Kevin Has SuspicionsTruman Anderson, Phoebe's father, was ecstatic. Kevin had correctly identified a lost Vermeer landscape and the store was sure to see an enormous profit from the deal. Kevin was pleased to have helped, but then he suddenly noticed a few traces of dirt on the painting.Then he recalled that when he bent down to look at the painting, there was a slight moldy scent."Could this painting have been buried somewhere?" Kevin thought to himself.Truman was so happy about this find that he hugged Phoebe and said, "Please make sure this gentleman is paid immediately."Then he turned and walked up the stairs to the second floor.While this was going on, most of the local antique shop owners, who had watched the whole scene, took out their phones and started looking up the Dutch Masters on the internet.When they saw how much the painting was actually worth, they were filled with envy.The seller happily accepted the payment and walked out of the store whistling. After a little while, Truman returned to the showroom. He walked up to Kevin and put a card into his hand. "Kevin, I didn't expect you to be so gifted and discerning. I'm really grateful to you. Please accept this token of my appreciation."That's very kind of you, Mr. Anderson. But, after all, I am one of your employees," Kevin replied with a smile.Of course, he gladly accepted Truman's gift. This bonus was probably nothing compared to the profit that the store could make on the painting."Phoebe was right about you," Truman said sincerely. "You may be young, but you're an excellent appraiser. Let's have a drink later. My treat."Truman was obviously excited about his newest acquisition. Seeing Kevin's potential, he thought it would be nice to have a talk with him."Thank you for the kind offer. Unfortunately, I have some things to take care of today. I'll have to take a rain check. We'll get together soon, and it can be my treat," Kevin said while giving him a warm handshake."Alright, then I won't keep you," Truman replied gratefully. "Let's get together soon."Then Kevin headed out the door.Phoebe, Matilda, and the others were surprised to see Kevin leave in such a hurry. Why would he pass up this opportunity to make friends with the company's owner?Kevin wasn't worried about that right now. As soon as he stepped out of the door, he spotted the man who had just sold the painting."There's something wrong with this guy! I'm sure he dug that priceless painting up somewhere, " Kevin thought to himself. Then he tailed him to see where he could be heading.After two hours of this, he saw the man go below street level to Wacker Drive, the road that runs under part of downtown Chicago. It's mainly for through traffic and deliveries to keep congestion off the surface streets. Otherwise things would be an even bigger mess at rush hour! There wasn't much room to walk, but Kevin watched the guy go up to a few men near a loading dock. This was in a part of the underground street that was off the beaten path. Not many prying eyes, except for his.He could hear one of them ask, "Greg, what took you so long? Did you sell that thing?"I wasted a lot of time in that shop!" he said as he pulled out his bank card. "I sold the painting for two hundred thou. Easy money!"The one who seemed to be in charge asked him, "Was it worth that much?"I guess so," Greg answered. "Not bad for a day's work, eh Johnny?""The other man asked, "Should we head down to the south side again tonight and see what else we can dig up?"Greg was interested in trying again, "Yeah, Max. Good idea. Last night, we only dug out one painting and got two hundred thousand for it. Maybe we can find some more good stuff. "Kevin, who was hiding in the shadows, heard everything they were saying. He couldn't believe it. Could they be grave robbers? Did anyone still do that?"Just then, the head grave robber suddenly looked over to where he was hiding. "Who's over there? Why don't you come a little closer?"Could they have seen me?" Kevin wondered.Just as he was about to escape, he heard a woman's voice. "You guys are really bold. Robbing tombs? Aren't you superstitious?"The woman walked out from behind a container less than ten yards away from Kevin, on the other side of the loading dock.Kevin was stunned to see Officer Emmett. How come he kept running into her in all these different places?"So, who's our visitor? You know, you're interrupting a private meeting," Johnny said in a threatening tone.Then he turned to his buddies and said, "She's a beauty, isn't she?""Yeah, I like what I see," Greg added. "Why don't you come over here and have a seat."Hearing their boorish comments, Officer Emmett started to get a little ticked off.Actually, she'd been aware of this group of thieves for a long time. Early this morning she caught a break when she spotted them near one of the older cemeteries on the south side. It was pretty much abandoned, so it was surprising to see traffic there, especially so early in the day.She figured they were up to something, so instead of heading to the station, she followed them here. It had turned out to be a long stakeout while she waited for Greg to come back, but she wanted more proof of how they were fencing their loot.Just as Officer Emmett had suspected, they'd robbed one of the mausoleums that were hidden back in the woods away from the Holy Redemption Cemetery's main entrance. Rumor had it that bootleggers had hidden a lot of their valuables in the cemeteries back in the 1920s. Maybe