Disclaimer: Orange is the New Black does not belong to me. I am merely borrowing the characters.
Piper looked round the room some more. The shelf/bed occupied the whole of the width of the wall facing the door so the room was maybe 1.8m wide and maybe 50% longer than it was wide so 2.7m?
Other thoughts flashed through Piper's mind competing for attention. Thoughts of Larry, what was he thinking? She had edited her past with him. Hadn't told him about two years of her life, two years that had now come back to bite her. He thought she was a law abiding straight girl. He knew she'd travelled after getting her BA at Durham, but she'd been sketchy about some details.
She knew full well the event that had landed her with the early morning raid by the Metropolitan Police. The Metropolitan Police! She wondered vaguely if she'd be taken to New Scotland Yard to be grilled. That one time thing when Alex had been in deep shit and had asked for this one small favour...
She hadn't felt she could say no. Alex had paid for her... everything for 18 months. So Alex had applied covering make up to the tattoo of a kingfisher in flight* on her neck, supplied her with a wig and false passport, given her a ticket to London and then another one for the Brussels train from St Pancras International and a suitcase of money. Alex had flown from Manchester. Piper had taken the train to Euston then walked along the Euston Road praying she didn't get mugged, not that this ever happened on that busy thoroughfare but you never knew!
The train from St Pancras had taken just over two hours. Alex had only just made it to their rendezvous in time. They got into a taxi and delivered the money in exchange for more heroin to be delivered by mules, cut and sold via the country-wide distribution network that the organisation Alex was part of had set up.
That was the one and only time she'd got involved with Alex's business. She been aware of what it was of course. She'd been aware of what paid for the lifestyle they enjoyed together. She'd been aware but had ignored it and just enjoyed the travel and the sex. Despite herself Piper grinned at the memory of sex with Alex in exotic places...
But tears were still falling. She'd have to tell Larry – and her own parents. But first she'd have to tell Larry's dad! UGHHHHHHHHHH. Those were conversations she was not looking forward to.
A key was inserted in the lock and turned. The door opened. She hadn't been aware of it but the Sergeant had checked to viewing hatch first.
"Your solicitor is here. Come on." he said.
She walked wordlessly towards the door and out.
"Wait!" the Sergeant ordered. Then he locked the door. She saw the blackboard with her surname on it. More tears threatened but she managed to hold them back.
She then followed the Sergeant to his desk where a woman in plain clothes was waiting.
"This is Detective Constable Maltby, she will escort you to the interview room where your solicitor is waiting." said the Sergeant.
"Follow me." said DC Maltby.
They travelled the labyrinthine corridors typical of a London Police Station. Police Stations are in many ways odd buildings. Part prisons, part offices, part interrogation suites, part washing and changing facilities, part medical facility, part all hours restaurant. They are the ultimate in multi-purpose.
Parts, like the cells, are intended to intimidate. Parts, like the offices, are normal, what you'd find in any British work place except that some of the occupants have uniforms on. Parts, like the interrogation suites, are intended to lull people into a false sense of security to make them reveal what they would rather was hidden. Parts were intended to give a real sense of security to frightened victims, these were called the soft interrogation suites and resemble living rooms. Sometimes they have toys for child victims to play with as their stories, sometimes the most horrific a police officer would ever hear in their entire career, were coaxed out of them patiently and gently.
Piper was led into a room. There was a desk against the wall at which two men sat. One was Howard. There were two other chairs facing each other with only air between them. In the one nearest the door a woman had been sitting. She had risen when the door opened and was now turning to face Piper.
"Hello love, I'm DC Coleman, I'll be interviewing you later but first I just wanted to make sure we're treating you right. Have we given you breakfast? Or anything to drink?" she said.
Her voice was as warm as a fluffy blanket and seemed to envelope Piper in its caress. The accent was not the harsh London one the others had had but was probably from rural north Yorkshire or maybe south County Durham.
"No nothing to eat or drink." said Piper, close to tears again.
"Well that's not right. Is it DC Maltby? Let's see if we can get her something from the canteen." said DC Coleman, a tinge of anger in her voice.
"Yes, what would you like love, we can do a sandwich or maybe some cereal or would you like something hot? A cup of tea? Or are you're a coffee person? Or maybe a bottle of juice or perhaps water, love?" This was the cockney tones of DC Maltby but they were softer now too.
In the corner Howard felt fear for Piper. He had seen this routine maybe a thousand times since the passing of PACE, but he'd never seen it done so well.
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, known to all as PACE, had stopped the Police beating confessions out of suspects. Or just making up confessions without bothering with the beating. Since then all interviews had had to be recorded. Nowadays they were video recorded.
"A sandwich would be nice, Tuna and Sweetcorn would be nice, or maybe plain ham with or without mustard. Water too. Thank you so much." Piper said. Howard groaned inwardly, still he'd have some time to repair the damage. But he had to get Piper's story too, so he was pressed.
DC Maltby went off presumably to the canteen.
"Right let's show you and your solicitor to the private room so you can have a private chat." with that DC Coleman showed Piper and Howard to another room with 'Legal Consultation – if engaged knock before entry" on the door. The door had a lock that reminded Piper of public toilet cubicles, the kind with a rotary sign that says either 'free' or 'engaged'. This one said 'free'. DC Coleman opened the door and motioned for them to go in. Piper followed Howard into the room.
Howard closed the door and closed the latch so that 'engaged' appeared outside.
*I changed the tattoo to something more British deliberately. Whilst there are plenty of dolphins and whales off the British coast (including Orcas) we don't really make much of them. A British woman is, in my experience, far more likely to have a bird tattoo.