AN: This was written for the October Case File – Che Fong Challenge in my new forum: The Coconut Wireless. I invite you all to check it out and join in on the fun. Also, Detective Ralph Irons is an OC introduced in my story "Smugglers and Spies."

Good Eyes

As Che Fong took a tentative step into his grandfather's shop all of his instincts were telling him that something was very wrong. As he glanced around the small but respectable jewelry store, Che's heart leapt to his throat as he spotted shattered glass on the floor and the empty cases lining the walls.

Someone had broken in and stolen all the beautiful jewels and delicately carved jade!

But that wasn't what concerned the young teen the most. His grandfather was nowhere in sight!

"Ye Ye! Ye Ye!" Che called out while praying that his grandfather hadn't been hurt or worse. "Ye Ye!"

A short wrinkled old man stepped in the main room from the back. "I'm fine, Che. The break-in happened while I was asleep. I called the police and they are on their way."

"But the store!" Che gasped.

Sadness flickered in his grandfather's eyes as he surveyed the damage. "It can be replaced. Go, Che, you'll be late for school."

Che never understood why adults seemed to think that he was too young to see bad things or know the truth about the troubles going on in the world. He knew that he was supposed to respect his elders but something told him that he shouldn't leave his grandfather alone. However, he couldn't just say no. He would get in trouble for talking back.

Not daring to take more than a couple seconds to come up with an excuse, Che said softly, "Ba Ba wouldn't want me to leave you alone."

Ye Ye seemed to suspect that Che was only guessing that his son would be angry but he let Che stay. Grateful that he wasn't in trouble, Che walked up to one the broken cases and looked inside.

"Don't touch anything, Che."

"Yes, Ye Ye."

The older Fong walked outside and sat on a bench and Che quickly followed. Remembering the reason he stopped at the shop on his way to school, Che handed his grandfather a wrapped bundle. "Your breakfast."

"Thank you," Ye Ye said as he took the bundle but didn't open it.

"Why, Ye Ye?" Che asked. "Why would someone steal?"

His grandfather looked thoughtful as he replied, "Some people steal because they are greedy and they want what they don't have while others steal because they are desperate and feel that they must in order to survive."

Che was shocked. "You mean this could have been someone who stole because his family was hungry?"

"I don't know, Che. Perhaps the police will tell us."

Che wasn't sure what he thought about that. If someone stole because they were greedy then they that meant that they were a bad person and Che could be mad at them for the way they had hurt his family. But if someone stole because his family was starving then could he be bad? If they were starving did that mean that the thief had done the right thing or that Che's family deserved to be stolen from because they had so much when others had so little?

If Che voiced his thoughts aloud, he knew he would be told he was worrying about grown-up problems but the problems were everywhere and they affected more than grown-ups.

Times were hard right now and had been for several years so the fact that his father and uncles all had good jobs meant that his family was doing better than most. However, Che had many friends at school whose fathers had lost their jobs in the sugar and pineapple fields and had been unable to find other work. It was for that reason that Che's mother always packed a little something extra in his lunch for him to share. However, Che didn't tell his mother that there were some days he didn't eat lunch at all, for he knew that he would have a good meal when he got home while many of his friends would have nothing.

And that wasn't right.

Che didn't understand why things were so bad. He didn't know why so many jobs were gone and so many people were hungry but he knew in his heart that if he had something that another didn't then it was his job to share.

Che had just never considered the possibility before that someone would steal what they had.

This shop – it meant a lot to his family. His great-grandfather had immigrated to Hawaii from China and, after saving for many years, had opened the jewelry store. His work with jade had caught the eye of many of the locals and visitors to the islands and the store had flourished which meant that the Fong patriarch was able to help the rest of the family immigrate as well. His oldest son had learned the family trade and done well until a couple years ago when the hard times started.

With so many people out of work, less and less people were spending money on jewelry. Even those who had money were reluctant to spend it in case they too lost their jobs. His grandfather had a few rich clients who still shopped here but the store would have closed if his grandfather hadn't gotten the idea to specialize in taking old jewelry and changing it to look like a completely different piece. That way people could have new jewelry without having to spend much money. Those jobs made just enough money to pay to pay the bills and the whole Fong family helped out in every way they could for none of them would be here if it wasn't for this shop.

