Remove This Doubt

I attended the slain police officer, Robert "Clarkie" Clark's funeral.....Like I said....I knew who he was because he patroled the neighborhood....We spoke only enough to acknowledge each other's presence..We weren't friends....Even though I did call him "Bobby" and not Robert.

Most of the neighborhood people who did engage in conversation with him called him "Clarkie".  As far as I knew...He was a good cop.  I utilized Attorney Robert Foxworth's contact in records and got the so called "Book" on "Clarkie."

He had been on the force for 15 years...Had had several accomodations for bravery, had taken some courses for advancement and ironically enough...at the time of his death...was about to be promoted to Detective... He was a guy on the move... He had been married twice....both marriages ending in divorce..Had a twenty two year old daughter...Who lived in Phoenix ,Arizona with his first wife and her new husband.. His second wife died  in an automobile accident several years before...

Outside of the few personal glitches in his life, there was nothing else out of the ordinary...I had did all of my research on him, including talking to a few cops who knew and worked with him and talking to some of the neighborhood people who knew him....Nobody...Not even the players had anything bad to say about Clarkie..

At the funeral and at the internment...I noticed ...Everybody noticed...an attractive woman who was crying and wailing the loudest.....I thought that maybe this was a girlfriend....I asked a couple of people in the crowd who it was that was so upset.....

"Is that ..Was that Clarkie's girlfriend?" I asked a cop who was in attendance.

"That's his partner's wife." said the cop with no attempt to hide his disgust....

I said no more....I saw his partner...Dave Gillespie walk over to her and grab her arm....

''Pamela...Pamela...Get a hold of  yourself...Knock it the hell off...you're making a fool out of yourself.." he snapped...

She snatched her arm away from him...

"Leave me alone...all I know is that the wrong person is in that casket." she snapped..

I could see the white hot rage in his face as he stormed away.....

Her crying and wailing continued. I made note of what I heard.......I walked away to my car...Sean Jackson was there with his camera...

"Did you get the photos?" I asked.

''Oh yeah..I got some good ones." he said.

"How about of that little brou-ha ha?" I asked with a wink...

"Yeah..I got it...Wish we had gotten the audio."laughed Sean Jackson.

"That's okay...I heard enough." I said.

''Yo Kev...Just what are you gettin at? I mean ,like why are we out here?  The guy that killed the cop is dead himself. I knew Clarkie...He was a pretty straight up dude....I mean he might not of been perfect, but who is.?" asked Sean.

''I just think there was more to his murder...and between me and you...I don't think the person they say killed him killed him...." I said.

"What? Kev they found the gun on him...He had on the hoodie and the sunglasses....His prints and no one elses is on the murder weapon..they had a match!" said Sean.

''Yeah...how neat and clean is that?" I said.   "I might be wrong...I'm just lookin at a hunch ,is all." I said.

"I don't think there is anything there." said Sean Jackson.

"Maybe you're right....I hope you are." I said.  "Let's go get some lunch."

II-

Sean Jackson and I sat in Jake's Hot Dog Joint and enjoyed two of his delicious "Long Dawgs"...Two Foot long Hot dogs with all of the fixins....Mustard,Ketchup, Relish, Sauerkraut ...and washed it down with some cold Papaya Juice.

Kool Kat and Owen Todd walked in..ordered Hot Dogs and sat down with us....

''What's goin on Owen? Big Man ...How 's it hanging?" I said.

"I'm glad I ran into you Kev....An old friend of ours wants to see you." said Kool Kat.

''Really? Who? Big Chicken ? He goin crazy in stir again? " I asked with a laugh...

"Nah..it's Shark Dollars.....and it concerns that cop that got iced a few days ago." said Kool Kat.

I looked at Sean Jackson.....I knew that there was more to this than what met the eye.....

"Eric "Shark Dollars" Redding, Atlantic City Kingpin...What business has he got in Philadelphia?" I asked.

"I suppose he wants to tell you that." said Kool Kat.

''So we gotta go to Atlantic City?" I asked.

"Nah...he's here in Philly...He's at the Marriot." said Kool Kat.

"Only the best for Shark Dollars." I mused.

"He requested just you and you only....but me, Clerow and Owen will be around to back you up." said Kool Kat.

"Nah.....Eric is alright...I'll talk to him alone...When does he want to meet?" I asked.

"ASAP..was the word I got." said Kool Kat.

"Hmmm, must be serious." I said.

III-

Within a few hours..I was in a  plush hotel room with Eric "Shark Dollars" Redding....a loan shark and big time playa from Atlantic City by way of Philadelphia PA.

"Nothing like home eh Eric?" I said as I sat and drank a complimentary Corona..

"Tomorrow....I bury my nephew Kevin." said Shark Dollars.

"Oh...I'm sorry for your loss man." I said.

"That's why I call you up here...His death is kind of mysterious....Kind of bogus if I may be plain spoken and your kind of expertise in this matter comes to mind..." he said.

''Oh really?" I said.

''A cop was shot to death a few blocks from you the other day I heard and they say that the dead guy ,who they found a few blocks away was more than likely the shooter.....only...I know that that aint so....The dead guy is my nephew!!!!!!! His name is Alan Artis and he aint ice no cop!!!" said Shark Dollars.

Now my suspicions were wide open!!!!!  Eric Shark Dollars had just added a whole new dimension to my Case!

"WHAT???" I said.

"Kevin...He was set up....I don't know how....but the boy wasn't no killer..I know this...He had no reason and not enough heart to ace no cop..Somebody set him up as a patsy, a fall guy...My sister is just sick to death...I don't want him goin out like this...branded as a killer....I'll pay you whatever you need to clear his name if you can." he said.

And there it was...the beginning of my next case....A case I had already begun....!

(Definitely To Be Continued....)