TWO

"I'm here to see Katherine Palmer," said Cole, standing in front of the desk sergeant at the police station, Phoebe standing next to him.

"Sorry, Ms. Palmer isn't allowed any visitors," replied the sergeant. "She's going to be arraigned on a charge of second degree murder and the captain said no visitors."

"You'll make an exception for me," said Cole. "My name is Cole Turner. I'm her attorney."

"Attorney? Legal aid said they wouldn't be able to send anyone over until the morning. Who's this?" looking at Phoebe.

"She's my paralegal," replied Cole, "and I'm not from legal aid. Now, if you'll just show me to my client."

"Well, I guess so," replied the sergeant. "I'll have her brought up to one of the interrogation rooms. You can wait for her in there."

"And I'll be expecting some privacy while I confer with my client," said Cole.

"I've been through this a few times before, Mr. Turner. You'll get your privacy."

He called to an officer who escorted them to one of the interrogation rooms. After a few minutes they brought in Palmer who was handcuffed. She appeared to be in her 40s and was dressed in a pantsuit. Her brown hair hung to her shoulders and it looked as if she hadn't slept in a couple of days. As she sat down at the table she looked Cole and Phoebe over. The police officer removed the handcuffs and then left the room.

"That's an expensive suit for a legal aid attorney," said Palmer.

"I'm not from legal aid," said Cole. "This is Phoebe Halliwell. My name is Cole Turner."

"I'll tell you the same thing I told the police. I didn't murder anyone. I know how the evidence looks. But I didn't murder anyone."

"They have a video tape of you fighting with the man," said Cole. "An unidentified white male that the police say you lured to that building and killed. No apparent motive."

"Well, like I said, the police are wrong. I didn't lure anyone to that building and I certainly didn't kill anyone. And since they don't have a body I don't see how they can charge me with murder."

"It's possible," said Cole. "The video tape shows the two of you going into the building but you're the only one it shows coming out. Then the building burned. Anyone in the building would have died. Once the body is recovered they expect to find that you knocked him unconscious or something and left him there to die."

"I've told you everything I can, Mr. Turner," said Palmer. "I went into the building and he apparently followed me in. Maybe he left by a different door, I don't know. But I can tell you I didn't kill him. And I doubt they'll find any body. So without a body I don't see how they can prove murder."

"That's not exactly true, is it?" Phoebe asked. "That you didn't kill anyone. And they won't find a body because there isn't any body to find."

"I . . . I don't know what you mean," said Palmer a look of concern crossing her face. "I would never harm another human being."

"But our unidentified friend wasn't exactly human, was he?" Cole asked.

"I'm not sure I follow," said Palmer suspiciously.

"What he means," said Phoebe, glancing at Cole, "is that the man you 'killed' wasn't human. He was a demon. And they won't find a body because demon bodies disintegrate when they're vanquished."

"Who are you?" demanded Palmer defensively. "How could you know so much?"

"Like Cole said, my name is Phoebe Halliwell. My sisters and I live in San Francisco. We're the Charmed Ones. When we saw the report of your arrest – and realized that your 'victim' was a demon – we decided to come and see if we could help. You didn't kill a man you vanquished a demon. You just had the bad luck of having it caught on tape. We know what that's like."

"Thank the Goddess," said Palmer, relaxing noticeably. "I haven't been able to say anything to anyone. I could only maintain my assertion that I hadn't killed a human. I couldn't very well tell them the truth. They'd never believe me."

"We know," said Cole. "That's why we're here. We're going to do whatever we can to help."

"Just who are you?" Palmer asked. "The Charmed Ones are all sisters. Are you another witch?"

"Uh, no," said Phoebe. "He's my boyfriend. And he knows all about us. He's also a pretty good lawyer. If there's any way to get you out of this we'll find it. If nothing else we'll get our White Lighter to orb you out of here so you won't have to stand trial."

"White Lighter?" questioned Palmer. "I've never met one of them. My mother told me of them. She said that some witches had White Lighters. But apparently we don't have one."

"Not all witches have one," said Phoebe. "But Leo – he's our White Lighter – he said he's ready to pull you out of here if it comes to that."

"It would be best if we can get the charges against you dropped," interjected Cole. "A jail break would make you a fugitive. It's best all around if we can get you out of this legally. We just have to figure out the best way to do that. Your name is Katherine Palmer?"

"Yes, but I go by Kate."

"I used to know a Katie Palmer," said Cole. "A long time ago."

"I doubt it's the same person. Palmer is a fairly common name. And I was named after my great grandmother. She died fighting a demon. She was living in San Francisco just after the turn of the 20th century but you're obviously not old enough to have known her. She died in 1910."

