Unsurprisingly, the next several days became a blur for Anna.
As the word "lockdown" would suggest, the prisoners were all kept locked in their cells 24/7. This meant that no one was ever let out for showers, or yard time, or anything. Meals (such as they were) had to be be brought to them on trays. At least three times a day (some days it at least felt like more), an officer would march by, and one by one each inmate would have to stand up straight for roll call.
It was all tedious and boring for obvious reasons, of course, but Anna hardly cared. Hell, she didn't even mind that she and all of the other convicts were forced to remain naked (although the combined body odor of several dozen unwashed females housed so closely together did become a bit overwhelming for her nostrils sometimes). She kept worrying about Rapunzel. No matter how many times she asked the guards for an update on her condition, they never had an answer for her (or at least claimed they didn't). The cell felt so empty without her. She was actually shocked by just how much she missed her. Who could miss an overgrown brat like Rapunzel?
She passed her days by pacing around the cell, eating what she could digest of her food (which, with head cook Tiana currently "out of commission", had somehow gotten even worse), using the toilet (usually dealing with the unfortunate amount of gas the food gave her), and sleeping. As with her stint in the hole, Anna spent the majority of her time napping, but for reasons she couldn't fully explain or justify to herself, had taken to doing so in Rapinzel's bed. She felt closer to her there, and liked being near her drawings on the wall. Most of them she had never really gotten a good look at until now (she could be wrong, but it at least looked as though Rapunzel had done at least one painting of Anna, stripes and all), and it had to be said, she really did have talant. Perhaps she could make a career of it someday...if she was still alive.
She was clutching onto the bars of her door and contemplating this when two officers arrived, making very serious faces.
"Alright, inmate, hands out. We've got someone here who want to talk to you."
Anna blinked.
"You mean...I have a visitor? Who would visit me?"
"They don't tell me these things, bitch. Just give me your hands."
Anna placed her arms out, allowing the cold steel of handcuffs to once again embrace itself around her wrists. She couldn't help but feel a tad uneasy. Apart from Elsa, she had no family. And there were no friends she had on the outside who had bothered to so much as send her a letter since she went to jail.
Her cell was unlocked and she was grabbed (a tad roughly) by the shoulders and escorted out, unable to have time to fully process what was happening until she was taken to what looked like an interview room. It was neater than most other areas of the prison she had been to, but still felt uncomfortable and like the fan was intentionally kept a bit too low.
She was forcibly sat down at a table, opposite a well-dressed woman in her 40s who looked like some sort of important official. Anna had to assume she was involved with the police.
"So, your file is a confusing one. Do you go by 'Anderson' or 'Christian'?"
Anna felt embarassed, not sure how to respond. "You can just call me 'Anna' if that's okay. Ummmm...what are you here for?"
"So peculiar, an inmate with two last names on her file. Though I suppose that's what happens when you're related to the warden." She smirked, apparently sensing Anna's reflexive discomfort. "Relax, girl, your little secret is safe with me."
"Oh. Okay." Anna's cuffed hands fidgeted, causing them to audibly jingle. "You still haven't told me what you're here for. Or why I'm here."
"Oh, of course, I'm sorry. Manners were never a subject I got good grades in. I'm part of an investigation involving the incident the other day. The one that ended with your former cell mate being carted off sans one foot."
Anna couldn't quite figure out why, but there was something about this woman's tone that rubbed her the wrong way.
"I'd...be happy to help in any way I can. Do you know if she's okay?"
"Sweetie, you saw what happened. When that sort of thing happens to someone, they are not 'okay' by any definition of the word. And I can safely say she'll never be returning to your cell."
Anna gasped.
"You mean she's...?"
"That's all I can tell you, sweetie. I wasn't brought here to give you a damn medical report."
Anna could feel her hands clenching into fists (something which actually hurt a lot with restraints on).
"Then what do you want from me?"
The woman opened up a briefcase (an expensive-looking one which she seemed to make an effort to show off to Anna as she lifted it up), pulled out some papers and began tapping her fingers through them.
"Let's see. Oh, yes. According to those present, you and Fitzherbert were talking shortly before this happened, right?"
"Ummmm...yes?"
"And what were you talking about?"
Anna didn't like where this seemed to be going.
"I don't know. We talked. We talked a lot. She usually talked a lot more than me, mind you, but..."
