The lie might have worked a few minutes ago, but one look at his mother’s face spoke volumes. Josh was never good at lying — less so when trying to tell a lie to his mom. She could read him like a book. Josh correctly sensed that telling a lie now, would only make matters worse.
The manager exchanged a few words with Mrs Johnston. Store policy he explained, under these circumstances, was to take down the boy’s name, address and telephone number and then release him to his parents. If the boy were caught stealing a second time the store would notify the police.
Mrs Johnston thanked the manager for not calling the police and told him not to worry — “This sort of thing won’t happen again, I can promise you that.”