"'Where did you get that?' she wanted to know.
"Found it on the couch.
"'Don't lie to me!' she said. 'You stole it, didn't you? Maggie told me the kids were taking money from little Sean. Tell me the truth.'
"I found it on the couch.
"'You're lying.'
"It's five o'clock—Sergeant Preston . . .
"'You're not listening to the radio until you tell me the truth."'
Joe made a face. "I was so desperate to hear Sergeant Preston that I told her I stole the dime." Brendan was silent. "She wouldn't believe me," Joe said. "That was the worst. She wouldn't believe me." Brendan looked at the napkin Joe had crumpled in one hand, and he shook his head.
"I guess," Joe said, putting the napkin ball on the table, "if I wanted to be adult about it, I'd say she was too high strung—one of these people with major league talent but without the courage to use it."
"Too bad," Brendan said. "We know people like that in San Francisco."
He was genuinely sympathetic.