Work Text:
The jail in the police precinct was quiet in the middle of the night. Only three cells were occupied, and in the darkness, the only sound was Oliver's whimpering.
Charles, who had been placed in the next cell, rolled his eyes, then realized nobody could see him. Instead, he took his flat pillow and put it on his his head, a buffer against the world.
There was a soft sigh from Mabel's direction, another cell over. "What's the problem, Oliver?"
"What's the problem?" Oliver was just waiting for some attention. "What's the problem? We're in jail, that's the problem." He could see he was losing the little crowd he had. "I'm worried about Winnie."
Charles popped his head out. "That's his dog."
"I know…"
"It's by Will!" Charles called out. He turned to Mabel, "that's his son".
"I know."
"You don't have to shout," Oliver shouted back.
Mabel wished those two would just shut up.
Charles turned back to Mabel. "We're in jail, and he's worried about his dog."
Oliver got up off his cot. "You know I can hear you!"
Charles didn't bother replying.
"Look, we're not going to get out of here by shouting at each other," Mabel said.
"Maybe it was part of Bunny's plan to kick us out of the building," Oliver mused.
Charles managed a laugh. "Really? She got herself murdered because she couldn't stand you."
"Us," Oliver corrected him. "She couldn't stand us. She wanted to throw all of us out."
Charles moaned. "I wish I had a drink."
"I wish I had a dip," Oliver responded. "You know, ever since Dimas' deli closed down, there's hasn't been a normal dip in the neighborhood."
Mabel cleared her throat. "Look at you, whining about dips and dogs." Charles was about to say something, but she cut him off. "You're not the ones being accused of murder."
Charles was immediately contrite. "Mabel is right. We need to find the murderer."
Oliver was a little less contrite. "And how are we going to do that? Uh? We're in jail, if you haven't noticed."
Charles sat up. "Well, we don't need to dig too deep here. I'm sure a lot of people hated Bunny."
"Like the Wicked Witch of the East?" Oliver asked.
"And who are you going to be in this parable?" Charles responded.
Mabel wished, yet again, that those two would shut up. "We could make another list of people who couldn't stand us, and see where they intersect."
It sounded like a great idea. Except that after an hour of work, they realized the two lists were pretty much the same, and included most of the resident's buildings which they had investigated for the Tim Kono murder.
"Well," Oliver said, "this is depressing."
It was then that the door separating the holding cells from the rest of the department opened, and Detective Williams stepped in.
