Hanky Panky

"You're Late...And if you were going to be late you should have called." screamed Rollie Rollerson.

"Rollie....I've never been late before....My god, it's not that deep." said Juanita Rawlins.

"See, that's your problem....nothing is that deep with you...I don't like to walk into these gala affairs
late....My time is valuable....I'm trying to teach you something, Trying to break you into a new way of life.." said Rollie.

"You know what? I'm tired of you talking down to me, making me feel like I'm beneath you and like you're doing me some big favor for being with you..I don't need this.." she screamed back...

"YOU DON'T NEED IT...I DON'T NEED YOUR LATENESS AND YOUR ATTITUDE GIRL!" he bellowed...

'Good...Then consider us done..Go find yourself another poor ghetto girl to rescue, you pompos
ape." she snarled..

"When I met you ,you were nothing....I was gonna give you the world..." he bellowed.

"Tell it to the plants man." she said.

Believe it or not, this was happening in my office...I just happened to be at work and those two were in the offices of Hype Magazine arguing. Sean Jackson looked at me and I just shook my head. I must admit...I didn't expect to ever see Juanita Rawlins again.

She did us all a solid in the days to come...She went to the police and gave them a credit card receipt and a hotel bill which ironically and surprisingly enough had their actual names on it.
Hers and James Cooley. A subsequant interview with Hotel employees proved that James Cooley was indeed at the hotel with her , when his wife was being murdered and that he was not at the scene. This and the capture of a man who had the actual murder weapon on him caused the D.A. to drop all charges against James Cooley.

My job looked to be done. The murder weapon , with fingerprints and DNA found at the scene of the crime implemented Houston Overton, who was formally charged with First Degree Murder. I knew that this case didn't end with him. He didn't know Rita Cooley personally and considering his profession...There was someone else pulling the strings here.

This led me to Henry "Hank" Woods, Successful Black Businessman. He owned a Grocery Co-Op in tony East Oak Lane....I talked to James Cooley and to Juanita Rawlins and neither of them had heard of him. Why would this man pay money to have James Cooley's wife killed?
More still, Why would he pay his bail money and secure a lawyer for him?

We found his Home and His Business....Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom bugged his home and his business and were keeping tight surveilance of his cell phone calls for close to a week... We were getting nothing. Clerow and I watched him and followed him around...Still nothing out of the ordinary...This man was no gangster....I couldn't figure him...Finnally, after two weeks..I decided to up the ante...I walked into his store with Clerow and approached him.

"Excuse me...are you Hank Woods? Of course you are.....I would like to have just a minute of your time sir." I said.

"Who are you? I don't believe I know you..." he said.

"The name's Shaft...John Shaft.." I said.

He gave me the side eye and then looked at me again...

"Oh it is....Really? What can I do for you Mr. Shaft?" he said.

"Well....Let me begin....You hired a Mister Overton to end the life of a young lady I was quite fond of and then you paid a shyster to bail out the guy originally accused of it...I find that quite strange." I said.

"What? Nigga you crazy." he said.

"Let's not play games....I have receipts from Western Union...I have a copy of money order you sent to Mr. Overton and a copy of the payment made to a Conrad Nelson, Attorney at law....That
puts you in for murder for hire..What I don't understand is why bail out the suspect?" I said.

"You a cop?" he asked.

"If I was a cop, you'd be in handcuffs on your way to jail." I said.

"You a friend of Houston?" He asked.

"No, not really....So you admit ,you know Mr. Houston Overton." I said.

"What is this a shakedown...I aint got no money." he said.

"You have plenty of money..." I said.

"How much?" he said.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"How much to shut you up?" he said.

"I like round figures...one hundred large......I'll keep in touch....oh and don't try to double cross me or call the cops....If I get a whiff that you're going to do that..I'll have this all over the streets
and in the papers...You'll get life ,if you're lucky....I'll be talkin wit ya." I said. Clerow tipped his hat and we walked out.

We walked about three blocks away and got in Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson's van...Sean
Jackson was in there and he immediately took the wire off of me that I was wearing.

"We got him Kev...He didn't deny anything...He immediately offered to pay." said Sean.

"That's not enough...There's something more to this...This just aint him.." I said.

"Well my friend...Whatever you said to him, he's sure jumpy..He's on the phone now..." said Peeping Tom.

"Hello........."

"Elvira...we got a problem?"

'Hank is this you?"

"Yes...I'm on a secure phone....my cell phone."

Peeping Tom, Sean Jackson, Lockpick Johnson and Clerow all busted out laughing upon hearing that.

"I think that guy I got to take care of our business is double crossing us."

"What makes you think that?"

"Two of his goons just came in my store..They know the whole story.....and the one guy, a John Shaft...wants one hundred large...."

"John Shaft??Hank, somebody is pulling your leg."

'He had the Western Union receipts....The wired money to our guy.....and the wired money to the lawyer to bail your son out of jail."

'Why did you use your real name? Why did you use the same Western Union place? What is wrong with you Hank?"

'Why don't you let your son live his life...This is the second time I've done this.....Apparently these guys didn't mention the pregnant girl that went missing....but they know about his wife."

'Maybe they were cops trying to play you, did you ever think about that?"

"Cops? Cops would have arrested me if they had that much evidence."

"Yeah, you're right about that....but anyway...Houston is in jail."

"In Jail? When?"

'Don't you read the papers...He got busted two weeks ago with the murder weapon still on him."

"Ohhh crap...He don't know your name, he don't know nothin about you..but he knows me, he took money from me..He can put me in for this mess."

"So pull him, bail him out and then kill him...problem solved."

"Oh just like that huh?"

"I'm sure you know somebody else that can do the job....You knew a lot of shady people in West Philly back in the day, before you got set up in business."

"That was a long time ago.....There was a guy..Sonny Templeton....but he's dead... and a crazy fool named Malik Lockjohn...but he's dead too....I gotta ask around...I aint set foot in North or West Philly in years."

"Well find somebody who works for cheap....give me their price and have em knock off Houston....Tell your blackmailers that you'll pay em..set up a meet and have your guy knock
both of em off..."

'My God Elvira..you talk about ordering somebody's death like it's nothing...Who are you? You didn't used to be so evil."

"Life is short Hank....The older I get, the more valuable my damn time is...This time, don't use
Western Union...Pay up front and in person. Don't leave a paper trail and get it done in a timely fashion. Now that my son has been cleared....I want this ugliness cleaned up and I don't want anything leading to you....I ,uh, er mean...me....heheheheheheh."

"Okay Elvira....I'm on it."

I knew it!...I knew there was more to it and I knew that someone else was pulling the strings.
So it was Elvira Cooley....James Cooley's mother...... I couldn't believe this woman was so cold blooded...She was a modern day Ma Barker.... She was the mastermind behind this....It was time to put Elvira and Hank on ice...and for good.

(Conclusion Next)