"We have Tam in an office right down the hall here," Detective Tumalo said. "I'm going to ask you all to not interact with Tam at all. If you have questions, ask me. She can't really say anything at the moment anyway..."
The detective led Charity, Hope and Metolius down the hall to a door that looked very much like the entrance to a holding cell. The detective opened the door and stepped into a medium sized room with no windows. A pull-down cot was attached to the far wall, and Tam was laying on it facing away from the door. When she heard the group walk into the room she slowly turned over and struggled to sit up. She wasn't using her arms to help herself up. Upon closer examination Charity understood why.
"Wow!" Metolius said quietly.
Both of Tam's lips, top and bottom had been pierced multiple times and each hole bore a thick solid ring. The piercings were staggered so that, with Tam's mouth fully closed, the rings seated together like a zipper. A thin chain had been passed through all the rings. Each end of this chain was terminated in a large chromium ball, perhaps two inches in diameter. The chain was long enough so that the spheres dangled just below Tam's chin on each side. Would have dangled, that is.
The balls must have been somewhat heavy, because Tam was supporting their weight, one in each hand. With the chain under tension, there was no way for Tam to open her mouth. Apparently, though, the chromium balls were heavy enough to do more than simply apply tension to the chain. Could her lips take the full weight of the two balls? Tam's eyes look tired and bloodshot and she grunted in anger when she saw Charity.
"All the metal that was used is particularly hard. We tried to use wire cutters," the detective held up the tool. The blades each had a divet - their metal strength less than the jewelry chains. "Someone's gone to the vehicle impound yard to get some bolt cutters."
"I'm really sorry, Tam," Charity said. "Did she see the person who did this? Did they take her somewhere to do this that she would rec... recog... remember?"
"Mmm! Mmmm mmm mm!" Tam tried to say, pointing at Charity.
"Um... Here's a statement that she typed out for us this morning," the detective said, handing a piece of paper to Metolius, but looking curiously at Charity.
Charity looked over her shoulder and read the brief passage:
"I went to bed at home. I awoke in a small room with white walls and no apparent door. I was strapped in a gynecological chair. I lay there for hours it seemed, yelling, but no one ever came into the room. Then I woke up again. A mirror was mounted over my face and I could see that my lips had been pierced. I couldn't open my mouth. I felt pain from being tattooed. I fell asleep again and woke up back in my bed at home this morning. Five days had passed."
"A tattoo?" Charity asked.
Tam twisted so that her back was to the group. The detective pulled up her shirt a little. Tam had a freshly inked tramp stamp - words that simply said, "never say blue again".
"So, I'm curious, Detective Tumalo, why you have called my client into the station today," Metolius said. "This is tragic, but I'm not sure what this has to do with Ms McKenzie."
"Actually," the detective replied, "I'm more interested in Ms. McKenzie's friend here. Er... Hope. I want to compare Tam's rings with Hope's piercings. The metal is fairly unique. Is the same metal used in each woman?" Tumalo looked at Charity. "Can she take any of her rings out? Can I look at one?"
"Um... We can ask," Charity said. "She wants to look at your rings." Charity pointed to her eyes and then motioned like she was pushing up her sleeve and pointed at Hope.
Hope wrapped her hand defensively around the cuff of her hoodie. She glanced at the detective. "Bithh?"
"Uh... yes... the detective wants to look," Charity said. "It's OK. No touch. No touch."
Reluctantly, Hope pushed her sleeve up, revealing her thin, heavily tattooed arm just beyond her metal wrist cuffs. There were a series of piercings leading up along the bottom inside of her forearm. A chain looped from one piercing to the next, each loop slightly bigger than the previous one.
Metolius had never really looked at Hope before, but now she stared with her mouth hanging open.
Hope noticed Metolius's reaction. "Hoooo-ey thit!"
Metolius snapped out of her trance and let go a nervous laugh. "That's what I was going to say."
"Those rings look very similar," Tumalo said. "But, if those rings are seamless, could I... uh... snip off a sample perhaps? We could study it in the lab."
Charity grabbed Hope's sleeve and pulled it back down to cover her arm, "Oh! Fuck no! Don't even fucking think about touching her!"
The detective held up her hands defensively, "OK, OK. I had to ask. Uh... I see that you have piercings in your ears, Charity - and they look fairly normal - do you have any other piercings?"
"What?!" Charity asked. "Do I have to answer that question, Metolius?"
"So, you do have other piercings," the detective said. "I'd like to compare them to Tam's and Hope's."
Charity stared at Metolius for a second. Then she quickly glanced down towards her crotch and back up. After all she DID have a triangle piercing through the lower part of her clitoral hood, but it was currently locked behind her chastity belt.
Metolius looked down at Charity's crotch. "Oh! Yeah! No! No! My client does not need to answer that question."
"Ok, then," Tumalo said. "If you are wearing jewelry somewhere on your body, perhaps you could take it off in private and bring the jewelry to me to look at." No one said anything for a few seconds. "Unless what you are wearing is permanent..." Charity looked at Metolius who seemed to be struggling for something to say. So, Tumalo continued her thought: "...just like Hope's jewelry... and, apparently, Tam's."
"I'm not sure," Metolius finally said, "how my client's jewelry collection or lack thereof is pertinent to Tam's assault or Blue's disappearance. My client has no such jewelry that she could present to you at this time."