It is good to have a cop for a friend. Or at least to be the daughter of somebody who has a cop's friend as a friend. Half of the neighboring precinct was now standing watch on the balcony, with the other half watching the door, while somebody called the captain, trying to get his permission to look around. He was in a "meeting", of course, so somebody called him on his cell phone. Which was shut off, so one of the cops was dispatched as a runner to deliver the very same message that somebody would later accidentally delete from his phone mail, no doubt. Darned convenient, these accidents could be for those who didn't wish to be asked for permission they'd rather not give, but his precinct wasn't going to take "I didn't know" for an answer.

A pair of lunatics arguing in a courtyard was just part of the nightly entertainment schedule, a sergeant explained, but a pair who had opened the fate weeks in advance of their tresspass? That suggested premeditation and ambition of the worst kind. Otherwise, why would they go to that much trouble?

Good question. I had been starting to wonder if I had been overreacting, but obviously, I hadn't. But that I could have said the same for the other kids. The boys were looking nervously from side to side, as if waiting for blows to fall upon their heads, and the girls looked like they were thinking of dropping them. "Meg", one of the girls asked, "I hope that you don't think that I'm being a bitch, but what were you doing, out on your balcony ..." "... bathing in moonlight?", I finished the thought. "Who would see me? Other than these guys", I said, looking around while the guys looked away. "As long as nobody smashes the gate open, that balcony is as private as my bedroom, out of view of anybody who hasn't gone through the gate. Which I had left locked. And air conditioning hadn't been invented, yet, the last time anybody did more than a cosmetic touch up on this place, so I was a little hot.

"A lot hot", somebody said, as laughs were muffled, none of them female. "I'm just saying that it was 95 that week ..." More laughter, rapidly dying down. The other women were still not amused. "I think I'll go check up on Mom", I said, walking off with a crustacean in hot pursuit. Why was Barney following me?