The Kid On The Bike - 7. Chapter 7

“I don’t think this is our student,” Elena began the meeting at the next day’s lunch. She’d already filled in Owen and Rob.

“Why?” Don asked almost immediately, and Elena realized that if he hadn’t, someone else would have.

“Is there a better choice?” Jae asked.

“Not that we know of – so far,” Rob fielded. “We’ll have to back to checking.”

“But I thought the reason you checked him first,” Ike pointed out, “was that everyone else seemed covered.”

“They do,” Elena repeated.

“Then is someone trying to throw the blame on him?” Don went on.

“As Rob said,” Elena replied, “we really don’t know. What we have learned is this.” And she told them about the Scott family – Ervin, Johns senior and junior, and Pop-Pop.

“Wow. That’s a lot,” everyone admitted.

“John senior died four years ago,” Rob clarified . “There was a very nice obituary in the Northampton and Springfield papers.”

“Both?” Ike wondered

“He worked in both places,” Elena explained. “Amherst and Waldron, too, a lot of it pro bono in his later years. Apparently, Northampton wasn’t large enough for his good deeds.”

“He was a nice guy,” Rob concluded. “The whole family is.”

Elena agreed. “But none of that information is really useful – other than all of it supporting Ervin Scott’s good judgment about Henry Chang.”

“That’s pretty important,” Jae suggested. “But enough to eliminate him? Especially when you have no one else?”

“No one from the current students,” Elena acknowledged. “Though we didn’t find much in the past five years, either – especially during the lawsuit time. Everyone was being careful.”

“A re we back to an outsider?” Ike questioned. “Maybe an adult who looks younger than he is?”

“Possibly,” Elena allowed.

“Is there still a chance someone’s trying to blame this kid?” Don repeated.

“Why?” Owen asked.

“Any number of reasons,” Don explained. “A grudge. An ex-girlfriend. Someone the kid wouldn’t let cheat off of him on an test.”

“Is he on a team?” Ike questioned. “That kind of rivalry?”

“I think he’s too busy working,” Elena reminded them. “He has several jobs.”

“Where?” Jae wondered.

“Ervin Scott didn’t tell me,” Elena admitted. “And I didn’t ask. I just let her talk about what she felt comfortable talking about. Remembering what Owen said, I didn’t want to be pushing.”

“But now we may have to,” Jae suggested. “Can we make this more formal?” she asked their boss.

“We still have nothing to go on,” Owen replied.

“But how are we gonna find something?” Ike pursued. “The kid’s not gonna tell us himself – if there is anything to tell.”

“If we ask any of other students – or teachers or staff members,” Owen warned, “word’s gonna get out. And that might shut everything down.”

“Isn’t that what we want?” Elena offered. “Considering how much trouble rumors started four years ago.”

“No,” Don reminded everyone. “There was a reason for those lawsuits – and the scandal. There was discrimination against both students and people looking for teaching jobs. It also extended to staff members and part-time work like coaching. There was almost unending evidence to get rid of that whole administration.”

“Which they did,” Elena countered. “But I don’t think that’s what’s happening now. In this case, everything anyone’s heard is directed against one Asian boy – or man – whoever he is.”

“It might help if we could find out where the kid works,” Owen suggested. “And why he has so many jobs.” He turned to Elena. “Can you ask Ervin Scott how many?”

“I’m not sure she knows. She just said he’s almost always out.”

“I wonder what he needs money for,” Don asked. “Or wants it for? A drug habit of his own?”

“Ervin Scott said nothing about it.”

“Would she recognize the signs?”

Elena made an empty-handed gesture.

“Or is he taking the jobs to hide the fact he’s making money selling drugs?” Jae asked. “Or checking out places to sell them from?”

“Can you follow him from school?” Owen asked. “To see where he goes? Do we even know what he looks like?”

“If he’s not on any team,” Rob answered, “or active any way at school, there aren’t gonna be pictures online.”

“I could follow him from the Scotts’,” Elena suggested. “In the morning. If nothing else, I’d get a look at him. Then I could follow him after school.”

“Just be careful about taking pictures,” Owen warned. “He’s underage, and we don’t want to cause trouble.”

“You’re not making this easier,” Don only half joked.

“Better hard on a couple of us now,” Owen replied, “than tough on the whole department later.”

“Well, once you know what he looks like,” Rob offered Elena, “you could go into any place in town – especially anyplace that serves food. Since we know that’s where he seems to eat – or get – his dinners.”

“If he’s not lying to Ervin Scott,” Ike put in. “Covering up.”

“And if you do find him in a restaurant – or better, working there,” Jae said, “you could become a regular and maybe get to know him. Any of us could get friendly.”

“How long is this supposed to go on?” Elena asked Owen.

“We have plenty of time,” came his answer. “As long as the drug selling doesn’t get worse – or actually appear.”

“I wonder something else,” Don put in, looking at Elena. “You said he rides a bike to school and lives further out Route 10 than Noah and I do. Maybe he’s the kid who works some afternoons at Theo’s.”

“Doing what?” Elena questioned.

“Pretty much everything,” Don replied grinning. “You know how cheap Theo is – everyone on his staff doubles. Sometimes, even Theo sweeps the floor – just to avoid paying someone extra.”

Everyone laughed at that.

“But what does that have to do with the bike?” Ike questioned.

“Well, I see him some mornings riding to school – if I’m coming in early, since school starts at eight. I think I’ve even seen him on his bike at night – though it’s sometimes too dark to tell. It could be anyone.”

“How many kids ride bikes on route 10 at night?” Owen asked.

“How many kids ride bikes?” Don retorted. “For that kind of distance? Most of them would get a ride – or even thumb – though they’re constantly warned against that. Or possibly take the bus.”

“Three dollars? To go two miles?” Elena pointed out. “The Scotts don’t even live halfway to Northampton, and he’d have to pay full price. And the bus doesn’t run all the time, like the ones between Northampton and Amherst with the four colleges.”

“There seem to be a lot of ways to spot this kid,” Owen decided. “And once you do, I think Jae’s right – some of us should try to become his friends.”

“If it’s in Theo’s, we’re in luck,” Don supported. “We’re all in and out of there every day.” He indicated what was in front of him. “For sandwiches and coffee.”

“And just to chat with Theo,” Ike added. “Since he seems to know everything that’s happening in town.”

“If it’s the same kid, maybe Theo can tell us about him,” Owen continued. “As long as we don’t seem to be asking.” He laughed. “One reason Theo knows so much is he trades gossip for gossip – he’s always pumping me. And we don’t want to get into that.”

“If it’s the same kid, I already know him,” Elena put in. “So I wouldn’t have to get Theo involved – I can just talk. But let me start at the Scotts’ in the morning, to confirm that I know the boy.”

“Good idea,” Owen summed up. “Then you can get back to us.”