Chapter 4

I agreed to Officer James's request.

For the next three days, I acted like nothing was wrong. I opened the shop as usual and kept teaching the seniors their anti-fraud classes.

The pointing and whispering around me, I let go in one ear and out the other.

Curly's Mom saw me swallow such a big humiliation without a word, and she only grew smugger.

To show off how clever she was and how much sway she had in the neighborhood, she led the group herself every single day.

She marched the parents and kids over to Pockmark Lambert's place to check in, terrified of missing even one day's freebie.

"Boss Lambert's got new perks again today. Show up late and you'll miss out."

And every time they connected, they were feeding me fresh data, helping me pin down the trail faster.

The day we closed the net happened to be the same day the community officially unveiled the plaque for my demonstration site.

First thing that morning, Director Finch hauled over the flower baskets and set them on both sides of my shop door, the red silk tied up nice and pretty.

The old folks came too, sitting inside sipping tea, waiting for the district office leaders to unveil the sign.

Director Finch stood at the microphone and was just about to declare the ceremony open.

"Hold on!"

A commotion broke out at the door.

Curly's Mom shoved her way in with seven or eight parents, elbowing through the crowd, a banner stretched out in their hands.

Scrawled crookedly across it: Crooked merchant Daniela Henson, dead to all conscience, using charity as a cover to swindle people's money.

The whole place went dead silent in an instant, everyone staring at the scene in shock.

Curly's Mom charged up to the district leader, jabbing a finger at me, righteous with fury.

"Sir, you've all been fooled by this woman."

"She uses the excuse of teaching old people to use their phones, and secretly transfers all their pension savings out."

She pulled a few printed, blurry screenshots of charges out of her bag.

"Everyone look. Here's the proof."

Then she yanked Mabel Edwards over from beside her.

"Go on, tell the leader. Isn't it true that right after class at her shop, your money was gone?"

Mabel Edwards hid behind Curly's Mom, her eyes darting away, not daring to look at me.

"When she was teaching me, she tapped my screen a few times, and not long after, money went missing from my card."

The truth was, I knew Mabel Edwards hadn't been able to resist the temptation. After class she'd snuck over to Pockmark Lambert's and connected to the Wi-Fi.

But at the last moment, I couldn't call it out on the spot.

The onlookers didn't know what was really going on. Seeing the poor, helpless old woman, they blew up at once.

"Tsk, tsk. Decent-looking face, but what a filthy heart. Swindling old folks out of their burial money."

"How did the community approve this? How can someone like that be allowed to run charity work? Isn't this letting the wolf in the door?"

"Young people these days really will do anything for money. Arrest her, quick."

The district leader's face went ashen. Bowing to the pressure of the crowd, he set the plaque back down, cold-faced.

"Boss Henson, the public is reporting this kind of thing, and the impact is far too damaging."

"Today's unveiling ceremony is canceled. You'll suspend operations and cooperate with an investigation for now."

Hearing the leader's ruling, Curly's Mom was thrilled. She walked up to me and sneered under her breath.

"Take me on? You're still too green. I told you long ago, you're finished."

"This dinky little shop of yours shuts down and clears out today. You'll never claw your way back in this lifetime."

I said nothing. I only lowered my head and glanced at my watch.

Curly's Mom frowned.

"You're about to be finished, and you're still checking the time?"

I lifted my head and smiled faintly.

"The timing. It's just right."

The words had barely left my mouth when a wail of sirens rose in the distance.