Poetic Injustice
Monday morning after their parents
left for work the Dance youths closely examined the information concerning the
local burglaries again.
“It’s nice to be fifteen years old
and not to have anyone stay with us while mom and dad are at work isn’t it,
Becca?” Robert asked his sister.
“Yes, it is more relaxing I think.”
“California doesn’t have a law
stating any specific age children must be before they can stay home alone, so I
have read,” Kelly added to the conversation, “but the general rule of thumb is
twelve or thirteen is the youngest.”
“I am glad mom and dad trusts us,”
remarked Robert.
“What,” Rebecca questioned, “do you
think they would worry that we would throw a wild party and invite a bunch of
wild kids over to trash the house for us? And once the house was a mess we
would have to clean it up. That isn’t only illogical, it’s juvenile.”
“I’d rather not do that,” Kelly said
playfully.
“I guess if we didn’t have a life,
didn’t have anything to do and had a need to think we were popular, or just
didn’t know any better,” commented Robert, “that could be an option.”
Kelly stated factually, “But we
always have lots to do. We have so many interesting books and videos to study
and we all prefer to be with just a few friends at a time than a whole house
full.”
“Different strokes for different
folks, they say,” said Robert, hoping to end this dreary conversation and move
on to more productive things.
“And anyway,” Rebecca interjected,
“Aunt Sara is busy this week with something for Easter Sunday with the P. T. A.
I think.”
“That’s what Philip told me when we
were hiding yesterday. He gets to go with Aunt Sara and play with the other
parents’ kids while his mom is organizing things,” informed Kelly.
“At least he’ll have some fun,”
observed Rebecca.
Robert said quickly, “I’ll grab the
morning paper and meet you two in the basement,” as he raced off to look for
the newspaper.
“Ok, sounds good,” Rebecca answered.
Robert met up with his sisters and
while confirming the facts they had, he carefully looked through the newspaper.
To his surprise, there was an article featuring a message from someone who
claimed to be the ‘Baffling Berkeley Burglar’ responsible for the recent
riddles and crimes. The article also revealed that the police knew only some of
the facts that the writer had revealed. The Dance kids noticed that some of the
facts were what their father had written on the notepad Kelly found in the
kitchen; the graffiti the person wrote on the walls, the smashed cash
registers, flooding floors by plugging up any water drains and leaving the
water running somewhere to overflow.
“Sounds like an angry vandal out for
some quick cash and temporal notoriety, Kelly remarked.
“Here,” Robert said, taping the
riddle poem from the newspaper to the whiteboard carefully, “Look at this.”
The place I will rob
Is one of a kind
Old communications
On the street sign
Eyes galore
Look into the wares
Old and new
And sometimes in pairs
Sets abound
In this silent place
Guess where it is
Or you will also have a red face
After the day
And before the dawn
On the night of
The first special song
It will not be Sunday
And it will not be Monday
But will be on
A wonderful fun-day
But what does it all mean? Where do
we begin? These were just some of the thoughts the trio had while reading the
poetic message.
“I think we should analyze this
verse by verse and also by entire context,” Kelly said.
“I think so too,” confirmed Robert,
“There may be clues in each verse related to another verse, or there may not
be.”
Rebecca added, “So we don’t get
confused, one of you can take it verse by verse and the other in total context.
I will type everything down and comment on what you two come up with.”
“Great idea, sis,” agreed Robert,
“How about I take the verse by verse, Kell, since you are better at seeing the
intertwining context in things?”
“Ok by me.”
“Dad’s notes said that the burglar
committed the crimes six or seven days after delivery of the letters, so we
should figure on six, and assume that at least one of those six days already
passed by,” Kelly said, placing a little professional pressure on her brother,
sister and self.
“Those details weren’t in the news,”
Robert said, “I guess they never got that information.”
“Sure looks like only the police and
us know the time frames,” commented Rebecca.
Reminding her brother and sister of
the facts, Kelly stated, “And don’t forget dad, he knows.”
The kids spent a couple of hours
intensely examining the letter. Being famished, they decided to find something
to eat.
Rebecca suggested, “It may be a good
idea to go out for lunch and walk around a while to clear our minds.”
Before they left, they made an
additional list of their compiled ideas about the letter:
1. The location is unique.
2. Possibly old communications
equipment in the store or area?
3. There is possibly a street sign
around somewhere.