They weren't going to a few bad years ruin a family legacy.

That was if the shop could ever recover from the events of today.

Che thoughts ended when a squad car came to a stop outside on the street and several officers stepped out. Part of Che couldn't help but be excited – he had never seen so many policemen in one place before!

One of the policemen talked softly with his grandfather while the others entered the shop. However, there was one young man wearing a suit who winked as him as he walked by. Wanting to get a better view Che tiptoed back into the store but made sure that he was staying out of the adults' way.

But as Che watched the men work, he noticed them look at, then turn away from, one corner of the store where there had been no cases. He understood why the men were focusing on other sections of that store but there was something different about the corner. Even though the only thing there was a large jade carving of a dragon, he knew that the thief had gone over there.

Summoning up his courage, Che called out, "Excuse me, sir."

The copper who had winked at him earlier turned and said, "Yes."

"That piece there has been moved." Che pointed the dragon that was too large and too heavy for their thief to carry even though it looked like he had tried.

The policeman turned and said, "My name is Detective Ralph Irons. What is yours, son?"

"Che Fong."

"How old are you, Che?" the young detective asked.

"Twelve, sir."

"What makes you think that piece has been moved?"

Embarrassed now that the detective's attention was fully on him, Che mumbled, "It's my favorite piece, sir. The dragon's nose usually points toward the door but now it's pointing toward the window."

Irons looked impressed but Che ignored him as he noticed something else. Walking toward the carving, he knelt down next to it. Remembering his grandfather's command to not touch anything, he was careful as he pointed to a small object on the floor next to the carving. "There is something here."

"You have a good eye, kid," Irons stated as he leaned over and picked up a small metal button with a pair of tweezers and dropped it into an envelope.

"Che," Ye Ye called out sternly as he walked back into the shop. "Are you bothering these officers?"

Before Che could respond, Detective Irons addressed his grandfather. "Actually, your grandson has been a big help. He spotted something we might have missed."

"Will it really help?" Che asked and then looked down as he realized that he had spoken without permission.

The detective smiled encouragingly. "Go on."

Che shrugged. "It's just a button. How will that help you find the man who did this?"

"You never know what will help us catch the bad guys. Which is why we have to gather as much evidence as we can."

When the detective turned back to his work, Ye Ye placed a firm hand on Che's shoulder. "Che, these men need to do their jobs and you need to get to school."

"Yes, sir," Che conceded, knowing that this time his grandfather wouldn't back down. But as Che headed towards his school, he took one look back at the store and wondered if that detective had really meant what he said.

Walking out of school, Che, for the second time that day, was shocked by the sight in front of him: Detective Ralph Irons was sitting on a bicycle but with one foot on the ground and looking at straight him, like he had been waiting for him to come out of the building.

As Che hurried over, the detective spoke up, "Thought you would want to know, we caught the guy who stole from your grandfather a couple of hours ago."

Wow! Che thought. That was really fast.

Irons seemed to be able to read Che's mind or at least his face and continued, "Our man made the mistake of trying to sell the stolen goads to the wrong person who got suspicious and called us. When we arrived he tried to claim that he had bought them off of another man real cheap so he should have guessed that they were stolen."

Confused, Che asked, "So this man didn't steal the jewelry?"

"Oh, he stole the jewelry all right. Can you guess how we figured it out?"

"No, sir."

"His shirt was missing a button."

"You mean I helped catch…" Che began.

"Exactly, kid. You know what? With eyes like yours you could be a good detective one day."

Che grimaced at that suggestion. Him a copper! He didn't think he could ever shoot somebody. "I don't want to be a policeman."

Irons chuckled softly before asking, "What do you want to be?"

"A scientist," Che stated without hesitation.

Irons smiled. "I shouldn't be surprised. You're a smart kid." Then as Irons stood up on his pedals and prepared to ride, he added, "When you get to college, remember this: police need scientists too."

As Irons rode away, Che snorted. That detective was nuts! He was never going to work for the police! He intended to have a lab and make discoveries that would change the world.

Still, it had been pretty swell helping the police catch that thief. But that didn't mean that he intended to make career of it.

There was just simply no way.

PAU