Who's sorry now?

got them just right.”
    ”Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
    ”You never asked,” Deputy Parker said.
    ”Then let’s go buy you a bunch of paper, pencils, and erasers, and interview the librarians.”
    ”I have paper and pencils already. In fact, I’ve made drawings of you, Jack Summer, and Mrs. Smithson. I’ll go get them to show you.”
    Parker must have run to his apartment and back. He returned in minutes, out of breath.
    Chief Walker thought they were excellent representations of all three. Though he himself looked a bit crankier than usual. That was because he’d been cranky most of the time Ron Parker had been his deputy.
    On the other hand, Ron had seen all these people several times. The librarians had only seen the man he and Ron were looking for once, and briefly. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, however.
    ”I’ll call the exchange and tell them we’re out of town.”
    ”Want to ride in the sidecar of the cycle? Jack got his automobile and turned it over to me this morning.”
    ”Not on your life!” Howard said. ”I wouldn’t even fit into it. We’ll take my car.”
    It took them all the rest of the day. The first two librarians who had seen the man who borrowed the German books disagreed with each other.
    ”His nose was thinner, and he was older.”
    ”This picture the young man has drawn is about the right age,” the second claimed. ”But his face was more wrinkled. Lots of frown lines.”
    Parker erased and redid the picture. ”Is that better?”
    ”Sort of,” the first said.
    ”Only a little bit,” the second replied.
    ”We’re going to several other libraries. We may be back to you with other pictures.”
    Both were flattered.
    At the next closest library, Deputy Parker found the only person who had seen the man. ”I have a good memory for faces,” she said. ”This isn’t quite right. His nose was pointy. His hair was thinner and looked greasy.”
    With more erasing, she almost agreed. ”He scowled at us when we insisted that he sign up for a library card. His eyes were darker and the eyebrows skimpier.”
    On the third try, with Parker using a clean eraser, she said it was almost right. She studied it for a long time and asked, as if embarrassed, if the deputy could make him look a little meaner.
    He said, ”Meaner?”
    ”Eyes a little closer together.”
    When he moved the eyes a smidgen, she said, ”That’s him.”
    With thanks, they took off for one more library.
    This librarian was outraged that they still didn’t have their books back yet. The chief of police had promised they’d be returned when they’d been fingerprinted.
    ”Ma’am, you’ll have them back tomorrow or the next day. I need to go fetch them. Only two have been fingerprinted. The man who does it so well wants to make sure the same fingerprints are on each book. Does this picture look like the man who took your books?”
    She considered long and hard. ”It’s very close. I think his chin was a little longer.”
    Parker’s eraser and pencil worked this out.
    ”That’s right,” she said. ”Now, make sure we get our books back!”
    When they were in the police car, Ron said, ”I must draw her. She’s so unattractive that I want to save her.”
    ”Save her?”
    ”Yes, commit her to eternal shame. She’s quite remarkably hateful. Mrs. Smithson will love the picture. She once told me she’d had a teacher who was nice but the nastiest-looking woman in the world. I’ll show her a nastier one who isn’t nice.”
    They took the final picture back to the two librarians they’d first contacted.
    ”That’s him!” one exclaimed.
    ”It’s exactly right!” the other yelped.
    When they arrived back in Voorburg, they stopped in at the jail office and Walker checked with the girl at the exchange. Nothing had happened in his absence. She sounded disappointed.
    ”Now we know what he looks like. What’s next?” Deputy Parker asked.
    ”We try to get Jack Summer to place a copy of the drawing in the next issue of the Voorburg Times, simply saying, DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN?”
    ”Do you think anybody in Voorburg has seen him?” Parker asked. ”He seems to always be here in the dead of night.”
    ”Probably not. And Jack might not want to be involved. It might be too expensive for his budget to reproduce it. I’ll talk to him about it.”
    Jack was wary about the cost of doing a clear reproduction of Deputy Parker’s drawing. He called on Lily and Robert, who both