4. Lots of eyes, maybe people, are
looking at what the place probably sells
5. It is most likely a store, but
not a food store, unless the food store has ‘old’ food – maybe the criminal ate
old food from a grocery store once, got sick, and is seeking revenge. But what
of the ‘pairs’ – not pears.
6. There are sets of something at
this store and it is silent inside the store.
7. Could it be a music store with
sets of CD’s with a quiet room for listening to them?
8. There is a red-faced individual
somewhere – Angry? Embarrassed? Sunburned?
9. It probably happens after
midnight as the other burglaries did.
10. There is a special song – must
be more than one – music store again?
11. Not on Sunday or Monday – today
is a Monday, so it will happen by this coming Saturday.
12. What fun day is before this
coming Saturday or what does fun-day mean?
“Let’s each take a list with us
while we are out, so we can make notes on it in case we get any ideas,” Kelly
said authoritatively.
“I’m printing them out as we speak,”
responded Rebecca, clicking on the print command icon.
On this excursion, the kids walked
around the east side of Telegraph Avenue so they could pass by People’s Park.
The original 2.8-acre park site, bordered by Dwight Way, Bowditch and Haste
Streets, possessed a very colorful history. They remembered their grandfather
talking about it when they were very young.
As they passed the park, they
continually looked around searching for anything that might lead to a clue that
would help them solve the burglar’s riddle. A distinct feeling that they missed
something came over them, something right in front of their faces.
“We’re missing something I feel,”
Robert said to his sisters.
“It feels sort of like when a word
is on the tip of your tongue and you just can’t remember it,” commented
Rebecca.
While crossing over to the west side
of Telegraph Avenue, Kelly said, “I don’t feel anything, but maybe I am too
lost in my thoughts today.”
“We are so close,” Rebecca anxiously
said, “I can feel it.”
“Hey,” Kelly yelled, pointing up,
“Look at the street sign.”
As the twins glanced upward, looked
at each other, then looked up again, they shouted simultaneously, “Telegraph!”
“I wonder if this is what the
burglar meant by the old communications on the street sign,” pondered Kelly,
“Can you guys think of any other streets with similar names?”
“Not off hand,” replied Robert, “but
we can check our street map later to be sure.”
“This street does have a lot of
businesses on it and some are music stores,” commented Rebecca.
“Let’s keep looking around,”
suggested Kelly, “maybe we’ll think of something else.”
As the trio wandered around looking
for possible targets the burglar could have chosen, they each continued to make
notes about anything that came to mind, no matter how insignificant it seemed.
Many times it is the insignificant things that crack a case.
When they passed Mr. Walkinhawk’s
bookstore, they poked their heads in to say a quick hello. He informed them
that he just received a set of crime books at a local book faire and was saving
the set for them as sort of an Easter holiday gift.
“He is such a nice man,” they all
agreed.
Mr. Walkinhawk had featured a
two-for-one book sale for the past two weeks and was very busy.
Robert stated, “People just cannot
pass up a bargain where they can get two books for the price of one.”
The minutes turned into hours
quickly, so the kids hurried home to go over their notes together.
The next morning they were up early
to have breakfast with their parents before their mom and dad went to work.
“Any big plans for today?” mom asked
them.
“Same old stuff,” Robert responded,
trying very hard not to give any hints as to what they were really doing, but
without lying. They all hated lies.
Kelly said, “We’re going to solve
crimes,” just to see if her mother was really listening, while frantically
searching for her car keys.
“That’s nice, dear. Stay out of
trouble.”
“We will try,” replied Rebecca, as
the three held back their laughs.
For the rest of Tuesday and into
Wednesday morning the trio attempted to unlock the mystery of the riddle.
Robert ran down to Mr. Walkinhawk’s bookstore and picked up the set of crime
books he had bought them for Easter. While there, he took advantage of the
two-for-one book sale and bought a two-volume boxed edition about historic
unsolved crimes.
Robert ran up the streets on his way
home, waving to Mr. Brown as he passed his house shouting out, “Hello, Mr.
Brown, Happy Easter.”
“Happy Easter to you and your
family,” Mr. Brown shouted back, “God bless you all.”
Robert entered his home and
immediately returned to the basement where his sisters were busy reading and
searching for clues to the mysterious riddle.
“I got them,” he said, “this is the
set of crime books Mr. Walkinhawk gave us and I picked up a pair of unsolved
crime books too.”
“What did you say?” Kelly asked,
being deep in thought.
“I got the set of crime books-- “
Kelly interrupted, “and a ‘pair’ of
other books.”
“Yes.”
“Set, and a pair.”
