I’ve got some good news, and some bad news,” Dad said. He took a last bite of mashed potatoes and leaned back.
Cooper held his breath. He had a feeling part of the news had to do with the police interviews. Maybe they got past the hurdles.
“What’s the bad news, Carson?” Mom’s eyebrows went up with a pleading look that lined her forehead.
“Don’t worry, Babe. It’s not that bad.”
Which set Cooper’s stomach a bit more at ease, but it still felt like a knotted dish towel.
“I have three tickets to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The greatest show on earth.”
“Yes!” Mattie jumped up from her seat and ran around the kitchen table. “We’re going to the circus!”
“A satisfied client offered me the tickets. They didn’t cost me a thing.”
“When?” Mom picked up the calendar.
“This Thursday night.”
“That’s Halloween.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We’re going to the circus in two days!” Mattie circled the table again with her arms out like wings.
“The problem is,” Dad looked at Mom. “With only three tickets one of us will have to stay back.” He pointed at himself and shrugged.
Cooper imagined being at the Allstate Arena with hours of acrobatics and amazing stunts. It would be a good place to get his mind off things.
“Will there be ponies?” Mattie stopped running and grabbed Dad’s arm.
“Absolutely.”
Mattie jumped up and down. “And clowns?”
“All over the place.”
Clowns. Cooper could see it now. Three rings with guys in clown getup. “Hold on, Dad,” Cooper said. “I’ll stay back.”
“What? And miss all the fun?”
“The way I see it,” Cooper said, “you bringing home The Getaway was like bringing me tickets to the circus, the Super Bowl, and maybe even Disneyworld all wrapped up together.”
Dad smiled. He beamed, in fact. Cooper scored some points with that one.
“Mattie can see some ponies and have some one-on-one time with you and Mom.”
It was settled pretty quickly. Dad and Mom would take Mattie. Cooper would stay home. He wouldn’t have to look at clowns for three hours.
After dinner he made an excuse to do homework on the computer in the family room, but he worked on the letter instead. Cooper had it pretty much written in his mind, so he was able to type it fast and print two copies without anyone coming near. One copy he folded and sealed in an envelope right away. The copy for The Herald.
After deleting the letter on the screen, he took a sheet of plain paper and pressed his hand flat on it, making sure every finger made full contact. He held it there for a full thirty seconds, wanting to be sure the oils from his hand left clear prints. Taking a pen, he traced his hand on the paper so the police would know exactly where to dust for fingerprints. He folded the second copy of his letter, along with the handprint sheet, and then slipped it into a different envelope. But he didn’t seal it.
Cooper met Gordy in The Getaway at eight p.m. The battery-powered camping lantern Cooper kept in his bedroom sat on the middle of the cabin table, casting strange shadows behind Gordy.
“Think Hiro will show?” Cooper laid the two envelopes on the table.
“Not unless she has a brain transplant.”
“How do you know?”
Gordy squirmed a bit. “I talked to her just before I came over.”
“What?”
“Yeah, well, I knew you were pretty upset with how she left us and stuff, so I thought I’d talk to her and, you know, smooth things over.”
“So what did you say?”
“Well, that you were pretty steamed at her for ditching us, but I thought you’d forgive her if she came back tonight.”
“You told her that?” Cooper leaned back and raked his hands through his hair. “She’s going to think I’m an idiot.”
Gordy nodded. “That’s pretty much what she said.”
“Great. What about you smoothing things over?”
“But she did want to know what the policeman said.”
Cooper thought about that a moment. That meant she still cared what happened to them. It wasn’t much, but he’d take whatever he could get. “What did she think about how we handled his questions?”
“She didn’t really say.”
“Nothing?”
“Well, okay. She just said ‘more lies.’ And that was about it.”
That’s just about what Cooper would expect her to say. “You told her what time we were meeting?”
Gordy nodded. “She said not to count on her being here.”