"Of course," said Cole nervously. Phoebe noticed Cole's nervousness. "Probably just someone with the same name. Now, you'll have to stay in jail until you're arraigned. At the arraignment I'll try to get you a reasonable bail but I have to tell you that's not very likely. Judges are notorious for setting very high bail on a second degree murder charge."

"I need to get out of here," said Palmer. "I have a friend who's looking after my kids but I really need to be there for them."

"Well, I'm sure your friend will take care of your children until we can get you out," said Phoebe.

"No, you don't understand. They aren't my children. I just look after them. I run a foster home for orphan children. Right now I have 7 and a couple of them have very special needs. My friend isn't really equipped to handle them on a long term basis. I really need to be there for them."

"You run a foster home? Isn't that dangerous being a witch and all?"

"Maybe some," said Palmer. "But I'm kind of following in my great grandmother's footsteps, so to speak. She ran an orphanage in San Francisco. After she was killed by a demon the kids were split up. She had a son who went to live with some relatives but the rest of them didn't have anyone. Some of them just got lost and no one knows what happened to them. I don't want that to happen to my kids."

"Her son?" questioned Cole. "What relatives did he go to live with?"

"His mother's sister and her husband. They lived in San Francisco, too. My grandmother moved here to Bakersfield after she got married. Why, is it important?"

"Oh, uh, probably not," said Cole. "I just like to have as complete a background on my clients as possible. You never know what might come in handy. Now, you'll have to stay here until we get you arraigned. Once at the arraignment like I said, I'll try to get you out on bail. Running a foster home will go a long ways to getting bail. You have ties to the community and the judge is likely to take that into consideration."

"I really don't have a lot of money for bail. Most of what I do have goes to taking care of my kids."

"We'll worry about that when the time comes," said Cole. "What happened in that building?"

"Well, I'd been tracking this demon for a while," said Katie. "I had gotten some information that he was staying in that abandoned building. So I went there figuring I could put an end to him. I had a vanquishing potion all ready so I waited until it got dark and went after him.

"Only he must have seen me coming. He attacked before I even knew he was there. His first fireball barely missed me. Luckily I was able to use the vanquishing potion on him and he was gone in a matter of moments. Unfortunately his fireball had started a fire and within a few minutes the entire building was a raging inferno.

"I didn't have much choice. The only way for me to get out of the building was the same way I had gotten in. But there's an ATM across the street from the building. Its' camera caught us both going into the building but only me coming out. It didn't take long for the entire building to be engulfed in flames. Since there's no evidence that the demon ever came out of the building the police say I must have knocked him unconscious and set fire to it to kill him."

"And of course you have no way to prove otherwise," said Cole. "Okay, for now just don't say anything to anyone. Don't even protest your innocence. If anyone wants to deal with this matter they can deal with me. We'll have you out of here as soon as possible."

"Well, I do feel a little better knowing the Charmed Ones are involved," said Palmer. "At least I don't have to go through this alone. Not even my kids or my friend know I'm a witch. This is going to be very hard to explain to them."

"Don't worry," said Phoebe. "My sisters and I will help you all we can. Now, just do as Cole says. Sit tight and keep your mouth shut. We're going to get you out of this."

"Thanks," said Palmer. "I appreciate everything you're doing."

"We have to stick together," said Phoebe, squeezing her hand.

Cole and Phoebe returned to the hotel room that Piper had rented for them. They filled in the others on what they had learned.

"So she was vanquishing a demon," said Piper. "Well, we certainly can't let her rot in jail for that. We have to do something. We have to get her out of there."

"I'm working on that," said Cole. "Our first priority is to get her out of jail. That's not going to be easy. Like I told her, judges usually set a very high bail for murder cases. And that's assuming she doesn't get a judge who denies bail because it's a murder charge. There are a fair number of judges who don't believe in bail for a charge of murder."

"Cole," said Phoebe hesitantly, "you seemed nervous when Katie was telling you about her great grandmother."

"Yes," said Cole reluctantly. "Remember I told you that I once knew someone by the name of Kate Palmer? Well, I'm pretty sure that Kate Palmer was her great grandmother."

"But didn't you say she died in 1910?" questioned Paige. "Kate said she was killed by a demon."

"That's right," said Cole. "And I'm pretty sure I was the demon that killed her."

"You killed her great grandmother?" Phoebe asked.

"It was a long time ago," said Cole. "I was only 24 and had just finished my training as a mercenary. Only there wasn't much chance of me being hired as a mercenary because I didn't have a reputation. Most mercenaries are hired based on their reputation. Plus, I was half human. To many mainstream demons, I was less than a consideration.

"I decided my best bet was to find a witch who was a problem for a high level demon and take her out. Once I did that, word would spread of what I had done. I knew it would take a while before some of the higher level demons would be interested in me but I had to start somewhere. So I went looking for a witch who could help me establish the reputation I needed. I found Kate Palmer."