Ariel meets Roger Rabbit

Chapter 4 Ariel meets Roger Rabbit

"Yeah. Must be tough." I said. "Look Cornell, the rabbit didn't kill acme. He's not a murderer. I should know. He's a dear friend of mine. I tell you Cornell, the whole thing stinks like yesterday's diapers. Look at this." Baby Herman said. He pulled out a newspaper and gave it to me. "The paper said acme left no will. That's a load of succotash. Every toon knows acme had a will. He promised to leave toontown to us toons. That will is the reason he got bumped off." Baby Herman said. "Has anybody ever seen this will?" I asked. "Uh, no. But he gave us his solemn oath." Baby Herman said. "If you believe that that joker could do anything solid, the gag's on you pal." I said. "I just figured, since you were the one who got my pal in trouble, you might want to help get him out. I can pay ya." Baby Herman said. "Save your money for a pair of elevator shoes." I said before pushing baby Herman down the hall. I sat down at my desk and started to read about it. "It ain't my fault the rabbit got himself in trouble. All I did was take a couple of lousy pictures." I said. When I looked back at the picture through my glass that I had a drink in I noticed something that I didn't notice before. I pulled out a magnifying glass and the pictures and found out that the one on the front page of the newspaper and one of the pictures I had were exactly the same. "Baby was right. The hell with it." I said before heading to bed. What I didn't know was that Roger Rabbit was in my bed. I took my shoes and watch off the laid down. I rolled over onto my side and came face to face with Roger Rabbit. We both screamed. "How the hell did you get in here?" I asked. "Through the mail slot. I thought it would be best if I waited inside, seeing's how I'm wanted for murder." Roger said. "No kidding. Just talking to you could get me a rap for aiding and abetting. Wait a minute. Anybody know your here?" I asked. "Nobody. Not a soul, except, uh--" Roger said. "Who?" I asked. "Well, you see, I didn't know where your house was. So I asked a newsboy. He didn't know. So I asked the fireman, the greengrocer, the butcher, the baker. They didn't know. But the liquor store guy, he knew." Roger said. "In order words, the whole damn town knows your here!" I said as I grabbed him by his ears and tried to kick him out. "Please Ariel, don't throw me out. You're making a big mistake. I didn't kill anybody. I swear! This whole thing's a setup, a scam, a frame job." Roger said as I started to pull him back. "Ariel I could never hurt anybody. My whole purpose... in... life... is... to... make... people... laugh." Roger said as I pulled him futher away from the door. We feel onto the ground and he jumped back onto the bed. "Okay, okay, sure, I admit it. I got a little steamed when you showed me those pictures of Jessica. So I rushed over to the ink and.." before he could finish I tried to tackle him to the ground but he jumped out of the way. "Paint club. But she wasn't in her dressing room. So I wrote her a love letter." Roger said. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're telling me, in a fit of jealousy, you wrote your wife a love letter?" I asked. "That's right. I know that she was just an innocent victim of circumstance." Roger Rabbit said. "I suppose you used the old lipstick-on-the-mirror routine, huh?" I asked. "Lipstick, yes. Mirror, no. I found a nice, clean piece of paper." Roger Rabbit said. Then he got the letter out and read it to me. "Why didn't you just leave the letter there?" I asked. "Obviously, a poem of this power and sensitivity must be read in person. So I went home to wait for her but the weasels were there waiting for me so I ran." Roger Rabbit said. "So why come to me? I'm the girl that took the pictures of your wife." I said. "Yeah. And you're also the girl that helped all these toons. Everybody knows when a toon's in trouble, there's only one place to go: Cornell and Cornell." Roger Rabbit said. "Not anymore." I said. Then I saw that Roger Rabbit was about to sit in my brother's chair. "Get outta that chair!" I shouted. Roger Rabbit took his hand off the chair. "That's my brother's chair." I said. "Yeah, where is your brother anyway? He looks like a sensitive and sober fellow." Roger Rabbit said. "That's it. I'm calling the cops." I said. "Go ahead. Call the cops. I come here for help, and what do you do? You turn me in. No, no. Don't feel guilty about me. So long and thanks for nothing." Roger Rabbit said as I started to call the cops. Instead of walking out he walked into the closet. "That's the closet!" I said. I hung up the phone and went to the closet. Roger Rabbit was in one of my jackets and hats. He grabbed my hand. "Ariel Cornell, your under arrest." Roger Rabbit said as he put a handcuff around my wrist. "Get outta there!" I said as I pulled him out. "Idiot. I got no keys for these cuffs." I said. Then we heard a siren and we went to the window to see what was going on. The weasels got out of their car. "Come on. Get the lead out. Move it, would ya? Move it!" Smartass said. Roger Rabbit screamed. "It's the toon patrol! Hide me Ariel! Please!" Roger Rabbit said. He went into my desk. "Remember, you never saw me." Roger Rabbit said. "Get outta there!" I said as I pulled him out. "Don't let them find me. Come on Ariel. You're my only hope." Roger Rabbit said. Then there was a knock at the door. "Open up in the name of the law." Smartass said. "Please Ariel. You know there's no justice for toons anymore. If the weasels get their hands on me, I'm as good as dipped." Roger Rabbit said. "Don't make us play rough Cornell. We just want the Rabbit." Smartass said. "What are we gonna do Ariel? What are we gonna do?" Roger Rabbit said. "What's all this we stuff? They just want the rabbit. Then the weasels used a machine gun on the door to get inside. "Looks like they gave us the slip, huh boss?" Greasy said.