Arrest

Anna knocks on the kitchen table. "We're agreed then. Given Antero is out and Sam is in charge, we can void the termination of the contract and continue working as if the ambush meeting never happened. Good. I'll let Sam know at once."

She goes to her own office, and dials on her phone. "Hi, Sam, we've discussed the situation. We're happy to cancel the termination of our contract, and continue as if nothing had happened. Is that OK with you?"

"Yes! Thank you."

"However, I'm sure you'll understand if we will find it hard to collaborate with Anders in the future. We feel he destroyed any trust we had in him. When it comes to technical things, he's good, we agree with that, but without mutual trust there's no basis for working together."

"I understand. I'm afraid I don't have a legal basis to fire him, but I can move him away from the new platform project and give him something else to do. Is that acceptable to you?

"Sure. Thank you."

Robin types frantically on IRC. "I just read in the news about Antero's arrest. Here's a link. I'll be in the kitchen if anyone else wants to discuss this."

She stands up, picks up her phone, and goes to the kitchen. She puts the kettle on, discussing worrisome things is always more pleasant with tea.

Andy, Bert, and Nina stroll in. Anna is away for the day, running personal errands. Robin pours tea for everyone. Andy pick up his mug and sits down. "Fraud, eh?"

Robin nods. "Not entirely surprising, given how he wanted to replace an existing subcontractor just to bring in his buddies. That's not an honest thing to do and, well, wherever someone's doing something fishy, it's not unusual for them to do other fishy things as well."

Bert smiles. "Yeah, just like in code. Where there's one bug, there's probably more."

Andy clears his throat. "I'm not surprised, but I find the way he was caught to also be suspicious. Why would he have printed all those incriminating documents?"

"The paper said he claims an intrusion into SmartHome systems." Bert shrugs and looks into his mug. "Doesn't sound very likely either, though."

"The documents seem to be real, though." Robin sips some tea. "Maybe they have a whistle blower. The Smart Home IT people say they're sure there wasn't an intrusion."

Nina laughs briefly. "As if they would know."

The office doorbell rings. Robin looks around. "Anyone expecting visitors?" Everybody shakes their head. Robin gets up and goes to open the door. Two men in civilian clothes and two in police uniforms stand outside.

"Good morning, ma'm. I'm detective Lax. Is Nina Nirvi here? We are looking for her."

Robin tilts her head. "Yes she is. May I ask what this is about?"

"We have a warrant for her arrest. Let us in, please."

The police start walking at Robin, who decides to step aside, and then closes the door after everyone is in. She shouts, "Nina! The police are here to arrest you."

The detectives look at her crossly, but before they have time to say anything, Nina pokes her head through the kitchen door. "Arrest me? Whatever for?"

The older detective, a rotund man with gray heir and several days' worth of gray stubble, turns towards Nina. "Are you Nina?"

"Yes I am. Who are you?"

"I'm detective Lax. I have a warrant for your arrest on suspicion of computer intrusion at the Smart Home office the day before yesterday. Where were you in the evening that day and can anyone corroborate?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you have an alibi?"

"Wait, what? Why would it matter where I was when the intrusion happened?"

"Just answer the question, miss."

"No, I don't have an alibi. Robin, can you help me get a lawyer, please?"

"Of course." She takes out her phone and aims its camera at the police officers. "Smile! I'm taking a photo so that the lawyer can identify you later." The phone makes a shutter sound.

The older detective turns towards her. His face is contorted. "Hey! You can't do that! Delete the photo at once!" He tries to grab the phone from Robin. The younger detective puts his hand on the older one's shoulder. "Sir, I don't think you can demand that. We don't have the authority to do that."

"Damn these times. When I was young..." He stops abruptly in the middle of the sentence. The younger detective turns to Nina. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with use to the station now, miss. Do you need a jacket or something?"

"I'll come along. I'll be just a minute to get my coat. Robin, send the lawyer to the station, please. I'll leave my bag here."

The younger detective shakes his head. "We'll have to take the bag with us, too, as evidence. And your phone and laptop."

"As the person currently in charge at the office, I'll have to have a receipt for the laptop. It's owned by the company." Robin is standing with her hand in her pocket, with her phone.

The receipt is made. Nina is taken away with her stuff.

"Right. That was fun." Robin scratches her head. "I don't understand why they'd suspect Nina, though. Oh well. I'll let Anna know and we'll get Nina a lawyer."

