But before a new suggestion could be put forth one of the kids came rushing into the room. "Um Max, you need to go to the front. A policeman wants to talk to you."


    Max immediately stood up, and started to make his way to the front door, the children trailing behind him as he did. As he got closer he could see the police cruiser outside parked on the street, and the man himself was at the door with Ms. Finch.


    "Ah, about time. This his the boy officer." Ms. Finch said stepping aside.


    "Hello young man, you go by Max right?" He said reaching out his hand.


    "I do." Max said shaking it promptly.


    ''Did Mrs. Finch tell him my name or did he already know it?''


    "I just wanted to ask you a few questions if that''s okay." The man then looked at Ms. Finch. "Do you mind if I step inside? It''s quite chilly out here."


    The woman stepped aside, and allowed the man to set foot in the orphanage, Ms. Finch closing the door behind him.


    "It''s still pretty chilly in here. Do you guys have the heat on?" The man asked.


    "Um, no sir unfortunately we can''t afford to keep-"


    "Well, I am a guest right?."


    Ms. Finch nodded sharply, and made her way to the thermostat leaving Max, and the officer alone in the room; though many of the children were spying on them, he was sure of that.


    "So kid, what have you heard about the robbery yesterday?"


    ''Sure we shook hands, but he didn''t bother introducing himself.''


    "I''m sorry officer, what did you say your name was?" Max asked.


    "You can call me Officer Stone." The man said.


    "Gotcha, listen, I only know what I saw on the news this morning. It''s awful, that girl Gabby sits next to me in class, and Richard was on the track team with me last year."


    The man pulled out a notepad, and a pencil. He began to jot notes down as Max spoke. "Can you tell me what you were doing during the incident?"


    "Whoa, hold on am I a suspect or something?" Max said taking a step back. "Do you plan on asking anyone else here if they know anything about what happened?"


    The man furrowed his brow, and peered at Max with unwavering eyes. His nose was fat, and full of blackheads, and hair covered his arms fully, stretching to his hands. He was older too, probably a veteran on the force.


    Max peered out the window and caught a glimpse of several other cruisers driving through the neighborhood; he even saw an officer across the street knocking on one of the doors.


    ''So they are asking everyone. I definitely match the description of one of the perpetrators, that''s for sure. Using the camera footage they''d probably be able to determine the weight, and height of the suspects, but all that would do is narrow them down to being teenagers, which while bad for me, isn''t the end of the world,''


    Max took a deep breath, his last name being Redgrave didn''t do him any favors either, but in fairness there were hundreds of people in the city with Red in their last name, it meant nothing.


    Max started to hear the pipes in the buildings come to life as heat began to pour through many of the orphanages vents, it was a welcome feeling that he wasn''t used to under this roof.


    "Can you tell me what you were doing between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM last night?"Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ''So he dodged the question. Okay, I see what we''re doing here.''


    "I came straight home after school because I wasn''t feeling well."


    "You got anyone here who can attest to that?" Officer Stone said.


    Ms. Finch had just rounded the corner, and apparently had overheard the conversation. "I can officer, we keep the boy in the attic up stairs."


    The man looked up at the ceiling, and squinted his eyes in thought. He placed his hands on his hip, Max took note of the gun at his waist.


    "The attic? That the same room I saw outside, all the way at the top with the window?"


    "It stays locked officer." Ms. Finch said. "If it were opened the draft from outside would''ve been strong enough for us to feel it down stairs, even with the door closed."


    The man stood still, and silent for a moment, taking in his surroundings. He walked past Max, and Ms. Finch and into the dormitory, where he studied the ladder leading up and into the basement.


    "Did anyone see him?" The man finally said.


    "What do you mean?" Ms. Finch asked.


    "Did he ever come down to use the bathroom, or to get a drink of water, or even a bite to eat? Did anyone see him between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM respectively."


    ''This is getting ridiculous.''


