Harley Takes the Case

Steve Larson left for softball practice and never showed up, and with a carnival in town, everyone has a theory. Officer David Harley doesn't buy the easy answers - not from Steve's frantic father Al, and not from best friend Jay, who finally admits Steve hated softball and skipped on purpose. While the chief chases rumors of a stranger at the carnival, Harley heads into the woods alone, crouching low to see the trail the way a kid would... broken branches, trampled leaves, and a bat carved with the initials SL. The clues lead to a rickety old barn in Gower's field, where a raccoon munching a cupcake tells Harley all he needs to know. Steve is hiding in the hayloft, sure he'll be handcuffed and hauled home, and he refuses to come down. Then, as Harley counts to three, the whole barn comes crashing down - with both of them inside.

Found on The Officer Harley Collection Album OH · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0019 Recollections When Connie wonders why Whit is away from the shop, Tom Riley shares the bittersweet story of the remarkable woman behind Whit's End and the fight to save an old building the whole town had forgotten.

0020 Mike Makes Right When mild-mannered Mike Caldwell stands up to the schoolyard bully on behalf of a helpless classmate, he learns that doing the right thing can cost more than he bargained for.

0021 The Case of the Missing Train Car When a prize-worthy model train engine vanishes from Whit's End just before a state-fair competition, suspicion falls on a foster child whose troubled past makes her an easy target.

0022 A Simple Addition When a new baby arrives, a little boy waiting on a promised pair of boots wonders whether there's still room for him in his parents' hearts.

0023 The Quality of Mercy When a small-town farmer catches a boy stealing apples and lets him off easy, he soon discovers that mercy is a lesson some people have to learn the hard way.

0024 Gotcha! Whit's End's resident prankster learns the hard way that being the best practical joker in Odyssey just makes you the biggest target.

1 of 2 0025 Harley Takes the Case When a boy vanishes on his way to softball practice, a small-town officer must decide whether he's chasing a kidnapper or a kid who doesn't want to be found.

2 of 2 0026 Harley Takes the Case When a small-town search for a missing boy spirals toward panic, one overlooked officer's quiet hunch leads him somewhere no one else thought to look - and into far more danger than he bargained for.

0027 A Change of Hart When relentless bullying makes a lonely boy beg his family to move away, he gets a fresh start at a new school and the chance to reinvent himself as somebody cool.

0028 The Price of Freedom When a new teacher tells twelve-year-old Kirk McGinty that the soldiers who died in Vietnam died for nothing, the boy's cherished image of the father he never knew is thrown into doubt on the eve of Odyssey's Memorial Day picnic.

0029 Rumor Has It When a quiet family's odd habits set the school rumor mill spinning, two kids must decide whether to believe everything they hear about the mysterious boy in the window.

0030 Honor Thy Parents When a sixth-grader's carefully planned graduation party threatens to expose the parents she's ashamed of, she learns how little she really knows about them.

1 of 2 0031 Family Vacation A family road trip to Florida tests the Barclays' patience with backseat battles, breakdowns, and a mysterious gift that can only be opened at peak boredom.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 10 more roles

10 supporting roles

Boy Actor Unknown Whit's End Customer Bob Luttrell Sherman (a) Steve Harris Jay Brandt Joseph Cammarato Al Larson Alan Bergman Steve Larson David Griffin Bill Smithson Earl Boen Calvin (a) Phil Lollar Baseball Coach Bob Luttrell Mr. Webster Bob Luttrell

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer Steve Harris Director · Producer Phil Lollar Director · Producer Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Whit has never been able to forget Officer David Harley's last case in Odyssey - the most difficult of his career, and the one that came at the most unlikely time, while a big carnival was drawing crowds through town. It starts off normally enough at Whit's End, where the phone rings for Harley because his walkie-talkie is on the fritz again. Chief Smithson has news: Steve Larson left for his 10 a.m. softball practice around 9:45 that morning and never arrived. Connie figures any kid would rather be at a carnival than at boring softball practice, but Harley doesn't buy it - Steve Larson is more responsible than that. And with that, Officer Harley has a case.

At the Larson house, Steve's worried father Al has already done everything Harley can think of - phoned Steve's friends, combed the woods where his son was last seen - and he has no patience left for questions, especially when Harley hints at trouble at home. But Steve's best friend Jay Brandt lets something slip: Steve skipped practice on purpose. Both boys secretly hate softball, and the night before, Steve said he never wanted to go again. Jay kept it to himself because "I didn't want to be a snitch." Old Mr. Webster, the last person to see Steve, adds one more detail once he stops grumbling about parking tickets: along with his glove and bat, Steve had a knapsack on his back.

While the town speculates about kidnapping, and the chief chases a report that Steve was seen at the carnival talking to an unidentified man, Harley follows his own hunch into the woods. Al Larson is furious - "My boy could be in serious trouble, and you are out chasing rabbits" - and the failing walkie-talkie leaves Harley on his own. A searcher named Sherman has already been through the far end of the woods and found nothing but a rusted tractor and a broken-down barn, but Harley reasons that Sherman was looking for a boy who wanted to be found. "You have to look differently when you're trying to find someone who might not want to be found." Crouching down low to see the woods the way a kid would, he follows a line of broken branches and trampled leaves to a softball glove and a bat with the initials SL carved on the side.

The trail ends at the rundown old barn in Gower's field, where Harley finds a raccoon munching a name-brand cupcake in the middle of nowhere - and he knows exactly what that means. Steve is hiding in the hayloft, and he won't come down - "Go away!" - convinced his parents aren't really worried and that Harley will handcuff him and take him back. But the barn is so rickety that a sneeze could blow it down, and as Harley starts counting to three, the whole thing comes crashing down with both of them inside.