"People are always watching me, Brother," I said. "So now they do it even when they aren't around. I should have known it would come to that."
The pipe was suddenly a weight I wanted off me. I would try robbing a collection box, knowing positively that I would get caught, but I wasn't dumb enough to murder. Somebody, somewhere, would be a witness to it. I had never got away with anything in my life. I was too smart to even try anything but the little things.
"I may be able to help you," Brother Partridge said, "if you have faith and a conscience."
"I've got something better than a conscience," I told him.
Brother Partridge regarded me solemnly. "There must be something special about you, for your apprehension to come through miraculous intervention. But I can't imagine what."
"I always get apprehended somehow, Brother," I said. "I'm pretty special."
"Your name?"
"William Hagle." No sense lying. I had been booked and printed before.
Partridge prodded me with his bony fingers as if making sure I was substantial. "Come. Let's sit down, if you can remove your fist from the money box."