    "No? No one, okay. In that case I don''t see why I can''t take him in for questioning. One less mouth to feed for all of you eh?" He said.


    The little girl who Max promised to buy ice cream for approached the officer. "We all saw him!" She said.


    "Excuse me?" The officer said taken back by the little girls words.


    "It''s true!" Luke said wobbling over to Max, and clinging to his leg. "Big Max blew the bathroom up! I smelled it! It''s true it''s true it''s true!"


    Next it was Caleb who stood at Max''s side. "We all saw him officer. So please leave him alone."


    One by one all of the children at St. Hope spoke up for Max defending him like there was no tomorrow, Max was so overwhelmed with support he had no idea what to do with it or why it was directed at him, but he stood still, and gladly accepted the help.


    Defeated, officer Stone simply shook his head, jotted some words down on his notepad, and made his way toward the door. As he left Ms. Finch quickly returned to the thermostat, and turned the heat off, the pipes slowly cooling, and sitting still.


    Max looked at all the children that had supported him, and took a deep breath. "Thanks everyone." He said rubbing the back of hid head. "I really owe you guys."


    "And I know just how you''re going to pay us back." Caleb said with a smirk.


    Spending time with the kids every week wasn''t the worst thing Caleb could''ve asked for, but it wouldn''t have been his pick if the roles were reversed. Shortly after Officer Stone left Ms. Finch had ordered Max to clean the bathroom, apparently it really was a mess, and she did not trust the other children to clean up after themselves.


    Max began to believe he had underestimated the children, not only did they assist in saving Max from jail time, but they also shifted the "Y2K'' blame to him in a way that got each of them off scot-free, this was truly genius behavior.


    Cleaning the bathroom took Max most of the morning, but shortly after finishing he ran into Madam Vine in the play area. She had been asleep most of the day, and it was hard for her to move around in the orphanage with how cold it was inside.


    "Oh, good afternoon Maxie. I''m surprised to see you here today, you''re always out working so much." She said, her words were slow, but precise, and her hands shook with every vowel.


    "What can I say? I wanted to spend some time with family." Max looked back at the dormitory where all of the kids were sleeping due to nap time.


    "That''s absolutely wonderful! Every second we get with you is a blessing Maxie. Only a few more years and you''ll have to leave us, I''ll be so sad."


    "Don''t worry about that right now." Max gave the orphanage a curious look. "Is there anything I can do to help out right now?" He asked.


    "Oh, well if you don''t mind. Could you please go retrieve the mail for me? I''m afraid I''ll slip on the pavement, and that would cause everyone so much trouble. I''d hate to be a burden."


    "It''s no problem at all." Max said making his way toward the front door. Since Max was still in his pajamas the cold was exceptionally harsh to him as he stepped outside.


    For some reason Max''s dream came back to him, and the boy found himself standing in the parking lot staring up at the window leading into his room in the attic. He figured that in the dark there was no way anyone could''ve seen him standing there, but somehow the figure in his dream could. Max shook his head, realizing the futility in trying to rationalize it, and made his way to the mailbox.


    He opened the mailbox, and reached his hand inside, his fingers tracing over several envelopes before being greeted by a plastic bag. Unsure of what to make of it Max pulled the entire thing out, and looked at it.


    His heart froze. Max quickly looked around him, the police were still going door to door nearby, and cruisers still perused the street. Max instinctively put the bag back in the mailbox, and stood still for a moment, and went through the other mail in an attempt to look inconspicuous.


    ''Dante.'' Was the only thought that came to mind.


    Max expected retaliation of some sort but this soon? That bag was full of drugs, and "To Max" was written on the bag with black sharpie. He had no way to hide it now, and with the police combing the area he couldn''t run away with it out in the open. After a moment of thought he quickly rubbed his sleeve over the ink, and luckily it cleared up his name. Afterwards he shoved the bag back into the mailbox, and closed it shut.