One Happy Ending...

The Police did come and just as I said...They determined that the shooter was on the bank's rooftop and he used an M-16 rifle...They found the casing....I didn't move it..but they found no fingerprints.... No shoe prints, no tire treads, no DNA...Nothing!  I wasn't surprised....The hitter was a pro...But then again..I had to ask myself..Would a pro have left behind a spent shell casing?  Maybe..

"It don't figure Kev." said Kool Kat and hour later....

"What doesn't fit?  Pony Boy found out that Chico was talkin to me and he had him shut down." I said.

''Come on...We talkin bout Pony Boy here....He aint exactly no major playa Kev...He's strictly small potatoes...He aint got the juice to hire no professional hitter...He's just a street punk..One step removed from bein a tout." said Kool Kat..  "Besides..how would he know Chico was talkin to us? And what could Chico really tell us...Chances are..He just dealt with Pony Boy or Grease...Cats like him don't meet the big man..." he continued.

"You're right Big man...but he was going to tell me who was runnin the show..just before he got killed.." I said.

''Aww man, I could tell you who runnin the show..Sonny Byrd man...Pony Boy and Grease move dope and Coke for Sonny Byrd." said Kool Kat.

"What? You mean to tell me that I've been squeezing this guy for information for two weeks and you knew who was runnin the show all along?" I asked ,exasperated.

"You never asked me Kev." said Kool Kat.

I just shook my head...

''Kev..Everybody on the street know that Sonny Byrd took over Johnny Porter's operation shortly after he went to jail...He's just been real quiet about it...He's a local cat, but I hear when his lips move, it's New York talkin...you know what I mean?" said Kool Kat.

"Well where can I find this Sonny Byrd charactor?" I asked.

"That I don't know.....He's in Atlantic City a lot and New York...When he  comes to Philly he stays with a number of young ladies...Again..I don't know who, but I can roust of few guys I know and find out for ya." said Kool Kat.

"Still..Why was Chico Harris killed?" I asked.

"It couldn't be for what you think....Had to be somethin else..." said Kool Kat...

Just Then, Basil Robinson and a young man came walking toward us....

"Hey Kev...Hey Kool Kat....This here is Cordell....Cordell Rodgers....He's one of the young men in our outreach program...This is Kevin Morris...a private investigator and his associate..Walter Jones...we all call Walter -"Kool Kat." said Basil.

"Hey Kev, Hey Kool Kat." he said.   He was a tall, athletic, good looking guy.....

"You don't look like you were a playa." I remarked.

"I wasn't...I was a user....I'm a former Marine...Fought over in Iraq....I came home and had Post Traumatic Stress ...I started doing a little coke at first and then a little "H"....Then Basil here found me and brought me to this out reach program..Straightened me out...Now I'm gettin my life together...." He said.

"Always good to hear young brother." I said.

"I see that worthless peice of trash  Chico Harris got got." he said...

"You knew him?" asked Kool Kat...

"Yeah...he used to sell me my stash.....Then unbeknownst to me, he got my girl hooked." said Cordell..

"Your girl?" I asked.

"Yeah...Andrea Carter.....I met her here...She was a recovering addict too...We was gonna get married, but she was weak....I tried to save her....but......she was just weak.....and that creep sold her a bag...about a week ago and she o.d ed..." he said, now almost in tears...

"Did you know that he had give up his connect and he was tryin to get out of the game?" asked Kool Kat.

"Yeah...That's what I heard....still aint lose no sleep over him though." said Cordell.... Basil winced...I patted him on the shoulder....

"I certainly understand brother." I said.

''Hey Look, we are going to  get some lunch, you guys care to join us?" asked Basil..

"Nah....I gotta roust some of my people ,find out where Pony Boy and Grease are." said Kool Kat....

"Yeah....they were supplying Chico Harris.....We need to talk to them..." I said.

"Okay guys ,well good luck...I know you'll get to the bottom of this if anybody will Kev." said Basil as he and the young man walked off.

"Alright...I'm tired.....I'm going home." I said.

"Okay Kev..Be easy man. I'll see what I can stir up on the streets" said Kool Kat.

II-

A day later......I was at Peeping Tom's house...Working on my other case....Finding out who set up "Chinese"
Bob Lee.


Clerow ,Lockpick Johnson and I studied the photos and grinned a little bit....

"Never imagined Chinese Bob to be a playa...Seem like he's always in that restaraunt slavin away." said Clerow.

