The Peculiar Disappearance of the Pocket-Watch

"Josie! There you are! Have you heard?" breathed Chloe, "Ms. Rose believes her house has been broken into. Come on!"

Josie leapt up and immediately questioned, "Details?"

"Not really, no. Let’s hurry!"

"Okay, I’m coming. Isn’t this the fifth time, Ms. Rose’s house has been ‘broken into’?"

"Sixth. Ms. Rose is just protective of her belongings. But this time, she sounded more urgent. I don’t know, we haven’t seen her house, yet."

As Josie and Chloe turned the corner to Ms. Rose’s house, they both let out an audible gasp. All Ms. Rose's windows on the bottom floor were broken and had lacy curtains fluttering in the slight breeze. Through the windows they caught glimpses of upturned furniture. "Oh, thank goodness. You are here," squealed a distraught elderly lady, as she hurried down the ruined lawn to the girls.

"What happened, Ms. Rose?" asked Josie, her face full of concern.

"I don’t know. I just came home late last night, and everything was like it is now," whined Ms. Rose.

"It will be okay," said Chloe.

"I know. The insurance company will pay for most of the damages, but the most important one won’t be recovered," wailed Ms. Rose.

"What’s the most important one?" queried Josie.

"Oh, Josie, I can’t tell you right now. Josie, I want you to take my case. I know, I know, you only solve little things, like missing toys, but you have to. I can tell you exactly why and what they stole. I promise. Just one time, for me," pleaded Ms. Rose.

"Josie, come on, one time. What could it hurt?" said Chloe.

"Okay, just this once," agreed Josie.

"Josie, do you know of somewhere were we could talk privately?" questioned Ms. Rose.

"Yeah, what about the park at about nine ‘o’clock? No one is there that late."

"That sounds fine. See you then," said Ms. Rose, who pivoted and returned to the police car, to finish the report. As the two girls left Ms. Rose’s lawn, Josie was deep in thought. The two girls walked back to the convent for their afternoon classes. Chloe noticed that Josie seemed preoccupied during their classes.

By the time nine o’clock rolled around, Josie was ready to hear Ms. Rose’s secret confession. She hadn’t been able to concentrate on any of her lessons. "Josie, is that you?" a tentative voice emerged out of the darkness.

"Yeah, Ms. Rose, it is," responded Josie.

"Oh, good. I was hoping it was,’’ she confessed.

"Yeah, I was hoping you would show up soon," whispered Josie. Both women laughed out loud, and then quickly stifled it.

"Let’s go to the diner, instead. The park is creeping me out," Josie suggested. Ms. Rose quickly agreed. They walked swiftly to the diner and sat down in a back booth.

"So, what, exactly, did you want to tell me, Ms. Rose?" questioned Josie.

"I wanted to tell you why I knew what they were looking for. They were looking for a priceless heirloom, in which my great-great-great-great-great grandfather brought over from Czechoslovakia. It had no real importance to us, but seeing as we had never been there, we kept it very sacred to our family. It was always kept with the oldest child of the family. It was passed down through generations of our family. Only recently I had discovered its greatness. I had been asking around about this, heirloom, and showing to jewelers, and people of all trades. They all told me it was worthless, except one man, in Dunes Ville. He was a jeweler. He knew that this had some kind of value to it. He said that he had not seen any like it, but he recognized the trademarks of the designer right away. He said it was very valuable. I figured he was pulling my leg, everyone else didn’t recognize it for anything else but a piece of trash. After I left that store, I realized I was not alone. I tried to give the man the slip, but he knew I had spotted him, and stayed on my tail. I finally just went home. I didn’t want to endanger someone by going to his or her house, so I went to mine. He obviously knew where I lived after that. For a while, I saw nothing more of this man. Except one day when I was coming home. He was lurking in the shadows of my house. Circling the perimeter and then running to his car he had kept the engine running. He hadn’t seen me but I guess he knew I came home around this time. That was the first time I called the police on this man. There were several times after that, but each time I could only call when he was gone. Then it was no use trying to catch him. I guess the wait for the valuable heirloom was just too much for him," said Ms. Rose, catching her breath.

"Why is that you have not told me what this valuable heirloom of yours is, Ms. Rose?" challenged Josie. "If you do want me to solve this case, I am going to need some kind of definition of this item."

