choice.”
Just then the doorbell rang. It was Shelly, the girl she had been working with over the phone.
“Hi! I’m Kate, it’s nice to finally meet you,” she greeted the very pregnant girl. “Come on in. Do you know John?”
“I’ve heard of him but we’ve never met.” Shelly followed Kate and they made their way into the kitchen. She looked at John and greeted him. “Hi.”
“Hi, you must be Shelly, it’s nice to meet you. Sit down and have a donut.” John looked her over.
Shelly was pale with long blond hair and big blue eyes. She looked about eighteen but John knew she was twenty-five. She was also very near the end of her pregnancy, and huge. She was in a loose flowing dress.
“Would you like some milk?” Kate asked her. “Or anything else?”
“I think I’ll skip eating, I’ve been feeling a little weird all day,” Shelly replied.
“There’s a word that sometimes applies to feeling weird at this time in your pregnancy, it’s called labor,” Kate told her, smiling. “Are you sure you want to work on this today?”
“If I don’t do it now, you’re gonna have to wait a few weeks,” Shelly smiled. “But I’m sure I’m not in labor, it’s just wishful thinking. In fact, I’m positive I’m going to be pregnant forever.”
“Believe me, I know the feeling,” Kate grinned. “Nine months doesn’t sound very long but believe me, it’s an eternity. But it’s worth it.”
“Oh, yeah.” Shelly gently ran her hand over the swell of her belly. “Well worth it.”
The trio got to work. Kate showed them both where and how she thought the money was being embezzled. Shelly helped her arrange the reports and papers she was showing to John. Then John took over and explained what steps he would use to gather evidence to convict the thief. Because of the way the thief had covered his tracks, it was still impossible to prove which of three people was really guilty. Two of those three people were Bob and Laura, the third possibility was the purchasing manager, Jerry Weisner.
It was almost noon when John gathered up the papers he needed and got ready to leave. He seemed reluctant to go to the office.
“I have to go in this afternoon and deal with the cash room problem,” he said heavily. “It’s the part of this job I really hate.”
Shelly was also ready to leave. She was almost to the door when she stopped and turned to Kate, “Remember when I said it wasn’t labor? I may have miscalculated slightly. I hope.” Her eyes were wide with anticipation.
“It never fails, whenever I get close to solving this, I wind up going to the hospital.” Kate was amused. “First, Teddy and now you.”
“Who’s Teddy? And why did he have to go to the hospital?” Shelly asked curiously.
“Teddy’s a she, and John already met her this morning. Come on, I’ll show you.” She led the two into the den where Teddy was resting quietly with her puppies. “There’s why she went to the hospital.” She gestured to the four puppies sleeping next to Teddy. “She couldn’t be a normal dog, she had to have a c-section.”
“Oh! They’re adorable. How old are they?” Shelly asked.
“Six days.” Kate smiled as she always did when she looked at the puppies.
“Are you going to sell them?” John knelt down and stretched out his hand, letting Teddy smell him. “Is it all right to pick one up?”
“Sure. They’ll bring about $800.00 each. I have to sell three. I can only keep one puppy.” She picked up the little female who had already become her favorite. “This one.”
John cuddled one and handed it to Shelly. He looked until he found the little male. “I want this little guy. Is he spoken for yet?”
“He is now,” she told him. “He’ll be a lucky dog. But you can’t have him for about seven more weeks.”
Shelly stroked the little female John had handed her. “Let me speak to my husband before you promise this little dear to anyone else. Oh!” Her eyes got big. “I definitely miscalculated. This is labor.” She checked her watch. “Five minutes.”
“This meeting is now officially declared over, I’ll drive you to the hospital and call your husband from there. John, you go on to the office, we’ll call you later.” Kate took charge.
John gave her a jaunty salute, “Oui, Mon Capitan.”
He helped her get Shelly safely into the car just before he left to go to the office and deal with Tonya. He leaned in Kate’s car window and winked at Shelly, “Want to trade places?”
Just then another labor pain hit her and she smiled weakly, “I’m willing if you are.” .
Kate turned to Shelly, “What hospital?”
“Valley General.” Shelly was relaxing now, the pain had passed.
Kate drove Shelly to the hospital and waited until her husband came rushing in. She introduced herself to him.
“Don’t worry so much,” she told him. “This is going to be the best day of your life. Believe me, I know. The only problem you might have is the one I’ll give you if you don’t remember to call me and let me know if it’s a boy or a girl. Here’s my number, now go hug your wife.”
She handed him the slip of paper with her phone number on it and then left, repeating her instructions for him to call her as soon as anything happened.
