Sheriff Daniels arrived at the Lacroix Jewelry Store. Entering through the sliding electronic doors, all at once he spotted Cody standing in the middle of an aisle with his back to him. Jonathan Lacroix was seated on a bench near the opposite end of the aisle Cody stood in.

Fast approaching Cody, and walking like he had a purpose, Sheriff Daniels placed his hand on top of the unsuspecting boy's blond head. Quickly he spun Cody around so they were face to face.

Sternly he snapped, "I haven't plucked your tail feathers in quite a while but maybe that is exactly what you need me to do for you, young man. Pluck them one at a time!"

"Why, Sheriff?" What did I do wrong?" a startled Cody asked.

"How dare you come into this store, or any other store for that matter, and shoplift anything?" Sheriff Daniels demanded.

Almost in tears Cody responded, "I didn't shoplift anything, Sheriff. Judge Stancil told me I have to be good or he's going to send me back to Palo Pinto."

Producing a gold chain Cody asked the Sheriff, "Do you think Beth will like this necklace with the tiger charm on it?"

Observing the whole scene, Jonathan Lacroix laughed heartily.

He asked Sheriff Daniels, "Cody shoplifting?"

"That's funny," he said.

Then he finished his comment with, "Who fed you that can of worms, Sheriff?"

"Fred Taylor," Sheriff Daniels answered the shopkeeper.

"Then Deputy Taylor is full of prunes!" Lacroix informed the Sheriff saying, "Cody has been in here the better part of the last hour. I haven't detained him for anything. Especially shoplifting."

Perplexed, Sheriff Daniels looked at Lacroix.

"In fact," the store owner continued, "Cody has been helping me stock shelves and has been keeping me company while diligently searching for a special birthday present for Beth he could afford out of the allowance he has been saving up."

The parameters changed for Sheriff Daniels.

"I think Beth will like that necklace just fine, Cody," the Sheriff told the boy clearly seeing the picture, "so, go ahead and pay Mr. Lacroix and let's go. Beth will have lunch ready when we get home."

Cody pulled a ten dollar bill out of the front pocket of his bluejeans. It was all the money he had saved up. He attempted to hand the money to Mr. Lacroix. The merchant refused to accept the payment from him.

"You've given me almost an hour's honest labor, Cody. Without that I could not have gotten all this merchandise on the shelf," Lacroix told him, "you put your money back in your pocket where it belongs. You've already more than paid me for that necklace with all your hard work."

Getting up off his seat he said to Cody, "Not only that but I'll gift wrap it for you too. Then we'll be even."

Cody handed Mr. Lacroix the necklace and waited until he boxed the jewelry and wrapped it in silver paper.

Placing a red bow on top of the box Lacroix turned to Sheriff Daniels and asked him, "Any other questions, Sheriff?"

"No, sir, Mr. Lacroix," the Sheriff replied stating, "in fact, you have cleared some things up."

Handing the present to Cody, Lacroix said, "Thanks again for all your efforts, Cody. I really appreciate everything you've done for me. You helped me out a lot."

"Thank you, Mr. Lacroix," Cody replied cradling the box in his hand.

"Beth is definitely going to like that special little gift of yours, Cody," Sheriff Daniels stated.

With that the Sheriff led Cody out of the store. There were plenty of things he realized Fred Taylor misled him about. Cody's alleged shoplifting being one of them. Approaching his squad car, Sheriff Daniels noticed a couple of calling cards had been left behind. First he observed the driver-side front door window had been shattered.

Upon further examination he discovered an extremely large and smelly cow patty lay on the driver's seat. The question was did the on-dash camera capture the culprit's image?