Free Blue Like Friday by Siobhan Parkinson

thought I didn’t seem to be the kind of person who knows people who get arrested (which is true), but she went off and came back with a sheaf of papers.
    â€œI have no record of anyone of that name,” she said, wrinkling her nose in puzzlement.

    That was a relief.
    â€œYou mean, he hasn’t been brought here?” I said.
    â€œNo, I mean he hasn’t been arrested this morning at all. He’s not on our list. That kind of information is instantly available, you know.”
    â€œReally?” I said faintly.
    â€œOh yes. We have the latest technology.”
    â€œOh!” I said. “Well, thank you, guard.”
    That was good news. It didn’t explain what had happened, but at least we hadn’t got a person arrested for nothing. I bounced out to where Hal was sitting on a wall outside the station.
    â€œHe’s not here,” I said.
    â€œDoes that mean he hasn’t got here yet?”
    â€œNo, it means he hasn’t been arrested.”
    â€œOh well,” said Hal. He stood down from the wall and dusted his hands smartly together. “Well, now we know.”
    â€œThanks for asking, Olivia,” I said. “You are a fine friend, and I owe you a big favor.”
    â€œWho are you talking to?” Hal said.
    â€œMyself,” I said.
    â€œYou’re nuts,” said Hal.
    I sighed. “I must be,” I said. “OK, then, what now? And do NOT mention that kite, Hal King, or I will … Oh! Hal! ” I shrieked.
    It was using Hal’s full name that made me realize what an idiot I’d been.
    â€œWhat?” he asked. “What, what? What’s wrong?”

    â€œNo, nothing’s wrong,” I said, “or maybe it is. Oh no!”
    â€œOlivia, could you please talk sense?” Hal pleaded.
    â€œI’ve just realized,” I said. “I used the wrong name in the Garda station. I asked for Alec King, not Alec Denham. I keep forgetting he doesn’t have the same name as you—remember, I couldn’t think what to call your mother on the phone? Gee, that was dead embarrassing, did you notice?”
    â€œSo …”
    â€œSo,” I said, “we are none the wiser. He might have been arrested after all. Oh, Hal. Sorry.”
    I felt such a dumb-cluck, and I really didn’t fancy the idea of going back in there and explaining myself, no matter how nice the policewoman had been.
    â€œWill you come in with me this time?” I asked Hal. “Please?”
    He nodded.
    So the two of us stumbled into the reception area and rang the bell again, and after the usual delay, out came my friend.
    â€œI … er, I made a mistake the last time,” I said, grinning dementedly at her in the hope of making her think I was a sweet child that she should be nice to.
    â€œOh?” she said, and she took a pencil from behind her head. She had her hair held up with it, I think, because it all came tumbling around her shoulders when she took the pencil out. She tapped her front tooth with the blunt end. “What kind of a mistake?”

    She had a nice face. With her hair down, she looked quite young. Well, I mean, she still looked like an adult, but as if she hadn’t been one all that long. She probably didn’t think I was a sweet child, but she looked as if she might be sound.
    â€œA name mistake,” I said.
    â€œLet me get this straight,” she said, and she tapped her tooth again. Then she turned the business end of the pencil toward me, as if I was a chart she wanted to point something out on. “You came in here to ask about an arrest, and you didn’t even know the name of the arrested person? Alleged arrested person.”
    She poked the pencil toward me in an unnecessarily menacing way.
    â€œThat’s … well, I did know. I just …”
    â€œYou know, we can’t be handing out information about arrests to just anyone. It’d have to be a person with a genuine