Taz stared open mouthed at Belle, who had swooped down like an avenging angel on the hapless policeman  and she tried her level best to keep a neutral expression although what she really wanted to do was collapse in helpless laughter. She stared at Pete who returned her gaze with a sulky scowl.<br/><br/>"You lied, you bitch," he suddenly yelled at her, "you said she was house poor and there wasn't anything worth taking. Bitch is fucken loaded!"<br/><br/>Taz just shook her head in wonderment, Pete had never been the smartest, but now with that outburst the attention of the officers swiveled from Belle with whom they were losing their street-cred anyway, to the little punk who had all but volunteered information. Pete had just admitted to the burglary, not that he had a much of a chance to begin with, but now he had also pretty much admitted that she hadn't been a part of the planning part of the burglary. Taz looked at Belle who had her hands on her hips, while she stared down the gingerhaired rookie even though he had half a foot on her. But his bobbing Adams apple was a tell tale as clear as any and Taz knew it was only a matter of time before she was free.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry Ma'am," said a deep voice behind her and she turned to see a senior officer. "We have to follow up with our proceedings, and Mr. Hammond, and this young lady here will be questioned. If we were to turn her lose without that, your insurance company will have a fair bit to say and trust me, you don't want that. We will call you tomorrow morning with an update after we are done."<br/><br/>Taz looked at the grizzled black man whom she had seen around here a few times before. He had the comfortable belly of someone close to retirement and a stern but not unkind gaze, and for once even Belle conceded, which was probably a first.<br/><br/>"Ms. Morton, tomorrow. I personally will call you about Ms. Bauer." He nodded at the orange haired cop who took Taz's upper arm in the hold she hated so much. A hold which spoke of control and dominance. She struggled against it but the fingers just got tighter. "24 hour hold on Ms. Bauer unless we can find a link to the burglary." With a nod at  Belle who was clearly not pleased, "The trespassing charges are voided, but we have to do due diligence, you understand."<br/><br/>Taz was used to what happened next, her belongings were taken away and she was searched and given prison garb to wear. The interrogation didn't last long, she gave information on where she had walked the previous day and security cameras would verify that easily enough. Then the detective asked her about the burglary.<br/><br/>"He says you told him to rob her and gave her tips."<br/><br/>"Well, that's bullshit!" she snapped, "I told him she was housepoor and had nothing worth taking, in fact he even stated that in the lobby when we saw each other there, plenty of witnesses."<br/><br/>"But you knew she had plenty of stuff to take. In fact you were serving out a community service sentence at her house. And after that she took you in."<br/><br/>"Yes. And yes, I knew she was loaded. But she's a good person and I didn't want her shit get nicked or her hurt."<br/><br/>"So you told Hammond what?"<br/><br/>"He kept asking questions about her and her house. I just said she was an old lady who put all her money in that house and inside it's like ragged and old and shit."<br/><br/>"And when did that conversation take place?"<br/><br/>Taz rubbed her eyes, she was tired, hungry, and angry. But she knew cooperating was key, she had no intention of going to adult prison for a crime she had not committed. "Over the course of several weeks. He kept bringing it up. I didn't tell her because I didn't want to scare her and I knew she had a security system."<br/><br/>"Do you know the code?"<br/><br/>Now that was a loaded question. Did he know that she didn't really? But Belle had declared that she did. What if they asked her what the code was?<br/><br/>"Yes."<br/><br/>"Can you tell me the code?"<br/><br/>"Hell no!"<br/><br/>"Because you don't know it?<br/><br/>"Because she entrusted me with the code and I don't care if you're Hammond or a detective. I am not giving out the code."<br/><br/>"She can change it after I verify it."<br/><br/>"That's not the point is it? the point is that then she knows she can't trust me."<br/><br/>The detective, a tired looking white man with a stubble and nicotine stained fingers, looked at her with a piercing stare. She stared right back.<br/><br/>"Ok," he said finally, and sat there for a while longer gathering documents and his thoughts. "You have a rap sheet, you know."<br/><br/>"It's sealed."<br/><br/>"Yes, which makes me wonder if I can trust you."<br/><br/>Taz finally had had enough. "Let me unseal it for you then," she said heatedly, tears of impotent frustration coming to her eyes and spilling over. "I tag. I got nailed several times for tagging and a few times for dumpster diving looking for food. I'm an artists. Belle was going to get me a job to do cover for record labels. Why would I fuck up my one and only chance to get off the streets? Last time I got into trouble was because the cop just slammed his ham size fist on my shoulder trying to turn me around while I was tagging. I had my earphones in and didn't hear him. I thought I was being attacked and so I turned, thinking I was in danger and..." she sniffed and ran her dirty sleeve under her nose, and across her cheeks, spreading the grime, "....and I sprayed him. He was wearing glasses so his eyes were safe, but he looked a bit like a smurf for a few weeks, I'm told."<br/><br/>She was unprepared for the reaction of the detective who threw his head back and laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. "That.... that was you? Oh my goodness, Timmy Veith is my brother in-law and we teased him mercilessly for that, and yeah, it took weeks for it to get out of the creases by his nose and he had to shave of his pornstache. Good thing is, he kept it off much to his wife's delight." They grinned at each other after that before he spoke.<br/><br/>"So a job designing recod labels, huh."<br/><br/>"Yes, go look at the wall of Denny's Bikeshop out on 76 and 124th. I did that mural. I got permission from Denny himself, you can ask him."<br/><br/>The night was spent in a cell with a thin blanket, a sandwich, apple sauce, and a carton of milk, but Taz felt somewhat optimistic, she had the impression that detective Kowalski had believed her.  She slept until the door opened and Kowalski stood in the doorway.<br/>"You didn't wake up when they shoved in the breakfast through the door, it's ten-thirty now and Belle Morton is here to pick you up. You're free to go, all charges are dropped."