"Why, Josie, you sound like you don’t even believe me," said Ms. Rose shockingly.

"Now, Ms. Rose, you have told me a perfectly, lovely story, but you have also told me nothing about this heirloom you say you did possess."

"Josie, I just hadn’t gotten there, yet."

"Well, then Ms. Rose, by all means. Proceed."

"Thank you, Josie. My family’s heirloom is a turquoise encrusted pocket watch with a turquoise embedded chain. My relative found it on our old property in Czechoslovakia. It was very important to us all, even if some of us found rather ugly. It was a piece of our history, which was apparently a very valuable piece of our history. Well, there you go Josie, that’s your description of my family’s heirloom."

"Thank you, Ms. Rose. That’s all I really needed. I guess I shall be going."

"Not at this time of the night, all alone, little lady. I will get you a taxi. I’ll take one myself. It’s not fit to be walking around at odd hours of the night. Especially, when you have such a long walk back to the convent. I’ll call the convent when you get in the cab, just so they you know you are coming home," commanded Ms. Rose.

"Okay, Ms. Rose thanks a lot. I’ll get working on your case right away." They kissed each other’s cheeks as the taxi pulled up. Josie grabbed her stuff up and ran out to the taxi. She called out instructions to the driver, and they sped off. Ms. Rose called the convent and let them know what had happened to Josie. She then walked out to her taxi, which had just pulled up, and went home. Feeling slightly relieved she had told someone, she walked as though someone had just lifted a huge boulder off her shoulders. As something cold and metallic touched her cheek, she flinched. Noticing the body in the depths of the shadows just slightly to her left, she screamed. A huge hand stifled the sound, and Ms. Rose felt her world slipping away from her. She had lost her balance and all she had to hold onto was that huge hand smothering her energy. She lost the one-sided battle.

Josie was just back inside the convent when she heard a police siren wailing. Her aunt, Sister Mary Josephine, was hurrying down the stairs. "Josie, it’s Ms. Rose, something’s happened to her. She won’t answer the phone, but she told me to call her when you got home. Now there’s this police siren. Do you want to go see where the police cars are going? Let’s go!"

"All right, I’m coming," said Josie. They rushed down into Sister Mary Josephine’s car. As they drove along the road down to where Ms. Rose’s house was, they saw flashing red and blue lights.

"Oh, no, they are at her house."

They pulled up silently to the row of police cars and got out of the car. As they walked up her ruined lawn, they made out someone being carried on a stretcher. When the people carrying it got closer, they made out a small, elderly lady. Realization hit Josie hard. She turned and searched for comfort in her aunt’s kindly face.

"It will be all right, Josie, it will be all right." Almost instantly the words came, as though Josie’s aunt knew what Josie was looking for.

"Excuse me, ladies, but you are going to need to leave these premises," said a young policeman behind them.

"I am Sister Mary Josephine, and I think I don’t have to leave any premises. Seeing that this young lady is my niece, she doesn’t either," replied Sister Mary Josephine sternly.

"Ma’am, my order was to remove all people from these premises," the dutiful policeman did not falter. "If you would like to see the chief about it, he’s right over there."

The policeman watched as Josie’s aunt and Josie walked over to the Chief of Police.

"Sister Mary Josephine! What a lovely surprise! What is wrong?" said the exuberant Chief of Police, Chief Nicholas Gate.

"Well, there’s a policeman over there trying to eject me from the premises. It’s lovely to see you too," said Sister Mary Josephine, obviously cooling down.

"Oh, that’s Noah Parkins, he’s new," Chief Gate observed. He called Mr. Parkins over and quickly told him that Sister Mary Josephine and Josie were allowed free access to everything police related, seeing as Sister Mary Josephine was a nun and Josie was considered a part of the police family, as the chief was Chloe’s dad. Mr. Parkins smiled apologetically to both and started off on his rounds again.

"So, what happened here, Mr. Gate?" queried a worried Josie.

"Oh, it’s so sad," said Chief Gate, "Ms. Rose had apparently just gotten home. Mrs. Core De Wit, her neighbor, was looking out her window as she drove up. After Ms. Rose had been inside the house for about two minutes, Mrs. Core De Wit heard an awful scream come from inside Ms. Rose’s house. It was quickly stifled, and after a few moments Mrs. Core De Wit saw a dark figure running out the back door. That’s when she called us."

