« This old man is touching my baby! » she screamed. « I’m a poor woman, but no one touches my baby! »
People were stopping and looking at Brian with hostility and one of the passersby gave him a shove. « Get out! » she shouted angrily. « Get away from that baby! »
Don’t walk away if something seems off.. do something about it.
Brian walked away quickly and saw the woman reach into her filthy backpack and pull out an iPhone. A beggar with an iPhone? Brian ducked behind a colonnade and waited.
Not long after, a fancy dark blue SUV pulled up and a man jumped out. He stowed the woman’s bundles into the back while she buckled the baby into its seat. The woman’s demeanor was completely different!
There was something wrong here, Brian thought, but what could he do? Twenty years ago, he might have faced down the man and the woman, but now… Brian knew that he no longer had the strength or the stamina.
After a long sleepless night, Brian decided he was going to the police. He walked into one of the downtown New Orleans station houses and talked to the desk sergeant about his suspicions.
« There’s something definitely wrong there. That baby never moves, and the woman never touches it! » Brian explained. « And the baby looks nothing like her at all. I just have a feeling something is wrong. »
The sergeant called a detective, Jean Riete, who listened carefully to Brian’s story. To his surprise, the detective took it very seriously indeed. « These people are professional beggars. On their own, an adult beggar makes about $30 a day, with a child, they go up to $300…
« But…They exploit their own children? » asked Brian.
« Sometimes, but often the baby is ‘rented’ out by its parents or even stolen. » explained Detective Riete. « So let’s go take a look at this woman and her baby tomorrow morning, OK? »
