Two Tall Tails by Sofie Kelly

“Hey, you’re welcome to take a look around my aunt’s house,” he said. “I don’t have the watch.”
    I wanted to swat the smirk off his face.
    â€œLook in the garage,” Tom said to the officer. “That’s where he hid Molly’s ball. It’s probably where he’s hiding my watch.”
    Rose had been studying the policeman’s face; now she smiled sweetly up at him. “How are you, Charles?” she asked.
    â€œI’m fine, Mrs. Jackson,” the burly young man replied, returning her smile.
    Rose turned to me. “Charles was one of my best students.”
    The officer shifted from one foot to the other, a little uncomfortable at the praise, it seemed to me. “I don’t know about that, Mrs. Jackson,” he said.
    â€œNonsense.” Rose waved away his words with one hand. “You were a silver medalist in the State Math and Science Challenge.”
    â€œAnd you were a great teacher.”
    Rose beamed at him. “Charles, could you take a look in the garage?” Her gaze flicked to Jason for a moment. “Maybe that would calm everyone down.” She held up her cell phone. “I have Angie Bates’s number. I’m sure if we called her, she’d say yes.”
    Jason looked at the policeman. “I’m not hiding anything in the garage.” There was an edge of exasperation to his voice. He threw up his hands. “Look, if it will put an end to this, yeah, go take a look.” His eyes darted to Tom. “You’re not going to find anything.”
    â€œLet’s go then,” Officer Sullivan said.
    We followed him across the grass to Angie’s garage. Jason went to pull up the door, but the policeman stopped him. “I’ll do that, Mr. Bates,” he said.
    Jason shrugged. “Go ahead.” He took a step back and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Search the entire garage. Like I said, you won’t find anything.”
    The officer rolled up the garage door and took a couple of steps inside. The space was tidy by anyone’s standards, with rakes and shovels hung from hooks along the left wall and floor-to-ceiling shelves across the back. He made his way to the back, giving the shelves a quick once-over.
    My heart was beating so hard, I glanced down at my white T-shirt almost expecting to see it move with each thump. Rose put her hand on my arm. She didn’t seem worried at all.
    The officer stopped. Something had caught his attention. “Mrs. Jackson, do you know what color the child’s missing ball was?” he asked over his shoulder.
    â€œPink and purple,” Rose said. “With stripes.”
    He lifted a rake down from its hook, moved back to the shelves and used it to swipe at an object I couldn’t see. I heard something hit the concrete floor and then Molly’s favorite ball rolled toward us. I bent to pick it up and couldn’t resist turning to look at Jason.
    â€œHe put it there,” Jason immediately said, moving toward Tom.
    â€œMr. Bates, please stay where you are.” Officer Sullivan’s voice had taken on a less friendly tone. He looked around the garage, spotted the stepladder and took it to the back of the space. Since he hadn’t told Tom or Rose or me to stay where we were, I moved a few steps closer so I could see what the policeman was doing with the ladder.
    He was trying to reach something stuffed on the top shelf in the corner. He managed to grab whatever it was, climbed back down and walked back to us. He was holding a small cloth bag in his hand. He undid the drawstring and pulled out a gold pocket watch.
    â€œThat’s my watch,” Tom said. “Look inside. It’s inscribed with my father’s name: Reginald Thomas Harris.”
    The officer looked inside the watch. Then he looked at Jason.
    â€œThis is a setup,” Jason declared hotly. “
He
put it there.” He pointed at Tom.
    The policeman