Chapter 2

"You called the police?" Linda froze for a good three seconds. Then she let out a scream of disbelief. She looked at me like I was a crazy person.

Marvin panicked too. He stepped forward quickly and tried to grab my phone. "Mr. Littleton, calm down. Let's talk this over. Why would you call the police?"

I stepped aside and dodged him.

The operator on the other end was clearly professional. They immediately asked, "Sir, can you give me the details?"

"Okay." I glanced at the watch on the desk, then at Sam shaking behind me.

I kept my voice flat as ever. "A woman says my son tricked her son out of a 30,000-dollar watch with an eraser.

"Now she's threatening me and trying to scare me into paying her 30,000 dollars. I believe what she's doing counts as extortion."

I hung up right after I said that.

The whole office went dead quiet.

Linda was shaking all over with anger. Her face turned purple.

"Fine. Fine. Fine." She said it three times. Then she pointed at my nose, her finger trembling from pure rage.

"Just wait. I'm calling my husband right now. We'll see who gets in trouble when the police show up," she spat.

She fumbled for her phone and dialed a number.

The second someone answered, she put on a tearful voice. "Honey, someone's bullying me and our son at school.

"Some clueless parent. His son cheated our son out of his watch, and now the man even dares to call the cops on me. Get over here fast. Yes, at the principal's office."

Marvin was pacing anxiously in circles, wringing his hands. He didn't know who to calm down first. "Oh, what a mess. How did things get this far?"

I ignored them. I crouched down and looked at Sam.

I wiped the tears from his face and asked softly, "Sam, tell me. Did Tom ask to trade his watch for your eraser?"

Sam nodded, sniffling. "Yeah... He said my rocket eraser was so cool. He said he really, really wanted it."

"Did he ever tell you his watch was expensive?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "No. He said he didn't like it. He said it was uncomfortable to wear."

"Okay." I patted his head and led him to a chair nearby. "Don't be afraid. I'm here. You didn't do anything wrong."

My calmness stood in sharp contrast to Linda's and Tom's hysteria.

Marvin looked at me with a complicated look in his eyes. He probably never thought that a regular parent like me would be this tough.

We didn't wait long for the police.

About ten minutes later, someone knocked on the office door. Two uniformed officers walked in.

The lead officer was a middle-aged man with a square face. He looked serious. "Who called 911? What's going on here?"

I stood up. "I did, Officer."

Linda saw the police and acted like they were her lifeline. She rushed over. "Officers, thank God you're here. You have to stand up for me."

She pointed at me and started twisting the truth. "It's him. His son cheated my son out of a 30,000-dollar watch.

"He won't pay up. He's the one in the wrong, but he called the cops on me first and said I was trying to blackmail him."

The middle-aged officer frowned and turned to me. "Is that true?"

"Of course not." I calmly told him exactly what happened, from start to finish.

I explained how Tom and Sam traded items, and how Linda demanded 30,000 dollars and threatened to get me fired.

The officer listened, then looked at both Tom and Sam. Finally, his eyes fell on the watch on the desk. "Is this the thing?"

"Yes," Linda cut in. "That's it. It's a Patek Philippe limited edition. You can check."

I added, "Officer, I called the police because I really doubt this watch is worth what she says."

Linda screamed right away, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm trying to rip you off with a fake watch?

"My husband is coming any minute. He has the receipt and the certificate. Then we'll see what you have to say."

As soon as she finished, the office door burst open again.

A potbellied man with a designer belt with a huge logo buckle walked in. Behind him came two big guys who looked like bodyguards.

"Honey, who's got the guts to bully you?" the man said. He was Linda's husband, Mark Evans.

He stepped inside, saw the police, and froze for a moment. But he quickly got his composure back and became even more arrogant.

"Perfect timing, officers. Saves me an extra trip," he said.

He pulled a few receipts and a fancy certificate out of a Hermès bag and slammed them on the desk.

He went on, "Look closely with your own eyes. Isn't this the purchase receipt? Isn't this the authentication certificate?

"He's paying that 30,000 dollars today, like it or not."

The middle-aged officer picked up the papers, looked at them, then looked at me.

I smiled and pointed to the back of the watch. "Officer, why don't we take a closer look at the watch itself? Would a real Patek Philippe have a tiny line that says 'Made in Corva' on it?"