"Those present claim you were fighting. And that she wouldn't stop hitting a punching bag."
"I'd say that 'fighting' is a strong word." Anna awkwrdly giggled, which probably didn't help her right now. "We just argued a little. And she was blowing off steam is all."
"Sure. You don't think it's possible you provoked her into getting into going after the Naveen woman?"
"What? No, of course not! Why would you even ask that?"
"Sweetie, hold your horses. I ain't pointing fingers. I'm just saying it's weird that a woman who got screwed over by the justice system with a 30-year sentence for white collar crime would suddenly become violent towards another inmate."
"Screwed over? I imagine the people she stole from might have a different opinion on that. And I barely know Tiana. All I know is that she and Rapunzel used to be cell mates before I got here."
"So you wouldn't have set Naveen up to get Rapunzel beat up on your behalf?"
"Excuse me?" Anna was trying but failing to keep her anger under control. "I'm sorry, what is this? I'm not the one who violently attacked another prisoner and maybe even killed her! Why don't you go to Tiana with your questions?"
"She has no reason to talk to us. And calm down. We're just having a simple conversation here."
"Yeah, a 'simple conversation' in which you keep implying that I had something to do with my friend getting hurt!"
"Sweetie, you're a murderer. You're not exactly the most trustworthy source when it comes to violence, are you?"
"That has nothing to do with this. Besides, I used a gun for my murders, rather than brute strength."
"Well, I guess that makes you a regular angel, doesn't it?" The woman returned her paperwork to her case (which, again, she seemed to really want to show off). "You're tensing up. Why don't we talk about what happened with your sister, Elsa?"
"What...what do you mean?"
"Well, we're hearing, I must say, rather remarkable stories about what she did. Something about turning Fitzherbert's foot into snow and then melting into a puddle as though it was no big deal?"
"Ummmm...well, yeah, she did do that, but I don't see what that has to do with..."
"Were you aware of your sister having that level of power?"
"No. I had only ever really seen her use it to make ice rinks and snowmen. But this has nothing to do with..."
"Does your sister have a weakness?"
Anna could feel herself becoming sick.
"Like...what are you implying?"
"Sweetie, I think you know damn well what I'm implying. Do me a favor and don't insult me by playing dumb. You grew up with her. Is there any way to...control your sister's power? Or get rid of them?"
Anna stood up, not giving any thought to being naked as she did so and waving her cuffed hands around furiously.
"What the hell is this? You're not even asking me about Rapunzel anymore. What are you wanting from me? The secret formula to killing my sister?"
"Temper, temper. I'm not yelling, am I? The board is concerned, sweetie. Elsa had never made such a vivid demonstration of her magic in front of so many people, and now people are scared. What if she were to use that power to kill someone? She already threatened to do it to the poor Naveen woman..."
"OH STOP THAT!" The guards now held their batons up, ready to use them if they needed to, but Anna kept herself from getting physically close to the woman. "First off, she's not some 'poor woman' as you just called her, she's a demented bitch who brutally crushed my friend's foot! Second, who could blame Elsa for threatening her after she did something like that? And third, what kind of an 'investigation' is this? Don't you police have better things to do right now?"
"My dear sweetie, when did I ever say I was police?"
The woman was grinning triumphantly now, as though she had won some sort of contest Anna wasn't aware they had been having.
Then again...she was right...she hadn't said she was from the police...
Which meant that...Anna had been dumb and naïve again.
"Shit! Well who are you then?"
"Not that it's your concern, but I am part of a private investigation, being sponsored by the prison board without your sister's knowledge. We intend to get to the bottom of what happened. If you don't want to help us, that's fine. I'll be on my way."
She picked up her briefcase and made her way for the exit.
"Well, why haven't you talked to Tiana then? Surely you must have something you can get out of her. She and her husband both attacked opposite members of the same imprisoned couple in the same way? It can't be a coincidence."
"As I said, there's nothing the Naveen woman can say to us that we need."
"Why not? She's in the hole now. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding her."
"No, she actually isn't. In fact, she isn't in this prison at all. She and her husband have both been released. Full pardons and suspended sentences. I might've been able to get the same thing for you if you had cooperated more. Now, good day to you, sweetie."
And with that, she was gone, leaving Anna more confused and infuriated than she had possibly ever been in her entire life.