Too Equal for My Taste

Chapter 17: A Dark Thief

Jimmy and Serina arrived home. Ken was sitting back in the living room upstairs, watching cartoons. They looked around, "Nothing else going on?" Serina asked suspiciously.

Ken shrugged tiredly. He looked very bored, and seemed to have spent all day doing little if not nothing. "Can I go now?" he asked bored.

As Serina walked into her room to put away her clothes and wash off her makeup, Jimmy nodded and said, "Yeah, go ahead. You got nothing else to do anyway."

"How did the game go?" Ken asked, jumping up.

"We won it by a point," Jimmy said, smirking a bit.

Ken nodded, and ran off to talk with Mark excitedly.

Jimmy made to walk downstairs to fix dinner himself hen Serina yelled as if in terror. Jimmy jumped in fear, and ran in to his room to see Serina yelling and screaming in tears and agony. It was as if someone invisible was torturing her. "What's going on honey?"

"My jewels!" Serina yelled miserably. "They're stolen. Someone took them away!"

The first person to hit Jimmy's mind was Ken, so he turned, "Serina, call the police. I'm getting Ken."

"What is it dad?" Ken asked when Jimmy called him in.

"Where are the jewels?" Jimmy demanded.

"What jewels?"

"Don't you dare play dumb," Jimmy said angrily. "Who else took them?"

"Dad, I was grounded all day," Ken explained. "Other than watching TV, I was outside playing the DS or on the computer. I didn't hear anyone come in, I swear."

Ken had sworn he didn't take it, and Jimmy reluctantly believed him. To make sure, he called the police in to question him. First they searched the house. Elliot was asked promptly to stay out of their way, and he was to have an outing with Sarah, to stay out. Calvin went to his apartment. Daniel went to University to stay with his friends. All kids had something to do. All had to leave. All except Ken, who was asked to stay.

"Alright, young man, we have just a few questions to ask you," said the officer and interrogator. He was tall and burly with a growing belly, and muscular arms. He looked into Ken's eyes with his own blue ones. The kindly figure fixed Ken with a look, and Ken looked down.

"I didn't do anything," he said quickly.

"We hear you, but we must talk," the man insisted. "Firstly, you know what this is?" he took out from his bag something that looked like an electric chest pad. "It's a lie detector. I'm gonna know if you're lying or not."

Ken cooperated with the pad being placed on, and even helped buckle it. "What do you want?"

"How old are you, first?"

"12," Ken answered promptly.

The man looked over at the pad. It showed normal heartbeat. "Ok. Now, we move to me. My name is Officer Kenneth Brentman. Call me Kenny. I understand your name also happens to be Ken, so we can be good friends.

Ken nodded, "Ok, what do we need?"

"We need to know few things," Officer Ken said calmly. "What school do you go to?"

Ken shrugged, "Does it matter? Don't you want to find out if I'm behind some crime or not?"

The officer laughed, "Yes, I do. But there are important questions that we need to be answered. Who's your best friend and does he go to your school?"

"He goes to my school," Ken nodded. "And his name is Mark Baker."

Ken nodded, "Interesting. Now, where were you while your family was out?"

"I was out by the river?" Ken answered truthfully. His heart had no reason to beat hard.

"Before?"

"Playing the computer," Ken answered, again, truthfully.

"Before that?"

"Game boy DS."

"Very well, so it won't hurt to check for fingerprints.

Ken shook his head.

"Then we shall," the officer said, and got up to leave.

Ken still sat there, looking down. No one spying on him could tell by his face what he was thinking to himself. It was unfathomable. Eventually, he got up and left himself, back to his own room. He seemed to be thinking something over.

Meanwhile, the officers found no fingerprints, but glove prints. And the glove prints belonged to Jimmy Murtaugh himself.