Cooper stared at the lantern and let the words sink in. So that was that. It was just him and Gordy now. Like old times.
“Coop?” Gordy peered out the cabin window into the darkness. “You think we should give it up?”
“NO!” Cooper shouted, making Gordy jump.
“We can do this.” Cooper tried to slow himself down. “Just a little longer. Give the police a little more information so they find those guys. If we turn ourselves in now we’re in just as much danger as we ever were.”
Gordy shrugged and kept his eyes on the table. “It’s just that Hiro says—”
“Hiro says? I know what Hiro says. She didn’t like the Code from the beginning. Do you want to leave, too?”
“No,” Gordy held up his hands. “I’m with you, Coop. It’s just that Hiro had a couple of good points when she was talking to me, and—”
“She’s delirious,” Cooper said. “She thinks we can trust the cops. Well we can’t. And I’m not about to walk into a trap. If you want out, let me know right now and I’ll do this myself.”
Gordy looked confused. “I said I’m with you. What more do you want?”
Cooper felt a twinge of guilt. He leaned back against the booth and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m on edge, I guess.” He checked his watch. “Wanna hear what I wrote?”
“Sure.”
Cooper unfolded the letter to the police and started reading.
“Rolling Meadows Police,
This is my last letter. Here is more proof that I was at Frank ‘n Stein’s at the time of the burglary. That I am your witness. My backpack was on the back table. Inside was a book titled Adventures in American Literature. There was no name in the backpack, or on my sweatshirt.
I checked Frank’s pockets for the keys while the burglars were upstairs in the office opening the safe. His left front pocket was empty except for a 4”x 6” photo of a Halloween party. His right front pocket had papers and change.
You should have found a big knife on the floor on the customer side of the front counter with my fingerprints on it. They will match the prints all over this letter. To make it easy, I tried to leave a good print on the next page.
The knife came from a rack near the back door. It isn’t the same knife as the burglars used with Frank. There should be a small cut under his chin where they stuck him to make him give the combination to the safe.
This information should prove I was there and not just looking in a window. I am telling the truth. The guy with the clown mask almost caught me. He got my house key. He said he would find me and my family if I went to the police. He used the stool from the video game to break out the front window when I got away because I locked the front door behind me. I still have the keys.
I’ll turn the phone on at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Don’t waste your time trying to get me to come in or bring the hard drive. I’ve given you all the proof you need. Just find those three men. The one with the Elvis mask was about the same height and weight as Detective Hammer.
Talk to the guy who almost hit me with his car. The burglar chased me. He told the people he was a cop. Ask them for a description. I didn’t see him.
The night of the burglary an SUV pulled out from behind Frank ‘n Stein’s. I saw it from Dunkin Donuts. It was dark, so I didn’t get a good look at it. One headlight was out. And they’re still in town. One of the robbers told me to leave the surveillance hard drive by the bell tower Sunday night. I left a note saying I wouldn’t give it to anyone—not even the police. They were waiting, and they chased me. Same SUV. Headlight still out. I got away, but they got my bike and turned it into a pretzel. They mean business. Don’t waste time looking for the witness who chooses to be silent. Find these men before they try to silence me for good.
Signed,
Silence is Golden”
Cooper looked up. “What do you think?”
“Maybe you should put something about Lunk.”
“Lunk? Hiro said that? I honestly don’t think he had anything to do with it. We have no proof.” But that was only part of it. He looked down at his hands. “If they question him, he might just happen to suggest they check out a guy named Cooper MacKinnon.”
Gordy nodded and held up his hands in a peacekeeping gesture. “You’re right. And I think you’ve covered all the bases. Especially that part about talking to the witnesses by Dunkin’ Donuts.” He nodded. “Yeah, I think it’s good.”
Cooper folded it and slipped it back in the envelope. “Now all we have to do is deliver it.”
“Where are we taking it anyway?”
Cooper looked at his cousin and held up a set of keys. “Frank ‘n Stein’s.”