"Poor, Ms. Rose, if only I had suggested she had come back to the convent with me for the night. I mean, I knew about what had happened to her house earlier. I should have suggested it," said Josie, who was very distraught.

"Now, Josie, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen," said Sister Mary Josephine, consolingly. "You didn’t know, it’s okay, really."

Josie finally looked up. She smiled weakly at her aunt, and said, "You’re right, I couldn’t have known. There’s no way." Except Josie didn’t quite believe that she had heard Ms. Rose’s story, and should have been thinking about Ms. Rose’s safety. Even though she knew her aunt was right, there was nothing she couldn’t have done.

"We’ve taken her to the physician’s office. He will keep her there, and see if she is going to make it," said Chief Gate, coming back into the conversation, "there’s really nothing else to do here so we are leaving. Why don’t you two ladies go home?"

So, Josie and Sister Mary Josephine turned and went to their car. Calling and waving thank you and goodbye, they got in their car and drove back to the convent. They both went straight up to bed when they got to the convent.

When Josie woke up the next morning, she found herself surrounded by small girls.

"Good morning, Miss Josie," called the girls, collectively.

"Good morning, girls. What are you doing here?"

"We just wanted to tell you that Miss Chloe was here, Miss Josie," said a small, cute girl, named Claire. "Miss Chloe wants to see you Miss Josie."

"Well, thank you, Claire and others. Now, if you will excuse me I must get dressed. I will see you in two days at school, on Monday."

Josie watched as all the girls clambered off Josie’s bed, onto the floor, and out the door. Josie got dressed, and went to the window. Seeing Chloe, she opened the window, shouted "Coming!" and then flew down the stone steps to the front door. Chloe opened the door as Josie came to it, and Josie stepped outside.

"Did you hear about Ms. Rose?" both of them asked each other, in unison. They laughed, and then quickly stopped.

"I met with her as planned, though," supplied Josie.

"What did she tell you?" Chloe replied.

"She told me that she had owned a priceless heirloom, a turquoise encrusted pocket watch and chain, and she had been showing it around, trying to get information about the piece. It had come with her great-great-great-great-great grandfather from his property in Czechoslovakia, when he had moved here. In Dunes Ville, there was this jeweler, who seemed to know all about this piece when no one else did. He also said it was very valuable. Then Ms. Rose noticed a man following her all the way back home. She didn’t want to endanger anyone by going to anyone else’s house, so she went to hers. He now knew where she lived. All of those break-ins were real, and they were the same man. He even knew what time she returned from work each day," said Josie.

"Wow," said Chloe, obviously stunned, thinking about the awfulness of it all.

"I know," said Josie, who was thinking about the severity of the situation.

"It seems like Ms. Rose just saw figments of her imagination, but they were real. We never even helped her. Everyone just thought she was crazy. I bet everyone is real sorry that they ever didn’t believe her. I know I am," said Chloe, incredulously.

"Yeah, me too. I just think there was something I should have done for her, something that would have kept her from being attacked," said Josie.

"We all do. But the truth of the matter is we can’t. No one could have helped Ms. Rose, because we all didn’t know," Chloe said soothingly.

"I know, but I still would have liked to make a difference," said Josie sulkily. "I guess I just like playing the hero.

"Don’t we all?" questioned Chloe, laughing.

"Well, I guess we should start working on our case," said Josie.

"Yeah," agreed Chloe.

The girls spent their entire Saturday morning in the school library, working on discovering what this priceless heirloom looked like. They found no record what so ever on this turquoise encrusted pocket watch and chain. By the time lunch rolled around, the two girls were famished and fatigued. They put their books away and went out for lunch. They decided to stop researching the heirloom, and to start researching the perpetrator. They first went to Mrs. Core De Wit’s house. The girls knocked on her door, and were almost immediately admitted.

"Good afternoon, girls. How are you?" said Mrs. Core De Wit, cordially.

"We’re fine, thank you, Mrs. Core De Wit. And you?" said Chloe, warmly.

"Shaken, but okay, thanks. I assume you are not here to make small talk."

"No, Mrs. Core De Wit, we are not. We came to ask about the intruder. Did you see him very well last night?" queried Josie.

"Well, now, last night. Yes, in a way. He was running away from the house but kept looking back. One time a ray of moonlight lit his face. He had been quite handsome," Mrs. Core De Wit said, slightly frowning in concentration.

