The prison rooms were damp and filthy. Klaus put a hanky over his nose, Isadora took a few puffs on her inhaler (she has asthma), Violet squinted at several spiders scurrying in corners, and Quigley shuddered at the coldness.
We were walking about twenty minutes when we found Carmelita sitting in a cell, fighting with two older men with stubble and greasy hair.
She stared at us as we approached. "Cakesniffers!" she yelled. "What're you doing here?"
One of the men in the bunk above her said, "What's a "cakesniffer?"
We shrugged.
The other man said, "She's been calling us that for hours. I'm telling you, anybody with a last name of Spats has to be cracked."
"I heard that, dipstick!" Carmelita cried, tossing her purse at one of the men.
The man smiled. "I hear you're rich, girl. Why not have your daddy come get you out?" He and the other man threw their heads back and laughed. Carmelita grimaced. "I'm at a boarding school over a thousand miles from home."
"Aw, poor baby," a man said, laughing.
Carmelita yelled, "Give me back my purse!"
The man tossed it to the other man in the bunk above her. "Keep-away!" he cried. "I love this game!"
Carmelita said, "If you give it back, I'll give you twenty dollars each."
The men laughed harder. "Why not keep it and have it all!"
A guard passing glared at us. "You heard the man at the door. Visiting hours are twelve am through twelve o' one am."
"That's when the prisoners are asleep," Isadora said. "Exactly," said the guard. "But you have five minutes."
Then he left. "Wait!" Carmelita cried. "These men are stealing my purse!"
The guard banged his baton against the cell door. The man holding it frowned and threw it to the floor.
The guard took it and left. "But that's mine!" Carmelita said. "Give it back!"
"You're so spoiled," the guard said. "In prison all belongings temporarily belong to the police."
"How long is temporarily?" Carmelita asked. "In your case, ten years," the guard replied, walking off.
The men glared at Carmelita. "Brat!" they yelled. "You spoiled our game! We were going to give you your damn purse back!"
"No you weren't!" Carmy yelled.
"Get her!" the man in the bunk yelled. He jumped out of his bed and grabbed Carmelita, wrestling her to the ground. Then the other man and he started hitting her.
We left, not really caring, but decided to somehow get Carmelita out of jail. Not illegally, but convince the jury she thought she was just selling powdered sugar. Quigley's idea, not mine.