On the Monday afternoon following, an anonymous tip was called into the police station in the little town. The officer on duty took down the information and before he had a chance to ask any more questions, the mysterious caller hung up. "Hey Bill, listen to this..." he called to a fellow officer. A young light-haired man came over to the desk.

"What is it, Tim?" he asked of the officer on duty.

"A tip was just phoned in to me. Seems there was a car stolen Saturday last and the caller seemed to know where it is."

"There wasn't any report of a car stolen, was there?"

"No, not officially..."

"So who would call in a tip on a non-existent crime?"

"Well, I know who it was...it's either Charlie or Syd, the two brothers who work over at the brick layers."

"How do you know it was one of them?"

"Have you heard either of them talk? They're limeys... you can't mistake their accents."

"Which one is it then?"

"I'm not positive, but I think it was Charlie. His wife Phyllis was telling everyone at church that her car was stolen. I was about to send someone to talk to her officially this afternoon and find out what the circumstances were, but Bill,...get this...Phyllis was concerned that the criminals might have gotten the car dirty!"

Officer Bill laughed. So what else did Charlie say?

"He says he saw the criminals drive it into the water and then jump out at the last minute and run away. He told me exactly where it went down. When I asked him to describe the perpetrators, he mumbled something about it was too far away to see them and then he hung up!" Officer Tim laughed.

"Well, maybe he was too far away..."

"Maybe. I am going to send someone over there...he told me exactly where...we'll see if there is a car to be pulled out of the water..."

Phyllis was still dreadfully upset over the loss of her car. Charlie was being evasive. He said he would report the incident to the police later, but he left for work on Monday morning abruptly, and she had no chance to talk to him about it.

Later that afternoon, Phyllis got a call from the police.

"I understand your car was stolen on Saturday...is that correct?"

"Yes, Officer. But how did you know...did my husband report it?"

"In a manner of speaking...the thing is...we've recovered the car. It's parked near the lake." The officer gave her the exact location.

Phyllis was elated! She practically ran to the location the officer told her about to claim the car. When she arrived, she was almost sorry. She nearly didn't recognize her formerly beautiful, shiny Model T. There was white paint all over the back seats where one of the paint cans had opened. The whole car was waterlogged. The fenders were badly dented and scratched. The windshield was broken, the front tires were flat and there were various dead fish and pieces of vegetation on the floor. The leather seats in the front sported a large rip. There was mud, horrible thick mud all over the outside and inside of the car...and it smelled like mould and dead fish.

"This is terrible," screamed Phyllis.

The man who had dredged up the car said, "So I take it that this is your automobile, Ma'am?"

"Yes," said Phyllis, through her tears.

"Then you're the one I give this bill to..." He handed her a piece of paper.

"What? For what?"

"I pulled the car out of the water, Ma'am. It ain't cheap."

"This is highway robbery! I don't have that kind of money."

"You want your car back, you pay the money."

Phyllis reluctantly paid the bill. She looked at her sad looking Model T. She didn't even want to try to start the car. She didn't want to sit on the ripped wet seats, either. She walked to the garage and asked them to tow the car and give it a complete overhaul.

Then Phyllis went home. She called Mabel to commiserate.

"Mabel, can you come over and just talk to me? Help me decide what to do...I'm very upset."

Mabel walked over to her sister-in-law's house. "I took a look at the car when I passed the garage. Oh Phyllis, it's in bad shape!"

"I know," said Phyllis, tearfully. "I'm going to file a criminal complaint...they must be out-of-towners...no one in this town would dare to steal my car!"

"Someone stole the car?" asked Mabel, puzzled.

"Yes...and they ran it into the lake, that's why it's such a mess..."

"Phyllis, no one stole the car."

"Well, then how did it end up in the lake, Mabel?"

"Charlie forgot to put the brakes on and it went flying down a hill, hit a boulder and went into the lake."

"What? Who told you that?"

"Why Syd, of course."

"Why that careless, lying little tramp..."

"Phyllis, don't be so hard on him. He couldn't possibly have done it on purpose..."

"No, just another of his clumsy accidents. He is the clumsiest man I have ever seen! Just last Saturday he fell off a ladder and into a barrel of water! Can you imagine?"

"Yes, I can. I've seen him do amazing feats of clumsiness. But really, it could have happened to anyone, Phyllis...anyone could have forgotten to set the brake..."

Phyllis sighed. "But he didn't have to lie to me, Mabel. That's the worst part of it."

Mabel smiled. "Just don't be so hard on him; I think he has a good heart. He's not mean. Things just happen to him and he doesn't want to own up to it because you are so hard on him."

"Pish, Mabel, you're wrong. He's just a worthless, lazy little tramp. He would rather spend his time in frivolous pursuits all the time. I can't trust him with any money; he'll either use it to go drinking with his friends or he'll buy something equally as foolish. I seriously am going to make him sorry he ruined my car!" She started sobbing again.

Mabel put her arm around Phyllis comfortingly. "Calm down, Phyllis. The car will be as good as new when the garage is through with it. I'll talk to you later, Phyllis. I have to go now...let me know what happens."