The Murder Committe

For the past few weeks..I have actually been hard at work at my actual place of employment..Hype Magazine, where I am now Editor and Chief .  I've been coming to work three days a week..Editing my staff's stories, checking on the layout and photography and just over seeing the entire operation of the magazine.  I've been meeting with advertisers too...

My assistant, Harry Charles ,My chief photographer, Sean Jackson and his wife, Assistant Editor, Sheila Jackson and I were taking a break one Thursday afternoon in our huge conference room..We were enjoying some Italian Hoagies, Cheese-steaks, chips and sodas....Just finishing a busy day at the job , when some visitors came in.

Upon seeing these er uh vistors, I smiled...They were familiar faces....Gus, the bartender at Josies..where we all hung out...Bone Hampton, Trombonist extroidinare, Downtown Rob Brown, "88", Reed Nelson, his girl Debbie, Delores, her sister (and Rob Brown's girlfriend),Meek Rollins ,Ingrid Rhodes and Symphony Sam..They were all part of this part of Philadelphia's vibrant music scene....I had done stories on all of them for my magazine at one time or another..

"Wow guys....The receptionist should have told you that we are involved in a very ,very important meeting here." I joked....Sean,Sheila and Harry busted out into laughter.

''Normally I would laugh at your attempt at humor kid...but we here on serious business." said Gus.

"Wow...you get right to the point dont'cha?" I laughed....

''Kev..you heard about Jock Peters didn't you?" said Reed Nelson...

"The Street musician...The singer and guitarist....yeah..He got shot two nights ago...."I said.

"Yeah, well he died this morning." said Rob Brown.

"Awww man....Damn...I'm sorry to hear that....I liked him...He really could perform...I used to toss him a couple of bucks sometimes..." I said.

"Yeah..well before he died...he was in and out of consciousness..he said that two stick up boys shot him..." said Gus...

I paused....then I looked down.....

"You want me to look into it, because you have no faith in the cops doing anything right?" I said.

"Boy, you was sure at the head of your class wasn't you kid?" said Gus.... We all smiled....

Meek Rollins handed me an envelope...It was full of crisp twenties....

"We took up a collection...kind of like a down payment for your services Kev....Jock Peters was family...He was one of us..He never bothered nobody...He shouldn't have went out like that....The cops say that they are workin it...but you know how it is around here?  A lot of people won't talk to the cops...but they'll talk to you." he said.

"Well, I sure hope they will..." I said and I pocketed the cash.....  "Okay guys...I'll see what I can stir up." I said.

"Thanks guys ." I said.

"Thanks Kid and if you need any extra muscle....Eddie and Andrew are at your disposal." said Gus.

"Thanks Gus, but I think I got this." I laughed...."Sorry I don't have enough food to offer you guys." I said...

''Sure you do...You're the boss, just call it in and order us sandwiches." said Gus in all seriousness...

He was right....I looked around...everybody was smiling except Gus.....I sighed....

''Harry, take everybody's order and call it in." I said... Gus smiled and slapped my arm...

"Got'cha Kid...I was just joshin..." he said.

''He was...but I aint...I'm hungry." said Symphony Sam....We All burst into guffaws of laughter!

II-

The next day, Clerow, Sean Jackson, Owen Todd and I surveyed the scene where it happened....The crime scene tape was still there....The young woman who had been with Jock Peters....an Asian singer named Miko Lee  described to us what had happened..

"Jock and I had just finished performing and we picked up his guitar case....We split the proceedings...We had about $1000.00 dollars....He gave me $500.00 and he took his cut and his kissed me on the cheek..He asked me if I needed a cab and I told him, I'd be alright....Just then these two guys rolled up on us...One was tall, skinny, about 18 or 19....Brown skinned....Nice looking guy...He pointed a big gun at us...and he say-


"Yall Know what this is...give it up !"

"We through our hands up in the air and gave em the money....The other guy had a gun too, a smaller gun..He was short, heavy set..a little darker than the first guy...He didn't say nothin...They start backing off and Jock said-


"You're making a big mistake pal."


The tall brown skinned guy said..."I'm not your goddamned pal." and fired one shot....It hit Jock in his chest and Jock fell backward.......I screamed...and they both ran off!"

"Hmm, would you know these guys if you saw em again?" I asked.

"Sure would...I gave the same statement to the police...I went downtown and looked at hundreds of photos and I didn't see either of them in there.." she said.

