"Now," Officer MacRae began as we took seats in his office, "I need for you to tell me everything that happened today in Central Park. Be careful not to add to or subtract from the entire truth or you will be arrested and placed in jail."

Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, I carefully re-told every detail of the morning's happenings beginning with my sitting down against the tree and leading up to when Officer MacRae had taken me to the station. When I was finished, he nodded gravely. What he said next wasn't something I hadn't expected, but it terrified me nonetheless.

"Miss McCartney, you'll be the first to testify tomorrow morning at the trial."

I paled. "D-do I have to speak to all those people?"

"Well, yes, that's part of it," MacRae answered.

Sighing audibly, I said, "Faith, if it will prove Jack's guilt, I ought not be frightened to do it."

"Now, I need you to tell me exactly where I can find this Jack."

"Duane Street. You'll be finding him residing in the newsboys lodging house. He goes by the name Jack Kelly. Usually, the others at the house will cover for him if the law comes looking, so you may need to do some searching instead of asking. He'll be wearing a red bandana, and a cowboy hat will be hanging from around his neck." I described Jack's looks carefully so that the policeman could write down every detail.

When he was done, MacRae looked up at me. "Thank you. Now, you must get some rest. I'll wake you at dawn."

Shakily, I got up and left the office. The next day was the "moment of truth", so to speak. Getting Marconi off the hook rested on my shoulders, and I was terrified. If I couldn't help him, McCain would either personally kill me or see to it that I was killed.

Making my way to a vacant cell at the front of the corridor, I lay down on the cot and tried to sleep. Finally realizing that I would never be able to sleep, I knelt down on the floor and bowed my head in prayer. I felt that the only way I would ever be able to help Marconi was with extra help from the heavens.

I don't know how long I knelt there, asking God to help me the following day, but when I finally raised my head and opened my eyes, all the lights in the station had been turned out and the only noises to be heard were the droplets of water splashing on the hard floor from leaks in the ceiling. Sighing, I stood up and stretched.

Not yet sleepy, I exited the cell and headed down the hallway to see if McCain was still awake. Peeking into her cell, I squinted and saw that she was sprawled out on the floor, resting on her broken arm. Shaking my head, I thought, That arm will surely be painful in the morning.

Next I looked in on Marconi. He was leaned up against the wall in a sitting position, sleeping soundly. Deciding that it would be unwise to wake either of them, I headed back to my cell and lay back down on the cot.

Hours passed, and still no sleep. I knew not how late, or how early, it was, but as I finally began to grow a little groggy, I heard the front door of the police station swing open and hit the wall.

"C'mon, Kelly," I heard MacRae urge, "let's put you where you belong. You three, wait here."

He's got Jack. I was curious as to who "you three" were, but I decided to close my eyes in false slumber as MacRae led Jack down the hall to a cell.

"MCCARTNEY!" Jack roared, breaking away from MacRae and bursting through the open door of my cell, roughly jerking me off the cot.

Terrified, I screamed and tried to break away from Jack, but he slung me against the wall before MacRae restrained him by twisting an arm behind his back and taking him down hard. "Get out, girl! Go!" MacRae urged.

Dizzy, I picked myself up off the ground and ran out of the cell, tears streaming down my face. It was then that I heard a familiar voice.

"Monkey?"

It was coming from the lobby. Holding onto the wall so that the floor wouldn't fall out from under me, I made my way up to the lobby to see three people whom I had never expected to see again. Twiggy Townsend, Cheater Molloy, and Mush Meyers stood beside the front door of the police station.

Tears in her eyes, Twiggy came up to me and wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. Startled, I stood there as Cheater and Mush hugged me, also.

Everything had happened so fast. All I could choke out was, "Why?"

"Monk...we wanna help you," Cheater said.

"Thank you," I allowed, "but how can you possibly help me?"

I wished that they had come earlier; it was still painful that they hadn't spoken up for us back at the lodging house.

"We can help you prove that Jack's guilty," Mush said. Cheater and Twiggy nodded their agreement.

With hurt, panic, and fear clear in my voice, I told them, "I wish that were so. But it is on my hands if I can't prove Greyson's innocence at the trial tomorrow."