"Can you describe this face to me, Mrs. Core De Wit?" Josie asked.

"Yes. He had an average size face, not too long or too short, with blond-brown hair and blue eyes. He had well defined cheekbones; his cheeks were slightly reddish from running. He ran favoring his right leg and he had a scar that was highly snake like, running vertical from the bottom of his jaw and disappearing under his t-shirt," replied Mrs. Core De Wit upon thought of the matter.

"Wow, that was a good description," said Chloe.

"Well, I had seen these things about him beforehand, and I just recognized it as him last night," said Mrs. Core De Wit, comically.

Josie who had been writing all this down said, "Mrs. Core De Wit, I thank you for your time. This has really helped. I hope you feel better. Chloe and I have some more work to be doing."

Chloe got to her feet and shook hands with Mrs. Core De Wit.

"Well, I am glad that I was of assistance," said Mrs. Core De Wit.

"Oh, great assistance," assured Josie, "but we really must be going."

Josie thanked her one more time as Mrs. Core De Wit walked them to the door. Josie and Chloe walked out onto the porch and down the wood steps to the ground before they heard the soft swish of the door close and the faint click of the lock. The two girls kept walking and finally got back to the convent. When they got back, they went straight up to Josie’s room and tried to put together what they had so far. Josie finally thought of writing every thing down in a notebook and hiding the notebook. When they had accomplished that, it was close to dinnertime. Sister Mary Josephine offered to give Chloe a ride home because she wouldn’t be able to make home in time if she walked. So Josie was left alone, lost deep in thought, in her bedroom. She kept mulling over the case, rolling over the contents in her mind. She was silent and withdrawn throughout dinner, as she thought over each detail. As she looked over the accounts of each person involved in this case, something was pulling at a part of her. She couldn’t shake it. She felt uneasy about something, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. "Oh, well," she thought, "I’ll figure it out sooner or later."

She just hoped sooner, rather than later. She vowed tomorrow she would go and visit Ms. Rose. Well, see if she could visit Ms. Rose. She was hoping she could, and maybe be able to talk her into any more information about this certain intruder. As Josie went to bed, she felt something uneasy slide down her throat and settle in her chest. She read a book to calm her nerves and ended up falling asleep rather quickly. Before Josie knew it, tomorrow had become today and she was waking. She called Chloe, knowing she would be up, and asked Chloe to please join her for her trip to the physician’s office. Chloe agreed and they said they’d meet at the physician’s office, which was about halfway between the convent and Chloe’s house. Josie went down, packing a picnic luncheon for the both of them. Then Josie started off towards the physician’s office. By the time Chloe had gotten to the physician’s office, Josie was already standing there holding a basket in her hand.

"How long have you been here?" breathed Chloe, quite out of breath after her long walk.

"Couple of minutes, maybe. Not long. I brought lunch," said Josie.

"Oh, good. I was hoping you would. I thought about it when I was already away from the house. I didn’t want to make you wait."

The girls sat down and Josie unpacked their lunch. The girls ate in earnest, wanting to get inside the physician’s office sooner. They had finished their lunch and were packing it away when a black convertible flashed past them, the driver: Mr. Noah Parkins. Both girls looked astonished at the sight of it. Josie was the first to recover. She said, "Let’s go!" and both girls turned quickly and entered the office. They walked up to the secretary and asked if they could see Ms. Rose today. The secretary asked them to please wait a minute; they would have to talk to the physician. The girls nodded politely and sat down in the waiting chairs. In a few minutes the physician came out and beckoned Josie and Chloe inside his office. He shut the door behind them.

"Please, take a seat. Josie and Chloe right?" said the doctor.

"Yeah. And what is your name?" asked Josie.

"Doctor Bob Smith. I am not well known around here. Everyone is just so healthy that they don’t need to go to me," said the doctor jovially.

"Well, Dr. Smith, we just wanted to see Ms. Rose," said Josie.

"I am sorry, but I don’t think that’s possible. Ms. Rose is quite unstable. I am afraid you really won’t be able to see her for awhile, if she makes it," said Dr. Smith.

"If?" asked Josie, her face instantly full of concern.

"Yeah, I’m sorry. She is really unstable, and we are not exactly sure she is going to make it," said the doctor solemnly.