they had stumbled onto something.She wanted to call for backup, but the cell signal was really crappy down there under the street, especially in her hiding place behind a shipping container.Officer Emmett advised them, "You're under arrest. I've recorded your conversation–and thanks for having it out here in public where I wouldn't need a warrant. If you surrender quietly, I might ask the court to go easy on you."Johnny answered in a creepy tone, "I'll tell you what. Why don't you come with us? It can get pretty lonely down at the cemetery."Max added, "Good idea! I've never seen such a pretty cop."In spite of her training in conflict resolution, Officer Emmett was getting irritated, "If you guys keep this up, I'll have to use force."She pulled her badge out of her pocket and informed them, "I'm Lieutenant Kelly Emmett of the Chicago Police Department. You're all under arrest." "I don't care who you are! We don't want you here," Johnny laughed . Then a few more men came out of the shadows and joined them. They started walking towards her."I order you to stop!" Emmett knew she was in trouble and she was kicking herself for not calling for backup."Don't worry. I won't hurt you," Johnny, the group's leader, had a sadistic smile on his face. "But these guys might."She ordered them again, "Stop right there! Don't move!" Emmett instinctively reached for her hip. But she wasn't in uniform, so her service weapon was locked up safely at the station."Great. Now what am I going to do?" she anxiously thought to herself.By then, the men had surrounded her. There were six of them! Just as Kevin was about to show himself, he saw Officer Emmett knock one of them to the ground with a beautiful side kick. She moved like lightning.Kevin was impressed with her fighting skills. In less than a minute, four or five of them were on the ground, either unconscious or writhing in pain."Pretty good!" Johnny said in surprise.She spoke to the two robbers who were still standing, "Put your hands on your heads and kneel on the ground!" Greg, the one who had sold the painting to the Andersons, had been lying on the pavement. Emmett thought she'd knocked him out, but she was wrong. The man jumped up, pulled out a switchblade, and held it to her throat."Not today, officer. It looks like maybe we're gonna be arresting you instead," Johnny said as he motioned for the others to tie her up with their belts.Officer Emmett began to worry that they were interested in more than robbing graves.Just then, they were all surprised to hear a man's voice from the shadows, "You guys really are scum. Grave robbery is one thing, but what were you thinking of doing to this nice lieutenant, one of Chicago's finest? "They all looked over and saw Kevin deliberately walking out from behind a box truck while he brushed the dust off his clothes."Kevin?" Officer Emmett exclaimed. "Hurry up and call the police!"Kevin heard her but kept moving forward. He didn't have any intention of leaving."Damn it, Greg, you let someone follow you?" Johnny said in an annoyed tone of voice."Boss, don't worry. It's just the appraiser from the antique store"."An appraiser!" Johnny scoffed.They were all stunned, especially Officer Emmett."Kevin, run! Just call the police and we'll be fine," she shouted as she struggled against her restraints."Shut up!" Johnny said as he grabbed her mouth and poured in a bottle of pills."After we deal with him, we'll get back to you," he snarled.Emmett coughed and asked him frantically, "What did you just do?"Don't be such a killjoy," he answered. "You're going to take a nice nap. "Officer Emmett struggled even more intensely when she heard this."What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Kevin wondered.Then Greg shouted at Kevin, "You followed me? I sold a painting and you guys bought it. Just business. Whadda ya want now?"Don't get excited." Kevin said calmly. "Shouldn't you be thanking me?"Why should I be thanking you?" he shouted.Kevin shook his head and replied. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten a penny for your forgery."You're saying it was a fake?" the man asked in shock.Kevin saw the other thugs starting to move toward him. He ripped through them in seconds, tossing the large men left and right."Who the hell are you?" the last man standing asked in horror.Kevin couldn't resist. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "Who am I? I'm an antiques appraiser!" After he said this, the man fainted.Officer Emmett looked like she was in shock.Kevin knelt down next to her and started to remove her restraints, "Are you all right? Do you think you can stand up?"She didn't answer right away. She just shook her head in disbelief.Kevin took the belts and walked over to the unconscious men. He began to search their bodies as he tied them up.Looking through the pockets of the head gangster, Johnny, he found a pill bottle."What the heck is this?" Kevin wondered."It could be worse," Officer Emmett said slowly. "When he poured the pills in my mouth, he was so distracted by you that I managed to spit most of them out." She nodded over to a gross pile on the pavement. Kevin handed her the bottle so she could look at the label.Then she added, "Yup. Looks like they were tranquilizers. I may have swallowed a couple, but it would still be nice to get an ambulance down here right away. And a couple of squad cars.""Can you get a cell down here?" she asked him.Kevin nodded and then he took out his phone to call for help.