Chapter 21

“Oh, my,” Sarah said. “You didn’t tell me Robbie was so adorable.”

“Robbie,” I said, “this is Chief Bridges and Mrs. Bridges.”

“Hi,” Robbie said.

“Hi, yourself,” the chief said.

“I have a grandson your age,” Sarah said. “Why don’t I take you inside and show you our toy box.” She took him by the hand and led him up the steps.

“Nice place you’ve got here, Chief,” I said.

“We like it. Now fill me in on the details about the kid. Sarah was a little short on information.”

We sat in rocking chairs on their porch, and Mike and I told the whole story from the moment we’d found Robbie in the shed.

“That’s amazing,” the chief said. “What can we do to help?”

“For one thing,” Mike said, “you can call on our lawyer and make a statement as to what lousy characters we are.”

“Not a problem,” the chief said. “Just give me his name and address.”

“I can do better than that,” I said, and I pulled out my wallet and found Ernest’s card. “Here’s his card.”