"Oh, no," said Chloe, almost in tears.

"I'm really sorry," said Dr. Smith.

"Well, I guess we’ll be going," said Josie in a choked voice.

The two girls got up and walked out of the room. They continued to walk until they realized they had reached the convent. Sister Mary Josephine had just gotten into her car and was starting to back up. She spotted the girls and motioned that they should accompany her. The girls hurried over to the car and climbed in. Off the three of them went, in towards down town. Sister Mary Josephine quickly explained that they had some errands to run. She asked Chloe if she wanted to be dropped off or to come along. Chloe chose to come along. Sister Mary Josephine went and dropped in on people, making her Sunday social house calls. The girls went with Sister Mary Josephine inside and sat and acted happy. They pressed on in their errands, stopping for groceries and other necessities. After several errands, they finally dropped off Chloe and headed home. Josie was very quiet and reserved, brooding over the contents of her case. She couldn’t help but feel the pressure of time coming in on all sides. She was tired and went straight to bed. Tomorrow was so quick to show up, Josie thought that the sun had been mistaken. It was still yesterday, Josie was sure of that. One look at the clock disproved her theory, and she sank deeper into her down comforter. In about five minutes, Josie was up and getting dressed. Today was Monday and she had to go to school. On Mondays she always had morning classes, and she was almost late for her first one. She ran out of her room and straight to her first class. She sank into her seat just as the bell rang. When the bell rang for lunch, Josie was relieved. She gathered her stuff and hurried to see Chloe, who was waiting for her.

"Hi, Josie," said Chloe.

"Hey, I think I found out who the intruder is," whispered Josie.

"Wow, that was fast. Who?"

"I can’t say for sure, yet, so I better not say right here. Let’s go some where else."

"All right, Josie, let’s go."

As soon as the two girls got to a private area, they sat down and began conversing again.

"Who is it, Josie?"

"I believe it’s that new policeman, Noah Parkins. I was researching names and there was no such name as Noah Parkins in any of the databases. Mr. Parkins fits Mrs. Core De Wit’s description of the intruder. He’s got an average face, blond-brown hair, and blue eyes. He also has well defined cheekbones. The only two things we don’t know is favoritism towards the right leg, and the scar. I saw him only in the dark and as he zoomed by. I have never seen him walk or in proper light. I suggest we go see him tomorrow on pretense of looking up an old record."

"Wow, Josie, you really thought about him being the intruder. All right I guess we could go see him tomorrow. After morning classes?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do that. I’ll see you then."

They had arrived back at the convent. Chloe’s mom, Grace Gate, was waiting for Chloe. Mrs. Gate was talking to Sister Mary Josephine. They stopped talking as the two girls approached them.

"See, just like we said; together," said Sister Mary Josephine.

"Come on, sweetie, we need to get home," said Mrs. Gate, smiling at the girls.

"I’ll see you tomorrow, Chloe," said Josie, giving her friend a hug.

"Bye, Josie. Bye, Sister Mary Josephine," said Chloe, returning the hug.

When Josie had finished her homework, a small knock was heard on the door, and her aunt entered.

"Josie, did you finish your homework?"

"Yes, I just finished."

"Good, you should get to bed. I bet you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. I am off to bed, too. Good night, Josie," said Sister Mary Josephine, as she kissed Josie.

"Yeah, I’m going to bed. Good night, aunt."

As her aunt left her room, she left Josie to her thoughts. Josie was left to wonder about if that her suspicions were true or false, and if it was really Noah Parkins or if it was just a coincidence. The next day Josie woke up with a cold, numbing feeling in her brain. She finished her lessons with undesirable swiftness, and her classes seemed as though she had just sat down when the bell rang for them to leave. It was lunch, and Chloe was waiting for her again. Josie smiled and waved, making her way to her friend. They took one look at each other and knew that they were both very scared. They made their way down to the police station, and asked to see Mr. Noah Parkins. They were admitted to his office, and after a few minutes, Mr. Noah Parkins walked in, favoring his right leg.

"Oh, hello," said Mr. Parkins, obviously recognizing Josie.

"Hello, Mr. Parkins, I am glad you remember me, and this is my friend, Chloe," said Josie, coolly.

"Ah, yes, but of course. Please, sit," he said, slightly forced.

"Thank you, Mr. Parkins," said Josie.