"Really?? Hmmmm." I said.

"That just means that they aint locals Kev...Maybe they New Yorkers or Jersey Boys." said Owen Todd..

III-

Clerow, Owen Todd and I questioned all of the regulars in Josies, Ciros, The Mermaid Club and the playas at Chris and Chess's crap game....It didn't take too long before I got two names... Ricky Rector and Ray Ray Jefferson... Two Stick Up Boys from Washington D.C. who had just recently moved up here to Philly. They had stuck up a number of the local , but small time drug boys...

Robert Foxworth's contact in records didn't have a Philly address on either of them....but we did get one address...a cousin, Larry Rector of Ricky Rectors... Clerow and I went to his house..He said that he hadn't seen Ricky in about a month and that we might want to try a girl named Velma Barfield's house...That was Ricky's girlfriend.

I didn't know if I believed him...I made a note to watch his home.   A check of Velma Barfield's house yielded
even less...She had another guy staying there and said that she and Ricky were over about three weeks ago and that she hadn't seen him.

For a few nights, Clerow, Owen Todd and I just drove around...and then we struck paydirt!...

We saw a tall, brown skinned brother buying a pack of cigarettes at a neighborhood bodega...We call em ''Stop and Go's" in Philly....

''Kev...that looks like our boy." said Owen...

"Park the car Clerow." I said...and I got out and began crossing the street....Clerow and Owen were right behind me....As a kid and a Black male growing up in Philly...When you see three guys walking towards you they are either two things..Cops or Trouble...You don't want either !  So I understood when the guy saw us and took off running...

"Boss, he on the move." shouted Clerow...

''He's headed for the projects.... Clerow, go down that street, Owen, follow me this way." I said and we split up!

I was right , He was heading straight for the projects...and if he went into this maze like courtyard...He could easily escape us...He had a head start and he ducked into the project courtyard...Owen and I were right behind him...  I sure hoped that Clerow was waiting at the other end....

A succession of shots was heard!   This was strange...Was Clerow and the young man involved in a gun battle??

Screams were heard ...The sound of people running was heard...Owen and I ducked down....Now it was eerily quiet!  We looked up and we saw Clerow creeping around, gun drawn!  Owen and I stood up.....

''Clerow...put the gun away.....Was you shootin?" I asked.

''Nah...I thought you was shootin." he said.

"Wasn't us." said Owen....

"Where did those shots come from?" I asked...

"Probably over there where that crowd is." said Owen....

A small crowd had gathered around...Owen, Clerow and I walked over to the crowd.....Lying on the sidewalk with three slugs in his head was Raymond ''Ray,Ray"Jefferson.....lying next to him was a .45....There was no way I could talk to him...He was dead!!!

I began asking people in the crowd if they had seen who did the shooting....Of course nobody...out of close to 50 people in the crowd...had seen a thing!!!  I got on my phone and called the police...

IV-

I sat in Josies having a Corona , a few nights later....Gus came up to me smiling.....

"That's on the house kid.." he said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear? That kid you collared in the projects the other night...Ray Ray Jefferson....His gun!! Police ballistics say that this is the same gun that fired the shot that killed Jock Peters...You got him!  Hah ha..I tole everybody that once you got on the case those killers were as good as gone." he laughed.

"Gus...I didn't shoot him!  Somebody else was in those projects that night...They killed him...I was just chasing him." I said.

''Don't matter..If you hadn't of found him and chased him in there..whoever shot him wouldn't of got him." said Gus.

"Gus...He was staying in there with some girl ." I said.

''Yeah and?"asked Gus.

''Somebody else knew that he was staying there and they were laying in wait for him.....How else would they have known that I was chasing him and that he'd run in there at that time?" I asked.

"All kinds of people be up in them jects....Probably some drug boy that he stuck up....or maybe that gal set him up...At any rate I wouldn't lose any sleep over it kid." said Gus.

What Gus didn't know is that I had read the police report on him...He was shot with a glock....Not the type of gun that punks like him carried and he was shot in the back of the head three times...Whoever killed him made sure that his gun, which hadn't been fired was lying right beside him!!!

Gus and everybody was happy that Jock Peter's murder had been solved...his killer brought to justice....but there was still the matter of his partner...Still in the wind and something that was gnawing at me that kept telling me that something here wasn't right!

(To Be Continued....)