"Should we take Nina a care package?" Bert smiles. "A cake with a file would be traditional."

"Let's see what happens, first. Maybe they just want to question her and won't keep her overnight. Don't see why they would. It's not like she's suspected of anything violent."

"All right then, miss. Where were you the day before last, in the evening, from 18 onward?" The older detective is standing at the table in the interrogation room, leaning on his fists on the table. Nina is sitting in a chair, and the younger detective is also sitting, across from Nina.

"Lawyer first. I'm not answering any questions until I have my lawyer present."

"What do you have to hide?"

Nina just looks blankly at the old man. He looks back, his face getting more red.

"You're behaving like a guilty person."

Nina continues to look, being impassive.

"We opened your laptop. There was green text on a black background, for about a second, before the screen locked itself. What's the password for unlocking it?"

Nina doesn't move a muscle.

"Do you know suspicious that is? The whole laptop smells of a hacker. The screen colors alone show it's used by a criminal, but also all the stickers. What's EFF? I did a search. They look like some sort of pirate group. And there's a sticker for the Pirate party as well. I would not be surprised if there's illegally copied software, viruses, and child porn on the laptop. You young people think you're smarter than anyone, and are always involved with that kind of shit. No respect for authority."

Nina doesn't react.

"What's the password?"

The detective hits the table with his fist. "Dammit, girl. We can prove you're a criminal. Only criminal hackers have green text on a black background. We'll jail you if you don't give the password. Now!"

Nina tilts her head to the side. "Lawyer."

"You did the right thing, not answering any questions without me, Nina. I wish all my clients did that." A balding, athletic man in his forties wearing a dark suit with a yellow tie sits across the table from Nina. They're in the same interrogation room, but alone.

"Thanks. Now what happens?" Nina drinks a little from a glass of water on the table.

"We're going to have to answer some questions, but before we do, here's what I know so far. The police don't seem to have any actual evidence to implicate you. They suspect you only because the staff at Smart Home told them about the stunt you pulled in that first meeting with them."

"What? That was ages ago."

"Indeed. However, I have to ask, under client-attorney privilege, so that I can form the right strategy. Did you break into Smart Home's computers the day before yesterday?"

Nina doesn't hesitate. "No."

"Good. Then I'll work on the basis that you're innocent, and that the police need to be convinced that you are. If you weren't, my strategy would be to avoid you going to jail, or avoid you getting convicted, or at least you getting a small a punishment as possible."

"I'd really like to have a criminal record."

"Of course. And there's no reason why you should get any record from this thing. Like I said, there seems to be no evidence against you. In fact, the Smart Home IT people are saying there hasn't been any intrusion. They think you're a bit of an arrogant poophead, but they changed the wifi password after your stunt, so it can't have been you, this time."

"What do the police have? Do they have anything at all?"

"No. They heard about your stunt, and they find it hard to believe that Antero's computer would've printed all those documents by itself. Frankly, so do I."

"Yeah, it'd be a weird bug. But given how incompetent Antero is with computers, maybe he printed them by mistake and didn't realize?"

"Ho hum. I may suggest that to the detective."

"The detective is an incompetent idiot as well. Especially about computers."

"I don't disagree. I've dealt with him before. What did he do this time?"

"He says my using green on black terminal windows is proof that I'm a criminal."

"What? Not again. Okay, if he's that desperate, I'll have you out in an hour or so."

The Team's kitchen is filled with laughter and empty pizza boxes.

"What a dunderhead!" Bert is trying to eat his last slice, but is laughing too hard to be able to take a bit of the slice flopping in her hand, in front of his face.

"I would not believe it myself, but I did some searching." Andy is smiling, but happily takes the last bite and wipes his hands with a napkin. "It's not the first time the police thinks terminal colors is proof of being a criminal. Campus police in the US arrested a student on that basis some years ago."

"No, really?" Robin has almost a whole slice left. "I have trouble believing how stupid humanity is, sometimes."

"I'm happy they let you go, Nina." Anna is more serious than the others. "I wish they'd dropped all charges, but they wouldn't. They're continuing the investigation."

Nina wipes her lips. "Yeah, the lawyer said, but he's sure they'll have to drop the charges later, since there's no actual evidence. Not against me, and not even that a crime has been committed."