A young gentleman knocked and then entered. "Mr. Parkins? There’s business you need to attend to."

As Mr. Parkins turned his neck to look at this gentleman, Josie saw a long snakelike scar, that was vertical in between his jaw, and that disappeared into his dress shirt.

"I am awfully sorry, girls. I am going to have to leave, which means you will have to as well. Feel free to come back when you want to. It’s been wonderful. Right this way, now. That’s it. This is the way out. Thanks for coming. Good-bye."

Noah Parkins turned quickly on his heel and entered into the depths of the police station, followed quickly by the assistant. Both girls were lost in thought as they exited; they had gotten no proof that Mr. Parkins was the intruder. Then Josie got an idea.

"Chloe, let’s investigate his car."

They both put on their gloves and carefully opened the trunk of his car. They both let out a gasp. They quickly shut the trunk, and rushed back inside the police station. This time they asked to see the Chief of Police, Mr. Gate. When they finally got into Mr. Gate’s office, they found him on the phone with Grace, his wife. Chloe swept over to her father and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Her father returned the kiss, and handed the phone to Chloe, declaring her mother wanted to talk to her. After Chloe got off the phone, she repeated play-by-play of their involvement in the case. She then turned things over to Josie. Josie quickly explained what had happened ever since Ms. Rose had told her what the intruder stole and why. She then told him, on a hunch, they had opened Mr. Parkins’ trunk. Describing the items in Mr. Parkins’ trunk, Mr. Gate gasped. He was obviously astonished. Deciding that was enough evidence, Chief Gate got a warrant out for Mr. Parkins, and they all went to see Mr. Parkins. Chief Gate asked Mr. Parkins to come with him. The chief led Mr. Parkins out to the parking lot and ordered Mr. Parkins to open his trunk. Mr. Parkins very slowly went up to his car and opened the trunk. Inside were the entire contents of the police station’s vault.

Mr. Parkins was arrested then and there. He was thrown into jail, and stayed there until his trial the next day. When Mr. Parkins walked up to the stand, he shot Josie and Chloe a withering glance. He dropped his body into the available chair, as though his body weighed 1,000 pounds. His body landed with a heavy thud in the squeaky chair. The attorney stood up coolly and calmly with the all the superiority of God. He knew that this was an open-and-shut case in his favor. He kindly waited until the swearing-in had been finished before he started the interrogation. After a moment of good-hearted bantering and pointless questions, the attorney, Mr. Larson, cut to the chase.

"Did you stalk, harm, and physically endanger Ms. Rose? Yes or No?" questioned Mr. Larson.

"Yes," said a small, clear, determined voice coming from Mr. Parkins. The crowd gave an audible gasp. They were not prepared to hear the plea so early on in the trial.

"Yes," it came again, slightly stronger, "yes, I stalked her. I planned to steal the heirloom, and I did it too. I would have gotten away with it too, if only that girl, Josie, and her friend hadn’t gotten involved. I also broke Ms. Rose’s windows, and I also broke into her house several times before. I am not afraid of what will happen to me. I just want everyone to know that I did what I did, and I am not afraid to own up to it either."

After that, Mr. Parkins defiantly refused to speak another word, declaring he had said everything they needed, and that he wasn’t going to say anymore. When they finally figured out that there was no way they were going to get anymore, they charged him with possible murder, multiple charges of breaking and entering, and destruction of personal property. Two policemen came in, and took him off into a cell.

As the judge was about to dismiss the court, the telegram boy came running in, all out of breath.

"Wait, wait," as the telegram boy halted the judge, "I have a telegram that is important, and that I have to read out loud to the court."

"Ok, boy, go ahead," consented the judge.

The boy cleared his throat, and then read, loud and clear. "Ms. Rose has been examined by her physician, Dr. Smith, and has been announced in perfect condition. Her physician had had some doubts, and actually had thought that she would actually die. Even though, she has made a perfect recovery. She will be up and walking in a short amount of time. She sends congratulations and many thanks to Josie and her friend Chloe. Signed Mr. Smith." The boy finished the telegram in one breath and quickly gave it to the judge, as he escaped as though there were a vicious animal on his heels.

Seeing that the heirloom had been recovered and that Ms. Rose had recovered, Josie sat back with a satisfied smile upon her face. She found herself thinking about what her next case would be. If only Josie knew what was in store for her.