"What do you think of these photos doc?" I said to my friend, Peeping Tom, an ex CIA operative who I used for wiretapping and other covert operations from time to time..along with his associate Lockpick Johnson..Who could break into almost anyplace...Thus his nickname.

"It's definitely a photoshop job....That's not Chinese Bob's body...Look at it...I've seen Chinese Bob...He wished he had biceps like that young stud..." Laughed Peeping Tom....They photo shopped his head onto the photo...This was amateur hour at it's best. I'm surprised this fooled his wife." he said.

"So..All I have to do..Is find the guy that did this work huh?"I said.

"Shouldn't be hard..I know a sleazy guy in Chinatown that probably does this kind of work....Here's an address." said Tom.

"Tom...I owe you." I said.

"Don't mention it Kev..He gives Professionals like me a bad name." laughed Tom and Lockpick as Clerow and I left.

Clerow and I walked into the little  photo shop in Chinatown....We had Susan Lee with us..She was a pretty little thing..Chinese Bob was lucky to have a pretty wife like her...The proprieter...A short little guy with a pot belly came out...

''Hello...What can I do for you today?" he said.

I showed him the glossies....

"That your work?" I asked..

His eyes got wide...and he immediately made a run for the back door , only to back back in real slow....Our new friend, Owen Todd had a .38 smokeless pointed right at his nose...There was no one in the store..So Clerow put up the "CLOSED" sign.

I smiled....

"Now I'll ask you again...This your work?" I asked.

"Yeah...Yeah...This guy gave me some photos and he told me to photo shop this guy's head on to the man's body and mail it to this address...He paid me." said the shop owner.

"That's my home, that's my address " said Susan Lee.

"Who paid you?" I asked.

" Some guy ...I don't have to tell you his name,I know my rights...I want a lawyer." he said.

Clerow smiled and cocked his pistol..So did Owen Todd....

"Come again?" I said.

"It was a guy named Low..Low Mein..." he said.

"See how easy that was?" I said.

Susan Lee looked down at the ground....

"I know this Low Mein, He's been after me for years..Always sayin he would love me better than my husband..always talking against my husband...He tried to set my husband up...I've been a fool......I must find my husband and make this right....Thank you Kevin....If you see Low Mein...Tell him I never want to see his ass again!" she said.

Clerow looked at me and smiled...

"Looks like you cracked another one boss." he said.

''Yeah..Wish they all were this easy." I said.

III-

A little while later, I was in a completely different part of town with Kool Kat, sitting outside of a storefront..

"You wanna tell me what I'm doing here Big Man?" I asked.

"I got a scope on your boys, Pony Boy and Grease...." he said.

"I thought we were looking for the big fish, Sonny Byrd?" I asked.

''Well, best way to get to him is to get to them." He said....

"Yeah...That makes sense." I said..

Just then, a volley of shots rang out....first three, then a series in succession..

''What the hell?" said Kool Kat... He cocked his .44 magnum...I cocked my  .38 smokeless and we stormed

the small storefront and ran up the stairs...

There were screams and several people were in the hallway....We saw an open door....Kool Kat and I stood on opposite sides and then like two cops we stormed inside the room..Only to find...Pony Boy lying on his back in a pool of blood, a revolver still in his hands and Grease lying over by an open window...lying in a pool of blood facedown....Both of them , very, very dead! It was mid December...and the window was wide open!

I asked some of the bystanders if they saw anybody leave from the room....Of course..Nobody saw anything!!

"Kev...Our killer escaped from the window." said Kool Kat and pointed to the open window-

I looked out of the window down into the alley....Nothing...Once again...Our killer had done his dirty work and vanished into seemingly thin air....


"Got any theories on this Big Man?" I asked.

"I'm stumped Kev....You think somebody is trying to move on Sonny Byrd's turf?" he asked.

"I thought you were stumped?" I asked...

Kool Kat shrugged his shoulders....

IV-

At the apartment on top of Chinese Bob's chinese restaraunt, the bed was squeaking loudly ...the headboard was slamming against the wall........


"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BOB... ME so sorry, me ever doubted you...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Susie...Doubt me some more...I love it when we have make up sex..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"Me so hornyyyy, me love you sooooo much...and  so longggggggggggggggggggg........OHHHHHHH."


I smiled as I walked by...listening to the sounds of them making up....At least there had been one happy ending today...but as for my other case...It was getting murkier and murkier...

(To Be Continued.....)