The hardest thing in the world at that moment was for Ion to not roll his eyes back and sigh. He held a poker face as Slither likely cost himself whatever chance Ion had bought for him to leave that day. While it was not a deposition, and Slither was therefore not under oath, this conversation could be introduced as evidence to paint Slither as a liar. Which he was, and a bad one at that.

Slither had said he’d known Ion for fifteen years. Which would make Ion fourteen and Slither ten. That could be believable, were Ion not a Texan who only came to the East coast for law school.

”Bet you both never thought you’d be in this situation on the playground, right?” The detective had turned to Ion.

Ion had only two choices. Dig and hope he hit China or let Slither eat it this time. The first option meant Ion would have to lie and hope Slither could keep up. Which wouldn’t happen. The second meant there was no way Slither would leave jail short of posting bail. An acceptable loss. Sacrificing Slither at that moment would not cost Ion a win at trial, which was his end game. Allowing Slither to fail when he reached too far might also teach him to think before he speaks, or not speak at all. And calling him on that lie might build credibility for Ion in that he isn’t just making something up for everything Slither says.

”That was a lie, Detective.” Ion turned to Slither, ”Francis. I can’t help you if you are just going to lie to the detective.” Returning his attention to the detective, ”I met Francis a few years back while he was losing a drinking contest. Yes, Francis, you were losing. You were just too drunk to realize it. Anyway, he seemed like the type to get drunk and wind up in a fight, which I was wrong about, but I told him I would take him on as a client pro bono.” New York State Bar Association requiring so much pro bono work. ”True to my word, when I heard he had been arrested I came. It may only be an oral contract, but there was a witness to it and I am a man of my word.”

Slither sat in his chair, stunned by the fact Ion had so immediately rebuked his story.

Ion just had to hope Slither had any sense in his head and would go with what Ion said. If he didn’t he would have to produce a witness to the oral contract. Not difficult, just another thing to do and it might put the brakes on Ion bailing out Slither in the meantime.

Slither but really want to be in a jail cell. As Jorge sat back in his seat, looking over the clearly panicking mutant, he began to wonder exactly what processes filtered through his tiny head. While he didn’t say anything out look, he could see that there was no way that Slither and the lawyer had known one another that long. The sheer shock on Slither’s face when Faraday had first entered the room was enough to draw that conclusion and Jorge was of the more observant variety. But he still didn’t say anything, other than a short little jab, as he wanted to see where the two of them would go with this.

Looking between the two, Jorge kept his expression neutral, for the most part, only slipping into the smallest and subtlest of smiles as he waited for them to make their move. He was certain that if both Faraday and Slither went with the story that they knew one another since they were in their preteens, that it would take some digging to verify that. He doubted it was true, but there was always the possibility.

To his surprise, however, the lawyer seemed set to kick the reptilian mutant under the bus...

>>”That was a lie, Detective...Francis. I can’t help you if you are just going to lie to the detective.”

Jorge looked at the lawyer. Then to Slither (who was shocked by this betrayal). After sizing the both of them up, Jorge let his eyes drift back down to his notepad where he wrote out a few more notes. To be honest part of him was ready to accept that Faraday was going to roll with this story but, if anything, this just aided the fact that Slither was a liar; not good with this case.

>>”I met Francis a few years back while he was losing a drinking contest. Yes, Francis, you were losing. You were just too drunk to realize it. Anyway, he seemed like the type to get drunk and wind up in a fight, which I was wrong about, but I told him I would take him on as a client pro bono...True to my word, when I heard he had been arrested I came. It may only be an oral contract, but there was a witness to it and I am a man of my word.”

”Hrm…” was all Jorge said.

With a sigh, he raised his head up to both Slither and Faraday. Slither seemed confused, frustrated, but most surprising of all was how quiet he was. He clearly didn’t want to say anything else wrong, despite the fact that Faraday didn’t back him up. Still, with the notion that there could be another killer (highly unlikely), Jorge needed to look in another direction -- if only for the time being. So, collecting his stuff, Jorge stood up, and tucked everything under his arm.

”Mr. Thibodeau, do make yourself comfortable.” He said. ”It’s going to be awhile.” Straightening up, he would leave the room and instruct an officer to send Slither back to the pen. The lie, and the admittance by the lawyer that it was one, was enough to hold him but only for now. There was another avenue that needed to be looked into but, in the meantime, Slither was still a suspect -- at least until the labs came back. Just before exiting the room, he glanced back to the lawyer. ”Faraday…” he said, his way of saying good-bye. Stepping out, he closed the door behind him and headed out. This was a long night...