Chapter 2

We though it wouldn't be hard to catch the criminal in action because he never found out we could hear every word he was saying. All we needed to do was drive straight to the police office and tell them everything.

"So you're saying that this man said he was this Hamish Grey guy and you worked for him because you wanted to cross him off your list and you want him in jail because you did all that work for nothing?" the police man questioned. "That's right". The police man laughs while talking, "You can't arrest a man because you never asked for money when you offered to do work for him." "But he's a con man we heard him on the phone!" "How many times have you been arrested earl? How are we supposed to believe you? For all we know this is an elaborate scheme to distract us while you commit another felony. "I've changed. Honestly, earl pleaded. Since I've learned about Karma I have become a better man. I wrote a list of all the bad things that I have done and put it on this list see? There is number 144; took a kids bike and never gave it back". "Look Earl I'd love nothing more than to arrest this guy but I'm going to need some evidence of this so called con man. And this evidence better be real, I'm not going to fall for any prank calls saying I did it arrest me" "How are we going to catch this guy? I think he'll notice if we have a video camera in his face" It was hopeless. If the police could not help them how could they out smart the guy. There plan wasn't going to work so Earl and Randy decided they should let someone else catch this con man as they believed they couldn't.

Late at night earl had a dream. He imagined he was in the future and all of the numbers on his list were crossed of. He was finally rid of all the bad karma he had been accumulating since he was a small kid. Life was paradise (except for the part where he has to go to work everyday). It was all over, no more jail, no more felonies, just Earl being a regular person. He had changed for the better good; he was dressed in a suit and tie ready to go out on a date with his beautiful girlfriend of two years about to propose to her at a lovely restaurant and suddenly something changed.

The list was send flying at him from nowhere. He looked down at it. "There's nothing left". Red writing appeared on the yellow sheet of paper turn over. On the other side of the page in big bold lettering showed Number 144: took a kids bike and never gave it back. "But I'm sure I did that one". The con artist in the wheel chair entered the room laughing maniacally. "It's too late now Earl, you should have caught me when you had the chance." "You tricked me! You're a fake a con artist" No one will believe you now that you're rotting in a jail cell." "You're the one who should be in jail" I haven't done anything so why would I be in jail?" "Look around you there's steel bars in front, the walls are small constricting. Steel bars appear in front of Earl creating a wall between him and his girlfriend. The concrete walls moved in on him like a lion moving in on its prey. "You can hear the other inmates grinding the walls and yelling at the top of their lungs trying to get out. You feel the hardness of the old beds which you must sleep in. You can see your inmate angry and looking for a victim to pulverise. You hate the filthy, slimy, disgusting grub they give you to eat every single day. "You, you did this to me!" Laughter echoed in the background.

Everything he had was slowly fading away. His girlfriend left him for some rich guy in Texas, which she late got married to. His friends disappeared one by one because they were disappointed and though he had changed. He was a full time criminal and got caught stealing a 24 carrot diamond ring which was coincidentally the engagement ring he had supposedly brought. Even Randy couldn't forgive him as he had been there helping Earl though the list and couldn't believe that he was back to the same old Earl. Suddenly he woke up. It was a dream, but it had felt so real. Earl made it a point to try harder in fear that his nightmare could really happen.

When we realised we were too inexperienced to catch the faker Randy and I decided to rent out some police movies. I figured we could learn everything we needed to know from the law enforcement videos.

Randy sat down and placed a large bowl of popcorn on the arm of the sofa and guzzled it down at a fast speed. Meanwhile Earl was busy writing down notes and studying the film as if he were about to write a review on it. "Hey earl maybe we can put him in an interrogation room", randy said after watching a suspect being grilled for information.

It was too bad Catalina wasn't there too give them advice because she was away on holiday in Spain. They had thought of "borrowing" some equipment from the police station but thought it a bad idea since he had already had enough trouble with the cops and didn't like the idea of another two years in prison. Plus Earl would have to write it on his list the object that got them in this mess in the first place (not that the list was a bad thing of course).

They spent the rest of the day coming up with a plan to face the Con Man and before too soon they had fallen asleep and awoken the next day. It was seven in the morning when they arrived at the house the exact time they were suppose to. They were still very sleepy from staying up late the night before. They were greeted by the man whose identity was unknown. It was all the same, doing back breaking work for free but this time they had given the man a present. It was a small basket with all sorts of treats including a cute little teddy bear. But this was no ordinary toy. Inside was a camera that peeped through one of the bears golden brown eyes. They worked a fast as they could to incise the man to make a call. They secretly watched his every move and kept a mobile phone that had the video adaptation on it with them. When they left Earl again asked if he could be forgiven (just to act non suspicious) and was denied this time to the relief of Earl and Randy.

They began watching the tape but the teddy bear was placed in a corner so it was hard to see anything. He was watching a game of footy and it sounded like his team had won 30-12. He was eating chicken teriyaki and was singing the I like chicken to night song in agreement with his food. There was no evidence at all of the tape and they wondered whether he had figured out that they were watching. "Do you think he knows" "I don't think he would be dancing like that if he did, Earl replied laughing at his current entertainment. If this doesn't work it will make a great home video." Hours later when they had almost fell asleep from boredom they heard a voice talking about a healthcare scam. "We've got fifty people on board all ready and we've just started. Imagine how mush money we'll get. We could be rich!" Finally they had found their evidence and headed for the station with the tape in hand.

They arrived at the police station late in the night when it was dark and gloomy.

The cells were full of drunk drivers and robbers pleading to be let out.

"Officer I've got your proof" "what really? Well let's see it." He was handed the tape and began watching. "This is a joke! I knew it! This is nothing more than a video for America's funniest homes!" The officer said trying to sound serious but could help jumping into huge fits of laughter at the man dancing with his soccer ball.

Once we had finished the movie the cops surrounded the con mans house and took him straight to jail. We were asked to tell our story to the local news channel. We were called heroes as we had saved many people from being tricked out of their money. It turned out that Hamish Grey had been watching and decided to pay us a visit. He said he needed no apology because when I stole his bike he started making them himself. He now owns a bike store across town. Number 144 could be crossed off my list all because of the con man that tricked us.