CHAPTER 4: IN THE POLICE STATION
Shirley was in a small gray room. The only light was from the sun falling through the barred window. She felled miserable, but that was no surprise in this situation. They police had been questioning her for at least 6 straight hours, trying to make her confess to a crime she didn't commit. But since she couldn't explain the gear in her backpack, she stilled remained prime suspect. She was at the table thinking of how her friends and family would feel right now. They were probably just as miserable as she was. She took the blue stone of the necklace Jeffrey gave her a while ago in her hands and rubbed her fingers across it. Where were Bo and Jeffrey?
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"All we want to do is talk to her!" Bo yelled to the officer behind the desk. The man showed sympathy, but was no help at all.
"Sorry, kid. I can't help you."
"Why not?" Bo asked desperately. The man sighed.
"I have strict orders no to allow any visitors to Ms. Holmes." the man said in his usual professional voice.
Bo was ready to give it up and leave when a familiar figure crossed a corner. "What is this all about?" he asked the officer. But he knew the answer when he saw the two boys. "Leave this up to me, Louis. What harm can they do? She can't tell us less than she's already telling us." Louis got the point and shrugged.
"Well, OK then. But be quick about it. If the chief finds out he's going to kill me…" Tremain patted Louis on the back and turned back to Bo and Jeffrey.
"Let's go." He ushered the boys through the long busy corridors of the building to the room adjacent to the one Shirley was in. Bo and Jeffrey moved to the door. "Just remember, 5 minutes. I risk my job with this." Jeffrey gave him a sympathetic nod and followed Bo into the room. After Jeffrey had closed the door behind him Tremain sighed. "I must be coming down with something." He turned on the microphones in the room with the kids and followed their conversation.
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Shirley looked up at the door when it opened, anticipating another interview with a police officer.
"Bo!" The two best friends sped towards each other. When they had closed the gap, they wrapped their arms around the other. They hugged, kissed and cried like there was no tomorrow.
In the other room an officer burst in. Tremain swirled around. "Can't you see I'm busy?" he yelled at the person that had disrupted his observation. The young man almost looked like he feared Tremain.
"Sorry sir, but we need some help. That conman you arrested this morning is driving us crazy." Tremain growled. He shot the teenagers one last look through the one-way mirror and turned to his subordinate.
"Fine, just make sure this door is guarded." He pointed at the door to the hallway, while he turned the speakers off again with the other hand. After he did that he followed the young man out of the door, closing it behind him.
Meanwhile Shirley and Bo had managed to let each other go. "What happened out there?" Jeffrey asked, while walking to a chair near the table. Bo and Shirley also took a seat and Shirley started to explain.
"For a few weeks I've been investigating some art thefts in the Redington area."
"Why didn't I know of that?" Bo asked. Shirley shrugged.
"I thought I would make a better chance if I went alone. Was I wrong… Anyway, yesterday afternoon I found out there was going to be a new theft. I heard someone bragging in the Quazar Café." Jeffrey winced when Shirley gave her explanation, but it went unnoticed. "So, last I went to that place, hoping I could protect the coins or catch the thieves red-handed. When I got in to see if the stuff was still in there, I forgot to dismantle part of the alarm system. It detected me and I got arrested. I tried to explain to those dimwits, I tried to protect the coins. They just didn't believe me."
"Why didn't you just ask if you could come in?" Jeffrey asked her. Shirley looked at him in disbelief.
"It's obvious you don't know Mr. Forbes. He is overprotective towards his coins. No one may enter the house except his maid and himself. If you try, he makes sure you get arrested." She paused for a moment. "Later I found out the coins had been stolen and that they suspected me of doing so. They even found stuff at my place. Please, help me! I want to get out of here." Just at that moment Tremain came in to guide the boys back to the exit. Bo looked at his watch. Time was always fast when you needed it the most.
"We'll help you." Bo replied instantly, almost whispering. "Trust us."
TO BE CONTINUED…