“Yeah, I said that... Oh!”
“Maybe.”
“Kell,” Robert said, “Do you think?”
Rebecca agreed, “I think so, let’s
check.”
The trio started brainstorming and
came up with some refined thoughts.
1. Unique store
2. Telegraph Ave
3. Books - single, Volumes &
sets
4. Mr. Walkinhawk is considered a
Red-Man and if the riddle is not solved police will be red with embarrassment.
5. Between evening and morning -
middle of the night.
6. Which day is the fun day? Good
Friday – Fun Day at the University for the Media department. Fun Day was not
known except to a few – the class, the teachers, and the school paper. They
remember that Jim Connor’s friend mentioned it a few months ago when he helped
them with the webcams.
“What about this special song clue?”
questioned Kelly, “What do you think?”
“Let’s call some music stores and
radio stations and see if it rings a bell with them,” Robert suggested.
They telephoned a couple of
bookstores and local radio stations and found out that one station had a
contest every month. People called in each day and one of their songs was
chosen to be played at midnight. The songs were numbered for each day of the
month. At the end of the month the daily winners were put into a drawing and
that winner received a gift certificate for George’s bookstore for two-hundred
dollars.
“The next target must be Mr.
Walkinhawk’s store,” Kelly surmised, “We have to do something.”
“It could be dangerous,” Rebecca
warned, “We can’t stop it ourselves.”
“I bet dad can help,” said Kelly.
“Becca, can you type this all out in
a detailed, logical format so we can show dad when he gets home, please?”
requested Robert.
“Consider it done.”
After dinner the youths presented
their ideas about the burglaries to their father. He made a few calls and ended
up faxing the paper Rebecca printed out to the Berkeley police detective in
charge of the crime.
“This was a wise choice, kids,” dad
said to them, “that you handed this over to me instead of pursuing it any
further. This could be a dangerous situation. Friday is right around the corner
too.”
Rebecca replied, “Thanks, dad, for
your help.”
“No problem, anytime.”
On Saturday the family read of an
arrest related to the burglaries. On Easter Sunday the family got up early to
visit a church’s ‘Sunrise Service’ at Tildon Park. On Monday after the Dance
parents got home, their father lets them know a few more details about the
burglaries. The person had burglarized the radio station that gave out the gift
certificates for Mr. Walkinhawk’s store. He had tried to win for months, but
was unsuccessful. The other locations targeted had finished similar types of
contests a week or so before their burglaries were committed.
“It appears this criminal is a sore
loser,” commented Robert.
“He won a free pass to prison,”
Rebecca jested.
“Prison is not a place to be,”
affirmed their father, “especially in these days of overcrowding and violence.”
They all understood that fact
clearly enough.
Kelly questioned her father, “How
did they actually catch him?”
“It says they placed the store under
surveillance after receiving a tip from a reliable source. I wonder who that
source was,” dad said, looking at his children with a grin on his face.”
The Dances soon returned to their
daily routines once Easter vacation finished and school resumed again. Summer
was just over the horizon and news of another surprise was dawning.
A few evenings later Mr. Dance
arrived home and made an announcement to his family, “Everyone, we are going on
a short trip to Norway a few days before the Memorial Day weekend and will
return the following Tuesday.”
“But, what about our summer vacation
in Norway with Uncle Jim?” Kelly asked her father.
“We will go back just as planned
this summer, but we are making this quick trip for a special reason.”
Rebecca started hopping up and down
saying, “I know what it is! I know what it is!”
Dad continued, “My partner, Suzie,
resigned from Homicide today and is moving to Norway.”
“That’s good,” commented Robert,
“Now she will be able to visit with Uncle Jim all she wants.”
“Don’t you get it, Robert?” Rebecca
said to her brother, who appeared to be in a non-thinking state of mind.
“Get what?”
“Uncle Jim and Suzie are going to
get married!”
“You’re right, Becca,” dad
confirmed, “and we are all going to the wedding.”
Kelly asked, “Who else is going to
the wedding?”
Suzie’s parents, of course, will be
there, as well as some of Uncle Jim’s coworkers from the embassy, I suppose.”
“So, Jonothan,” Mrs. Dance
interrupted, “since we are arriving a few days early we will be able to do a
bit of sightseeing and shopping I imagine.”
“That’s the plan. We will depart S.
F. Airport on a Wednesday afternoon and arrive in Norway the next day.”
“Uncle Jim and Suzie,” said Kelly,
“that is so nice.”
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