The officer named Murphy led the three prisoners up the long stone steps and into the police station, each one with their hands in cuffs behind their backs and disgruntled looks on their faces as if they could not believe this peewee of a police officer had bested them. Murphy's face was smug, and his red hair flew in every direction as he opened the door and led them in, with one hand resting cockily on his holstered gun.
"Well, it looks like the public school kid caught himself some fish tonight!" A large man with a double chin said, coming over and eyeing Maverick, Tony, and Daisy with a look of approval.
"Did you do it all yourself, or did you get your mommy and daddy to help?" he said to Murphy with a sadistic grin on his face.
Murphy growled in a very Dodge-like way, but he kept walking past the man without saying a word. Tony had reminded Dodge right before they entered the police station that she probably didn't sound anything like this Murphy guy, so she should say as little as possible. It looked like a more difficult request than Tony had anticipated, and he held his breath as they passed the large man, hoping he wouldn't feel inclined to harass Murphey anymore.
"Don't throw a tantrum, pip squeak, it was only a joke," The large man said to Murphy's back as he went by. Dodge stopped, tightening her hand on the gun that was at her side for a moment before relaxing and walking on without replying. Tony exhaled in relief and went through the door she held open for them all, raising his eyebrows at her as he passed, which made her shrug almost imperceptibly.
"That was close," Daisy said, sounding relieved as the door clicked shut behind them.
"Hey, there ain't no reason for Kentucky Fried Chicken man to pick on Murphey just because he's young. Ain 't nothin wrong with being young. Why doesn't he pick on him for having hair the color of a fire hydrant? Or being so skinny you practically can't see him when he turns sideways."
"Yeah…I don't think those insults are any better," Daisy said.
"I'm just sayin, man needs to look in the mirror before he throws shade like that," Dodge said, making Murphy's large forehead wrinkle into a frown, "now which way are we goin'?"
"My contact said we could follow this hallway down to a stair ca…" Maverick had started to say when a female police officer came around the corner and walked over to them.
"Well done, Murphey! Captain will be proud of you; he's been waiting to see you show some initiative. Now, why are they standing in the hallway? Get them to processing before you get a citation," She said in an almost motherly way, which made Tony question the professionalism of this unit.
Dodge hesitated, not knowing which way to take them, until Maverick began to subtly point from behind the female officer's back at a sign that was clearly visible a little ways down the hall that said processing. The thought occurred to Tony as they followed Murphey down the hallway that maybe Dodge couldn't read, which would be ironic since she owned a bookstore.
The processing area was a small cell with glass windows and a partitioned desk, which was currently empty. Dodge led them towards the cell, and once they were inside, she shut the door, looking through the glass at their faces as though she had no idea what to do next.
"This is a disaster," Daisy muttered under her breath to the others, who did not bother to contradict her. The female police officer had followed them into the room and was watching Murphey very closely as if she were reviewing his performance as he worked.
"Very good, Murphey, now what's next?" She asked him.
Murphy looked panicked, and Tony thought for a second that Dodge was about to say something when a short, round man leaned his head into the room and said, "Sargent Warf? The Captain needs to see you for a moment."
Sergeant Warf sighed and turned back to Murphy, "Alright, Murphy, you book them in, I'll be back in a few minutes to double check your work," she said before walking out. Murphey opened his mouth to speak when the sergeant's head leaned back into the room, and she said, "Oh, and Murphey? Don't forget to fingerprint them this time," Before leaving again.
Dodge let out one long and loud burp as soon as the door had clicked shut.
"It's a stress burp. This is getting too crazy, you guys realize we are in a police station right now?" red headed dodge said, running over and opening the door to the cell so they could all come out.
"Is that just sinking in for you?" Daisy asked her incredulously.
"Well, sort of, I mean, I don't really like the police," Murphy said nervously.
"The faster we find Lucy and Bali, the faster we can get out of here," Tony said to her as he took his handcuffs off and tossed them back inside the cell. Everyone else did the same, and they ran to the door, letting Murphey stick his head out first to make sure the hallway was empty.
"I'll lead from here," Maverick said, running swiftly ahead of the others and down the hallway to the staircase. The police station was rather large, and according to Maverick's connection, they had to keep going down.
"How has there been a catacombs beneath the police station this whole time?" Daisy asked as they descended the winding staircase.
