"I’ll see what I can find out.  Please return to your seat."   He lifted up his desk phone and hit the second intercom button.  Bette could hear him start to speak quietly as she walked back to their bench.

As she sat down Kit noticed the red rims of her eyes and said "You’re not thinkin’ Tina did it, are you?  Cuz there’s…".

Bette turned to Kit abruptly, "No, of course not."

"So, you think…" Kit quietly motioned toward Alice and Nikki.

"Oh jesus, Kit!" Bette was louder now, "Neither of them killed Jenny."

At that Nikki and Alice stopped talking, and Kit looked worried now, "Just what are you tellin’ me, Baby Sis?"

"Kit!  Don’t look at me that way.  I know they didn’t do it because no one did.  Miss Cut-up just threw herself into our pool for some kind of final fuck-you farewell."

"Why would she do that, B?", Alice had refocused her attention on Bette.

"Who knows why – you saw her script – her logic circuits were blown long ago.  In fact, the only lesbian I know with a smaller left-brain is that exec producer that works up in Canada."

Just then they were interrupted by the desk sergeant, "Ms. Porter, would you come over here please?"

No one spoke as Bette strode to the desk. "Yes, Sergeant?".

"Your partner has been out of the interrogation chamber for some time.  It seems she had information about another crime, one that occured out-of-state,  and our detectives wanted to get a full statement before she left.  Now Ms Kennard is talking to the police chaplain in her office, but I’m assured she will be returning to you shortly." 

They’d all been paying attention to the front desk, so they didn’t notice the glass door to the hall open until Sgt. Duffy walked into the waiting area, with Shane and Helena close behind. She turned her head to acknowledge all of them and said simply, "Thank you for your cooperation.  You’re free to go." 

That loosened all their tongues at once.

Shane: "Finallyl"
Helena: "Thank God"
Alice: "Hey guys… Wait, what?"
Kit: "Let’s roll!"
Nikki: "Who confessed?"
Bette: "Why? And where’s Tina?"

At that Sgt. Duffy turned toward Bette.  "Well, Ms. Porter, it looks like your renovation saved the day.  We got a call from the on-site officer when they talked to Ms. W., your contractor, when she returned an hour ago to fix your railing.  It seems she showed the officers a security camera that her crew had installed last week, the one overlooking your backyard."

 Bette looked at Kit and shrugged her shoulders.

Sgt. Duffy continued, "The tape from earlier tonight shows Ms. Schecter alone by the edge of your pool, dangling her feet in the water while petting a dog.  Then in the next frames she stops moving and slowly topples over into the water."  

She paused for a moment to refer to the paper in her hand, "After viewing this, a call was made to the coroner’s office where he confirmed that her preliminary blood workup showed no toxins, and so he put her body through the MRI for an initial reading, and the scanner revealed a ruptured brain aneurysm.  It was a pre-existing condition, and there was nothing anyone could have done to save her."

At this Sgt Duffy looks up again, "I’m sorry."

Everyone silently absorbs this, until Bette then repeats, "But where’s T…"

"Speak of the devil!" blurts Kit as the glass door opens once again, revealing Tasha, wearing her cadet ID,  escorting Tina back to the waiting room.

"Tina!", and  "Tasha!", accompanied relieved hugs all around.

Then Bette pulled Tina aside, but before Bette could speak Tina said, "I’ve got something I need to tell you later, Babe.  But for now I just want to go home and curl up in bed with you." 

Without a word Bette pulled Tina to her for a nice, solid kiss, and then grabbed Tina’s hand and headed for the door. 

But as she paused for just a second to open it, the others could clearly hear her say:

 "And guess what, T?… The railing’s fixed!"   (THE END)