Fred declared, "Ray, I met you only once before. You were interfering with a crime scene where my partner just got shot! I certainly didn't like that. As for Beth, I only know you from reports, photographs, and videos. I wasn't there when you two got arrested. However, I did read the report and talk to the officers involved."

Beth said, "We know who you are. You've been on TV a lot lately. You're the pot-smoking one-eyed ex-cop. You should try heroin. It’d make you feel less guilty about killing my boyfriend. It's much better than kiddie drugs."

Ray frowned and looked at her nervously when she said that about kiddie drugs.

Fred complained, "I wasn't at the condemned house where you two were arrested. Why don't you go haunt Joel Robust or somebody else involved in your case?"

Beth stood and said, "Come on, Pipe. Eric was right about cops always being the violence-loving bad guys! I thought that might not apply ex-cops, but I was wrong."

Showing some backbone, Ray stayed in place and demanded, "Fred, you stayed in school and graduated. How'd you do that?"

Beth sat back down and elaborated, "We've been expelled from high school. It's so unfair!"

Ray vigorously nodded at that.

"I've seen the video of you two using drugs. You were caught red-handed," Fred said unsympathetically.

Ray countered, "You were caught red-handed too."

Beth explained, "The public library had a copy of that school paper you mentioned on TV. There's a photograph of you smoking a joint in it. You looked so funny in long hair and those weird clothes!"

Ray demanded, "How'd you stay in school? How'd you avoid criminal charges?"

Fred replied, "I was in college, not high school. That's a big difference. It was also 1971, not the year 2000. Things were very different back then."

Beth stated, "That's the way drug use should be dealt with, not like what happened to us. Eric kept encouraging us to quit drugs. Even an anti-drug fanatic like him didn’t think expelling students would help anybody quit. Eric said that all I needed to get me to quit was sufficient reason. I was going to quit for him. Then, you killed him. Since he’s gone, there’s no point in quitting now."

Fred sighed and shut his eyes for a moment. His head was pounding.

Ray asked, "Will you help us?"

Fred opened his eyes and said, "I'll give you a little advice, but it'll be up to you to take it."

Beth shivered and declared, "It's cold out here!"

Fred unlocked the door and said, "Come in. Sit at the kitchen table."

Without permission, Ray opened the refrigerator and asked, "Can I have a beer?"

Fred shoved the refrigerator door closed and snapped, "You're only sixteen! Of course not."

"How about me? I'm eighteen," Beth said.

Fred remarked, "The legal drinking age is twenty-one. No. Just sit down."

Beth and Ray both sat down. Fred got out a notepad, pen, and a phone book.

"The first thing that I recommend is you get a second legal opinion from a lawyer specializing in criminal law. I don't think that's Mr. Shuster's specialty," Fred said diplomatically.

Ray declared, "Mr. Shuster's going to sue the police department, the city, and the media. He's going to make us rich!"

Beth nodded emphatically and claimed, "Getting arrested was the best thing that could have happened to us. Our schoolmates are going to be so jealous!"

Fred skeptically asked, "How's that work?"

Beth smirked and said, "Mr. Shuster said that copies of the surveillance video were given to the press when you got off for killing my boyfriend."

Fred said, "Blurry face things were put over you and Ray in that released video."

Beth smugly explained, "Even with those blur circles, the news soon figured out who we were and reported it. Mr. Shuster thinks that'll make the tape inadmissible in court, plus give us reason to sue the media and the police."

Fred asked, "Is that all?"

"Far from it," Ray said with a smile, then impulsively gave Beth a hug.

She shrugged him off hard, then slid her chair a few inches away.

She then said, "One cop, the red-headed woman, had gotten into a hassle over my boyfriend’s cat. Mr. Shuster thinks he can use that cat to get her testimony thrown out."

Ray broke in and said, "Another cop named Joel is practically blind. He probably sees worse than you do with your one eye! You don't look like you're missing an eye like they keep saying on TV. Which one's fake?"

"This one is glass," Fred said while pointing.

Ray grinned at that, then said, “Cool! It looks so real.”

Beth said, “Joel's got bifocal glasses. It's amazing he can see at all.”

“Joel’s corrected vision is twenty-twenty, just what it should be. His glasses being bifocals isn’t a big deal,” Fred said.

Ray disagreed, “Mr. Shuster said Joel’s bifocals will get his testimony thrown out. Plus, he's well known to be your friend and former partner!”