"The police station is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It belongs to the Windermere family and was donated for police use, but they still maintain the rights. It sounds like the catacombs were built at the same time as the building and were legally considered Windermere property. The blueprints and plans are legally bound to the Windermere family, so they have been made public," Maverick said as they descended past another level of the police station.
"Great, so not only could we get arrested, but we could get sued by this Windermere family?" Daisy asked.
"Pretty much," Maverick replied.
The staircase ended suddenly, and the four of them found themselves in a small landing with nothing surrounding them but blank walls. No exit sign or floor number, and no indication that there was anywhere to go from there but back up the way they had come. Maverick walked around the room, putting his hands and ear to the wall, knocking every couple of feet, and listening to the sound. After a quarter of a turn around the room, the knock sounded more hollow.
"How does it open?" Tony asked him, looking for a seam in the wall.
"Open sesame street!" Dodge practically screamed while pushing against the wall, his orange hair flopping around from the exertion.
"Dodge, do you really think open sesame street is the password?" Daisy asked her.
"You never know," She replied, stepping back with a huff.
"Maybe it's alohomora," Daisy said in a clearly sarcastic tone, which Dodge seemed to miss entirely.
"Alohomora," Dodge said, hands outstretched before her as though she were opening the door through some inner power. Nothing happened, and Daisy stared at Dodge, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.
"You guys done?" Tony said impatiently, "We've got some ladies to save, or did you forget?"
"Sorry," Daisy replied sheepishly, shooting an annoyed look at dodge who stuck her tongue out in response.
"What do you think, Mav?" Tony asked the older man who had stood back and was staring at the wall with a frown.
"My contact didn't mention a hidden doorway."
"Why don't you as…" Tony had started to say, but he was cut short by the sound of voices coming down the staircase behind them. As one, they all looked up and then at each other, and then, without a word between them, they hurried to hide behind the staircase as the voices drew closer, and then two sets of feet could be seen between the stairs.
"I've done my part; the order must now do theirs," One of the voices was saying as the two men above them paused on the stairs and faced each other.
"It isss true we have the girl, but until she diessss to her old life and livesss to a new one that embracessss darkness, your job captain isss not done," The one who was clearly a witch replied, silkily.
"That was not the agreement!" The captain replied angrily.
"sssseee the job through, find the onessss with powersss you let escape, or we will make sure you do not keep the title you ssssooo love, don't forget we gave your job and we can take it away!" The witch said in a low tone that was almost a growl, and then he turned and walked down the stairs, leaving the captain standing alone. The captain stared after the witch for a moment and then turned abruptly on his heels and marched back up the stairs.
The four crouched low behind the staircase, watching the witch through the stairs as he went to the same wall they had all gathered around just moments before and knelt down on the floor, blocking their view of what he was doing with his hunched-over back. After a moment he stood and a seam formed in the wall that was in the shape of a door, it swung open on silent hinges and the witch walked through it without looking back, as the door began to swing shut again Tony slipped silently from behind the staircase, keeping close to the wall and then just as the door was about to slip seamlessly back into the wall he stuck out his hand, catching the door before it could close.
"Nice," Dodge murmured, followed by a loud burp as the rest of them came out from behind the staircase.
"Seriously, Murphy, that is really unprofessional," Daisy said to Dodge, who was the last to reach the hidden door.
"can't help it, I'm stressed," The red head replied.
"Well, you can go back if you want to, but I wouldn't want to be in Murphy's shoes when Sargent Warf discovers an empty cell in processing," Daisy replied with a smirk.
Dodge looked thoughtful for a moment as if she were considering the odds of getting out of the police station by going back, and then Murphey frowned and shook his head, and Dodge said, "nah, ain't worth it. I'll stay with you fools."
Tony opened the door a crack, peeked in, and then opened it all the way, stuck his head inside, and looked around. It was a dark tunnel, with a low ceiling, and it went at an angle downwards, sloping to the right so that he could not see where it led.
"Ready?" Maverick asked him as he stepped past him into the dark tunnel.
"Ready as I'll never be," Tony said with a smile, and then together they all went through the door, letting it click silently behind them, shutting out the light and the noise and leaving them in the dark with nothing but the occasional burp from Dodge to fill the silence.