Corrie was troubled about how to get ration cards for the Jews she was hiding in her home. Then it occurred to her to take a risk and contact Fred Koonstra. Fred had once been a meter reader. He had a mentally handicapped daughter who attended the church services Corrie had been offering the mentally handicapped for several decades.

Corrie prayed and knocked at Fred's door. She told him her needs, confiding that she needed the ration cards for Jews. When she asked if he could give out cards but not keep a record of them, he said no. However, he did come up with a plan.

He offered to stage a robbery of the food office. He would steal the cards for Corrie, but pretend the office had been robbed. He would be discovered with the record clerk tied and gagged. The Nazis would think a stranger had made off with the cards.

The ruse works. Fred comes to Corrie bruised up, his eyes greenish-purple because his friend made the robbery look so realistic. He has the ration cards Corrie needs. They decide he will come to her home and deliver them every month, pretending he is there to read her electric meter.