Chapter 4

After a Saturday that brought no progress Steve Keller and Ed Brown decided to go on a quick undercover mission as Christmas shoppers in different stores. They made it just before closing time. The idea was to follow two of the young Santas. Ed's suspect was Jock Polsky, who couldn't have seen him at the Poly the day before.

For Steve's trained eyes it wasn't difficult to detect the students among their older colleagues.

There was a chance of two out of seven that they were watching the right one – or maybe more, if there was more than one trickster among them. To find their possible co-workers among the hundreds of children in the warehouses would be next to impossible though.

Suddenly Ed noticed how 'his' Santa put a small parcel under his costume.
Glancing around Jock realized that the lanky man who had been hiding in a corner had seen him do it. With unexpected speed he turned around and ran up the stairs. Ed had to squeeze between the people, then he reached the stairs as well and followed, pulling his gun.
Jock had no chance against the athletic sergeant. Seconds after the kid Ed reached the top floor of the building. On the car deck he cornered the Santa.

"You won't shoot. I know you. You are 'Saint Eddie', the former model student of Polytechnic high school. Ol' Mayers could not keep himself from raving about you yesterday."

Ed stopped dead in his tracks.

That was very helpful...

"Forget about 'Saint Eddie'," he said coolly. "I'm no more 'Saint Eddie' than you are 'Santa Claus'."
Nonchalantly he holstered the .38. "And forget about running too."

"Mayers said so. 'The fastest gentleman ever on a football field'. If I don't cooperate I'm in trouble, right?"

"You're in trouble anyway, I'm afraid. But listen, Jock, I don't know why, but somehow I believe that you're all right, no matter what you have done. I'm on your side. Let me help you."

Just for a second the youngster hesitated. What he read in the sergeant's brown eyes matched what he had heard about him. It seemed to convince him. He reached under his Santa suit and pulled out a wallet – Ed's wallet!

"I suppose you need this."

From his car Ed called the director of the store where Keller was probably about to follow another young Santa. The director managed to catch Steve before he left the building. He told him to wait for his colleague at the entrance.

Jock guided them to the Tenderloin.

"Hey, that's where you went yesterday!" exclaimed Steve. "But that fence is still in prison, isn't he?"

"We're not going to see the fence," explained Jock.

In the cellar of the house they met a group of boys, some teenagers, some only small children, sitting on the ground, on pillows and on chairs.

"People, this is the police," announced Jock. "Game's over. Ed here is one of us though."

The first thing Steve noticed after his eyes had accustomed to the twilight was – Bernie, the little witness of Wednesday's shooting!

As Chief Ironside liked to point out... he didn't believe in coincidence.

As if he wanted to flee the child stood up. A clink made him stop short. He looked down between his feet where a little shining object had fallen down. It looked very much like a bullet casing.

Steve bent down. "May I?"
He picked it up. The caliber was 7.65 – fitting to a Walter PPK.

"Where do you have this from?" he asked.

"I found it on my way to school," answered Bernie.

For Ed time seemed to freeze.

He looked into the innocent blue eyes. How could such a young child lie?
Ed's family had been poor as well, but never would he have lied.
Yet the world had changed over the last twenty years, he thought. It had become awful tough. It didn't allow the children be children anymore. If only these kids had the chance to live in a world like the one he grew up in. Children were still children. They weren't born criminals. They were lovable and in dire need of affection. This boy could not be an exception. He wasn't lying because he was bad. There had to be something much more meaningful behind his lie.

"I'm so sorry," he said slowly, sadly. "I wish you could trust me."

The kid could not know what the sergeant was thinking about, but he knew that he could not go on lying, not to this man. Desperately he threw himself at Ed. The sergeant felt tears starting to wet his shirt.

"I had to do it," Bernie sobbed.

What did you have to do? Steve wanted to ask...