Chapter 36 - CSI: Lowerton (Part II)

(25 minutes later, Middleton Police Dept., Thomas Hobble's office)

Kim and Ron assembled into Officer Hobble's office. Wade was on the Kimmunicator.

"The imposter 'Tara' that stole the Golden Bone did not have a cheer bow in her hair. While the real Tara that was sitting in jail had her cheer bone in her hair with Jason Morgan, her boyfiend. The GPS tracking system from his car proved it" the tech genius explained while Hobble was staring in disbelief at the security camera footage. On the left side of the screen was the exterior shot of the fieldhouse facing the parking lot and on the right side was the interior of the fieldhouse, facing the Golden Bone.

"I still cannot believe my eyes!" Hobble said in disbelief.

"Furthermore," Kim said, pointing out "...the handbag that Tara had was yellow while the thief's bag was purple! And lastly, the timestamp was off by a few minutes, allowing the real thief to escape."

Hobble sighed, "So much for the open-and-shut case route!"

"See?" Ron added, observing the footage, "No evidence, no case!"

"This deparment can't afford a lawsuit! And Chief Rockwaller doesn't want a PR mess on his hands!" Hobble exclaimed, knowing the potential damage of being sued in court.

"And a big one at that." Kim chimed in.

"I should've suspected it when we searched for the Queen's house this morning." Hobble said, faceplaming hard.

"You had the warrant for that?" Kim asked.

"We did, but found nothing." Hobble said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Figures...now, about releasing Tara!" Kim replied.

Hobble grabbed his keys and said, "Follow me, Miss Possible, to the county jail! I'll contact the school district to drop the charges on Tara."

_

(9:45am, Middleton County Jail, adjoining the

Tara sighed, sitting on her bunk and staring at the wall. She was still in the orange prison jumpsuit, kicking her feet in the air. She still had the cheer bow in her hair.

"I'll never be able to get out of here." she uttered, "I'll never be able to get a chance to go to senior prom...get to graduate...or even..."

Tears began to fill her eyes, as she sputtered out the words.

"...kiss Jason EVER AGAIN!"

She sobbed into her pillow, fearing that she'll never see the light of day until she legally turned 21.

_

Then she heard the door that led into the cellblock open. And into the cellblock walked in Kim, Ron, Rufus, and Hobble.

"Kim! Ron! You two finally made it!" Tara exclaimed for joy.

"Hey, Tara!" Kim shouted with happiness as the two fellow cheerleaders hugged each other with only the steel bars separating them.

"Look, Rufus!" Ron chuckled nervously at the mole rat, "I haven't been back here since the police locked me up for the tearing up of a mattress tag from the dumpster !"

"I thought you were locked up for littering!" Kim replied.

"I was trying to throw the tag away, but it wouldn't go in the trash and I got caught red-handed by the cops..." Ron admitted, "Commissioner Rockwaller's spit was all over my face! Sixteen hours in a jail cell with no Bueno Nacho is something no man should ever have to live through!"

"Let's focus, Ron! Freeing Tara is our top priority here!" Kim insisted.

"What's the news, Kim?" Tara asked, hopeful that she could get out of this jail cell. "Did you find any evidence that proves my innocence?"

"We looked at the surveillance footage and saw that you and Jason pulled into the high school around the time the Golden Bone got stolen by the fraudlent person pretending to be you. And that you had the cheer bow in your hair. Plus, you had a different color handbag than the thief!" Kim said about the news of the evidence, "Me and Officer Hobble told that to the MUSD and they decided to drop the charges against you. However, for some stupid reson, the MUSD won't let you cheerlead for the next game until the Golden Bone is found."

"So that means...?" Tara gasped, joyous of this news.

"Yes..." Hobble sighed, unlocking the cell door "...you're free to go."

Rufus squeaked from Ron's pants pocket, "Freedom!"

Tara rushed out of the jail cell and hugged Kim, "Oh, thank you, Kim! Thank you so much!"

"No big, Tara!" Kim smiled.

"Oh. I almost forgot something, Kim." Tara said while digging out her orange prison uniform to take out Kim's harmonica.

"Ah, there it is!" Kim grinned, taking the harmonica, "Thanks for taking care of it! My grandpa would be proud!"

"You're welcome, Kim!" Tara said. "And please find the Bone! The whole town is counting on you!"

"I will make sure that it is back in the right hands!" Kim insisted.

_

(15 more minutes later)

Jason drove off with his girlfriend in his car while Kim and Ron were walking outside the police station.

"Let's rewind!" Kim said, putting her hands in her ruined overalls pockets. "We have the good-bad news stuff to dish out."

"The Ron-man always likes the good news to be his main course." Ron replied with a grin.

"Tara's out of jail and the school district dropped the charges." Kim explained.

"So what's the bad?" Ron said.

"Didn't you hear?" Kim groaned, "The school board is not going to allow her to cheerlead until the Golden Bone is found!"

The Kimmunicator then beeped its familiar tone.

Kim turned it on and said, "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"I've been looking at the surveilance footage of the Golden Bone robbery when I came across this strange clue!" Wade said while zooming into a screen. "The imposter 'Tara' had also this on her cheeks 'Go Lemurs' on them...while she was wearing a Middleton High cheer uniform."

"Whoa! Now that is a new low in the rivalry between Middleton and Lowerton!" Kim exclaimed, "Not only have one of their cheerleaders stole the Bone...and a Middleton High cheer uniform, but she has also framed one of my best friends for a crime she didn't commit!"

"This is so way personal this time!"