Beth agreed, "Your buddy would've done anything to get you off for murdering my boyfriend! Even plant a gun! We'll sue over that too! We're going to be rich!"

Fred commented, "Let's assume just for the sake of argument you get the surveillance tape of the day of your capture thrown out. Also, that Maureen and Joel can't testify for whatever reason. What about Ralph and Dave?"

Beth asked, "Who?"

Fred said, "The report said that there were four officers. The other two were Ralph and Dave. Neither of them wears glasses...or has a cat. Ralph has a dog, but I don't see how that'd be any help."

Beth said slowly, "I only remember two officers."

Ray remarked, "No, there were four. One was an eager, excited, young guy. Remember? The fourth guy was sarcastic. He claimed that he kept bags of sugar in his socks for adding to his coffee."

"Oh, right. I forgot about those two," Beth said.

Fred added, "Even if you get the surveillance video thrown out for the day of the raid, that gear was up for about three weeks. If you bought any drugs there in that time, you'll need to worry about those videos too."

Beth nevertheless insisted, "We're going to sue and get rich! You'll see!"

Fred decided not to even bother explaining why he didn't think they'd succeed in getting the video or Joel and Maureen’s testimony thrown out. Instead, he replied, "That's nice, but money won't do you that much good if you're in prison. Both of you are facing serious criminal charges. I think you should worry about first things first."

Ray said, "When I didn't take the rehab deal, the prosecutor decided to try to get me tried as an adult. He's getting his way on that!"

Beth scooted her chair toward Ray and his shoulder. That made him beam. If he had a tail like a dog, the tail would have been wagging.

Beth said, "They're just trying to scare you, Pipe. Besides, you're not a little kid anymore."

"I'm glad you consider me an adult, Beth," Ray said, not seeming to mind the possibility of a far longer prison term just to get that compliment from Beth.

Eighteen-year-old Beth told him, "Of course you are. Just like me! Just remember that we're going to be super-rich!"

Fred remarked, "Ray, a clever lawyer might get you back to juvenile status. If that happens, all this will be a closed book when you turn eighteen. Here are the pages of lawyers in the phone book. I'm writing down a few that I think are good, and who I know specialize in criminal law. I'm not sure which will give you a free initial consultation if cost is an issue, but you can call and ask."

Fred wrote a short list, then hesitated. He then put Nora Lure's number at the bottom.

Beth asked suspiciously, "Why would you tell us this?"

Fred replied, "Even those who are guilty deserve a defense, as my girlfriend constantly reminds me. Now, I'm adding some other phone numbers. The first two are psychiatrists. The next one is a social worker. Then...let me find them in the book here...these last two are self-help groups. I also added a number for the hospital."

Fred ripped off the notepad page and held it out.

Ray said, "Telling us the lawyers' names makes sense. Thanks for that."

"He just did that because he'll get a kickback. Cards claims all the cops and lawyers scheme together. They can’t be trusted. We'd be better off using the phone book ourselves," Beth claimed cynically.

"Be my guest," Fred said, shoving the phone book closer to her.

Ray asked, "Why the other phone numbers?"

Beth informed him, "He thinks they'll help us get off drugs. I love drugs! I don't want to stop!"

"Me either," Ray said, looking toward Beth for approval. "Besides, I can stop whenever I want. I just don't want to."

With a quick glance at Beth, Ray snatched the sheet from Fred's hand. He then pulled out a cigarette lighter. Before Fred could stop him, he'd set the sheet on fire! Fred reached back and grabbed the sprayer from the kitchen sink. He sprayed the fire. He also accidentally sprayed the phone book.

"Hey, you got me wet," Beth complained, barely able to talk through her laughter.

"I'm glad you liked that, Beth," Ray proudly said.

"You could've burned my house down! Just be glad I don't give you two a probable cause search right now! I know perfectly well what I'd find in Ray's pocket because I saw what you were doing on the front steps. However, I'm not a cop anymore. Shyster Shuster'd probably sue again for some stupid thing or other. Just...get out of here!" Fred shouted.

Beth shouted back, "We don't care what you say! We're going to sue everybody who's done us wrong! We're going to have so much money that we won't be able to count it! Come on, Pipe!"

With that, she left the house, with Ray obediently heeling behind her like a pet dog. Fred slammed the door after them.