Murder Over Easy

My wife,Sepia stood in the hallway, wearing only a black sheer slip...She had not yet put on her dress....She was talking on her cell phone as usual....I had on only a pair of khaki slacks and my house slippers..I grabbed her around the waist as she was talking and kissed her up and down her neck...

'Kevin..stopppp..." she giggled...I continued kissing her neck with my arms around her...she continued giggling...Whoever she was on the phone with got the message because they ended the conversation...I turned her towards me and pulled her to me and began kissing her while I squeezed one of her butt cheeks softly.... This would have continued and more than likely led to something but the doorbell rang. We slowly pulled apart from one another and I walked down the steps and answerd the door. It was Cock Robbins!

"Uhhhh,is this a bad time? " He asked.

'Huh, what?" I asked.

"Well, you don't have a shirt on, you're wearing a pair of trousers and your fly is open ." he remarked.

"What do you want Cock?" I said as I fixed my clothes.

"You gotta help me Kev....it's my player....Ramon Davis." he said. Cock Robbins had at one time been a semi professional football player with hopes of going to the pros...He worked out with the Eagles ,The Giants and the Patriots, but never got a permanant starting position. Now, he was married and coaching both High school and a Semi-Professional Football team in our area. His high school team was a perfect nine and oh..thanks to his explosive wide receiver...Ramon Davis. I had seen the kid work out...He had incredible speed and great hands.

"What about him Cock?" I said.

"He's in jail." he said.

"In Jail?" I said.

"Yeah..the cops picked him up this morning for killing some kid named Cross Rivers...Only,I know he didn't do it...He's a good kid Kevin...you seen him...."said Cock.

"Well what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Man, nose around...get some information that can free him...I know he didn't kill Cross Rivers."said Cock.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Cause I know that this is a good kid..." said Cock.

"Well first off...who is Cross Rivers?" I asked.

"Some guy....a student here...He was on the Wrestling team...I think he and Ramon were seeing the same girl...but I know Ramon Kev...He aint no killer." said Cock.

"Alright, relax..I'll look into it..but I can't promise you nothing man..all I'll say is that I'll look." I told him.

"Gee thank Kev...Look..here's one hundred dollars for expenses and a coupon for one free breakfast at Mabel's new restaraunt." he said.

I took the money and the coupon and I laughed to myself....Glad that most of my clients paid better.

Sepia and I had breakfast at Mabel's hot new restaraunt...Next to Josie's , this was the place to be seen in our neighborhood...Even Gus ,the bartender from Josie's ate there now. Mabel's cooking was legendary and her new place didn't disapoint. I had some Buttermilk Pancakes,Country Sausage and Maple syrup with a tumbler of Orange Juice and a tumbler of hot steaming coffee while Sepia had two eggs over easy and a hot tea with lemon.

"What did Cock want?" asked my wife.

"Ahhh,His wide receiver got locked up for murder and he doesn't think the kid did it..He wants me to look into it." I said.

"Who's he accused of killing?" asked Sepia.

"Some kid on the Wrestling team" I said.

"I bet it was over some girl." said Sepia as she drank her tea.

"Funny you would say that...How do you know?" I asked laughing.

"Two boys? It's always over some girl." she said matter of factly as she ate her eggs over easy. I just snickered and shook my head. Sepia was right though...This was definitely over a girl. The girl in question was one Renee' Jefferson. Once I got a look at this "girl" I could see what would drive two boys to kill for her. She was 17, but built like a woman at least five or six years older. She had curves on top of curves and a nice firm rack that was probably the envy of most grown women. She had incrediblely shaped legs and a beautifully almost unreal white smile...She was naturally a cheerleader and a very popular girl...The kind of girl I dreamed about in high school , but was way out of my league...Oh I understood, I understood perfectly.

Surprisingly,I found a number of students who were willing to talk to me freely,once they realized that I was not a cop. They told me that Ramon and Renee had been seeing each other almost from the day he arrived at the school as a transfer, but that prior to dating Ramon, She had dated Cross Rivers, the captain of the wrestling team. Cross wanted her back and he campaigned hard...and according to many of them...He and Ramon had come close to blows on more than one occassion over Renee'. That seemed to be motive enough for me. One thing I learned though....If you really want to know about a woman....especially a popular one...go ask her rival!! That rival was Lucy Dallas.

Lucy was a head turner herself....but not a cheerleader and not quite as ,let's say "worldly" as Renee'. She was more than willing to talk about Renee Jefferson. She and her girlfriends hated all of the cheerleaders. High School hadn't changed a bit!

"I couldn't stand her..I didn't like the way she played Ramon....Everybody knew she was screwing Cross Rivers behind his back. When she told him she was pregnant...I guess that was more than he could take." she said.

"Pregant??She's pregnant???" I said.

"Well, that's what she said...I don't know personally..but that's probably why Ramon lost his mind and shot Cross Rivers."she said. This put a decidedly different spin on things.

Well...Of course...the only thing to do was to question Renee herself...I couldn't go to her house..I had to question her while I was on the school grounds. I figured I'd better go to the Principal's office and let him know who I was and why I was here. The Principal was however less impressed with my credentials as both a journalist and a private detective than I thought he would be.

"Absolutely not...I will not allow you to question my students or bring any of this unpleasentnessup..The police have their suspect and the matter is closed" said Principal Harry Harkins, a tall brown skinned man, who dressed impeccably and looked a little like Billy Dee Williams when he was younger.

"Well sir, I believe there is more to it than what may appear....the young girl is rumored to be pregnant." I said.

His eyes got big-

"Pregnant???Is that what people are saying?" He said.

"Yes...that she was pregnant by either Cross Rivers or Ramon Davis." I said.

"Hmmmmm...well, okay, you can interview her..but after you do..I want you gone.Understand?"he said.

"Yes sir.but there may be more to this than-" I was interrupted.

"Gone or I'll call the police and have them look into YOU! " He said rather tersely.

He walked me to the class she was supposed to be in...but she wasn't there...I asked a few students if they had seen her, but none said they had. Then we heard a scream!! It was comingfrom the ladies dressing room in the gym area.

Harkins,Myself and three female teachers ran to the dressing room and laying on the bench in just a bra and panties with a belt wrapped around her neck was Renee Jefferson, very,very dead!

As a crowd gathered around...Principal Harkins looked at me-

"Happy now Mr. Morris? See what your nosing around has done? Gotten another one of my students killed...Happy now?" he said.

I didn't understand how he could turn on me all of sudden.....but one thing I did know...My investigation of one murder had turned into a double homicide!! and I wasn't about to just let this go.

(To Be Continued.....)