Kate knew the day was going to be hard on Bob. He was a caring and considerate man who didn’t like to fire any of his people. Having Tonya arrested was going to be doubly hard on him. She decided to spend the evening cheering him up. After thinking up a plan, she called Bob at the office.
“Hey, lover. What’s up?” she asked, sounding cheerful.
“So far today, nothing. I miss having you here, and I hate the idea of firing Tonya. I’m sitting here with her final check in front of me, and John has already called the police.” He was down. “We’re trying to arrest her quietly without upsetting the whole office. John asked for plain-clothes officers to come and take her downtown for booking.”
“What about her kids?” Kate asked sadly.
“I don’t know yet,” Bob told her. “I know she did this to herself but it’s sad. Her future is ruined and she’ll do time.”
“You want to cheer up? Shelly is in labor,” Kate informed him. “I just talked to her husband and they told him it would be any time now. Also, I’ve had two puppies spoken for.”
“Let me guess, Shelly and John? I should have warned Shelly that going to your house causes the onset of labor.”
Kate laughed. “We’d better hope not, remember?”
“True.” Bob sounded rueful. “What else is up?”
“Well, I had an idea. I thought I could go to your house and relax by the pool. Is that okay?” she asked.
“Sure, no problem.” He thought of something. “But you don’t have a key.”
“Funny, that’s why I called.” She smiled as she thought of her plan. “Do you have one hidden around the house or with a neighbor?”
“Yeah, the woman in the green house next door has my spare key. I’ll call her and tell her to let you in,” he told her.
“Can Charger come?” she asked.
“Sure. I just wish I as going to be there,” he sounded resigned, “instead of stuck here.”
“Well, maybe I’ll stay until you get home,” Kate hinted. “Maybe I’ll have some wine on ice and something ready to throw on the barbecue.”
“Maybe I’ll be home as soon as I can. Wear a sexy swimsuit for me.” He hung up and got back to work.
Bob held a short meeting with Laura, giving her instructions for handling the office for the rest of the day. Then he called in John and they discussed their meeting with Tonya, going over the way they wanted to handle things. Finally Bob called Tonya into his office.
Tonya entered the office looking tired and apprehensive. Bob introduced her to John and told her that John was the head of Loss Prevention. As soon as he finished introducing John, Tonya began to cry.
“I knew it! You know, don’t you? About th
e money I’ve been taking,” Tonya sobbed. “I had to! I had to take the money. My husband walked out and didn’t leave me a dime. He hasn’t even sent any child support. What was I supposed to do?”
“Why didn’t you just come to me and let me try to help you?” Bob asked her. “I can understand how you might be desperate, but you didn’t even give me a chance. It hurts that you didn’t come to me. Is it easier to steal than to ask for help?”
“I was afraid to ask, afraid that if you turned me down I’d have to take the money anyway. Once you knew how desperate I was, I’d be the first person you’d suspect.” Tonya had stopped sobbing quite as much, but she was still sniffling. John silently handed her a box of tissues.
“Didn’t you realize that you’d be putting Sherry under suspicion? Was that fair to her?” Bob asked.
“No, it wasn’t fair to her,” Tonya admitted, then raised her voice, “but who ever said life was fair? Was it fair for my husband to walk out and leave me with two kids? With no child support? To run up the charge cards and clean out the bank account?”
The intercom buzzed. “Yes Cheryl?” He hated the interruption and his voice was curt.
“There are two men here from the police to see you.” Her voice was full of suppressed curiosity.
“Send them in.” His voice was curt as Bob met Tonya’s eyes squarely with his own. “The police are here. They’re here to arrest you for the thefts. Is there anyone who can take care of your kids until you make bail?”
“My mother can watch them. She has them now.” Tonya sobbed, “Bob, I know I don’t deserve it but can you help me? Please? Is there any way I can make restitution and avoid being arrested?”
“No, corporate insisted on your arrest. If you agree to make full restitution I can ask the D. A. to plead the case out and seek a sentence of probation and community service. That’s the best I could do. However, I want you to be sure of one thing: I’m doing this for your kids. Otherwise I would push for as long a sentence as I could get.”
Tonya sagged in her chair and renewed her weeping. John came over to her and gently but firmly told her that if she cooperated, she wouldn’t have to face the public humiliation of being handcuffed and led out of Bob’s office. He told her he was going along to press formal charges against her and to give the police the evidence that they had against her. He wanted to know if she had a lawyer she could call. Tonya just shook her head weakly and walked out with the police and John.