Billy sat in the interrogation room, relaxed and calm. He was used to being questioned by the cops. He lived his life on the border of the law and this was the price you paid for that. He did enough snitching to get away with his petty crimes and he didn't commit any really serious crimes. Most petty theft to pawn so he could pay his rent. He ate at soup kitchens and what he stole from bodegas.

The detective who came in was new to this precinct. He had been transferred for what his superiors called “unproductive interrogation techniques”. He wasn't violent, he was incompetent. He got passed from precinct to precinct.

Billy was given to him as sort of a housewarming gift. Normally, a cop won't ever give up his snitch. Billy, though, snitched to patrol cops, detectives and the FBI. He'd have snitched to Homeland Security if he'd ever had anything they wanted. He was sort of the precinct snitch.

The detective asked Billy what his name was. He wanted to start off with something simple to feel this snitch out.

“Billy Boyd”, Billy told him.

The detective looked at Billy with a frown. He looked at the file in front of him and his frown got deeper. He started to get red in the face. He hated little thieves and snitches like this guy. He'd use them but had no respect for them.

“Billy Boyd? Your rap sheet says your name is William Christopher Boyd. It doesn't list 'Billy' as an a.k.a. How do you explain that?”, the big detective asked Billy. The detective seemed genuinely puzzled. He wasn't. He thought that this guy was a liar. He hated being lied to.

A.K.A? Billy didn't have an a.k.a. He was just Billy Boyd. As a kid he was called Butthead Billy but that went away. Some people called him Billy the Snitch because he was one. The cops didn't have anything listed as an a.k.a.

“Huh? Well, yea, my name is William Christopher Boyd but-”, Billy started to explain.

What's with this guy? Billy was a normal enough nickname for William. Is this some new interrogation technique? If it was, it sucked.

“No buts about it. I asked you your name and you say,'Billy'. Then you say its William Christopher. This is no way to get started. You start right off by lyin' to me. I don't like that”, the detective said.

The detective always wanted the truth and seldom got it. Still, he always expected it, mo matter how many times he was disappointed.

“I wasn't lying, I-”, Billy attempted.

“Weren't lying? I ask a question and get two different answers. That's lying unless you're sayin' you didn't give me two different answers. In which case, you're saying I'm lying. You sayin' I'm the liar here!”.

No! The last thing Billy wanted was to make this personal. Billy barely stayed out of jail as it was, He didn't need some cop starting a personal vendetta. He suspected that this cop was crazy. No, not crazy, demented or, at least, unbalanced.

“No, sir, I'm not saying you're a liar but-”

“Here we go again with but. There ain't no buts about it. Either you're lyin' or I'm lyin'. Which is it?”

Catch 22. Now what could Billy say? He figured he was going to be up the creek no matter what he said.

“I was a little confused-”, Billy began to answer.

The detective interrupted him. “Confused? By your name? You must have been a real riot growin' up, not being sure about your own name”.

“I want a lawyer. I know my rights”, Billy finally told him. One thing Billy knew was his rights. It was his rights that overrode his wrongs. He's had enough of this crap

“No”.

“Huh? I have the right to remain silent and to have a lawyer. You ain't got no choice!”, Billy yelled. Good God, didn't this know about his Miranda rights?

“Yea, you do, if you were a suspect, which you aren't. You're a witness. So far, all you've done is answer one question and you lied to me. I could charge you with obstruction of justice or hindering an investigation, Then you'd be entitled to an attorney. That what you want?”

No, he didn't. That was serious jail time. The last thing he wanted was jail time with guys he snitched on.

“No. Ask me what you want. I'll cooperate, I promise”. He would too.

“I just want to know if you did anything or know of anyone who did. That's all I want”, the detective told him

“I didn't do anything, I promise”, Billy told him.

“Okay, I believe you”.

“So, I can go now, right?”, Billy asked.

“No”, the detective said.

“Why not?”