The Naked Witness

I sat at the counter of Sam Mother's Diner and ordered my usual...Scrambled Eggs,light, Bacon...Hash Browns, Orange Juice and a tumbler of coffee.... The person I was supposed to meet was late...I didn't like that.. I could be somewhere else today, like over at Bone Hampton's recording studio talking to the guys who would be designing my new radio station, which would be housed in his building...I had instead sent Sean Jackson and Harry Charles in my place.

"I like what you 've done with this place Sam." I said.

"Thanks Kev...Thanks to that settlement you and Robert Foxworth helped me get,I was able to get the money I needed to fix the place up." said Sam Mother....

Robert had been his lawyer and had hired me to get the goods on a shady construction crew that had done some shoddy work on his spot before... We helped him sue them and win a huge settlement...It had been good for me too..A Huge payday!

"Heyyyy Kev....what's shakin baby?" came the voice of a well dressed man with dark aviator shades... It was the man I had come to see...J.J. Richardson....A potential client.

"You're late J.J." I said.

"Sorry Kev...Traffic.....I don't live in Philly no more...You know that." he said.

I smiled.....J.J. was a childhood friend.... He had been an investment banker at one time...I didn't know what he was doing now....But when he called and said he needed a favor...I obliged him.

He ordered some Pancakes ,Suasage and Hash Browns and a tumbler of coffee...

"Great Job on this place Sam..." he said in between bites...

"Thanks J.J." said Sam...

"So I guess you want to know what it is I need huh Kev?" he said.

"Uhh yeah...The thought did kind of grab me." I said.

"I got this administrative assistant....pretty little number...Her name is Margaret Ellison.. See.... She was working pretty close with me....I guess I should mention that I'm in securities now...I'm partners in a Securities Brokerage firm....Anyway, Long story short.... 500G's have turned up missing....and so has Margaret.....She uh confiscated the dough like uh er I wasn't gonna know about it....I don't think she's left town yet...but I need her found and more important...I need that money back.." he said.

''Did you call the cops?" I asked.

"No Kev...I called you...I just want the money returned is all." said J.J.

"What is it about this theft?  Why didn't you call the cops?" I asked.

"It's rather complicated Kev...I can't get into it...Just find her for me okay? I'll pay you handsomely...aint no criminality really involved...I swear..It's just complicated....I need somebody like you who can work uh discreetly." he said.

"Okay J.J.....But if this gets messy I swear.." I said.

"It won't Kev..It won't."  said J.J.

"Okay, You got a photo?  An address on this girl?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah..Stop by my office...My Office manager will give you everything." he said.

"Okay J.J. I'm on it." I said.

"Thank you Kevin." said J.J.

II-

I stopped by J.J.'s office the next day...His office manager gave me the book on Margaret Ellison....and I did the rest... I checked her bank records..and her credit cards.
There had been lots of activity from the time she vanished with the money, which was three days before up to the present...

She was no professional...that was to be sure... She was still shopping and buying things like food and gas and incidentals... I checked her phone records and I saw that she made a number of calls to girlfriends and relatives...

I then went by her naturally empty apartment, I talked to the other tenants, the girlfriends, the cousins and people who knew her...Naturally..they either didn't know or weren't willing to tell me where she was....

I checked the general area where a lot of the purchases were made and where the phone calls came from...and I had her cell phone provider hit the towers and it gave me
the exact street where her last call had been made.

It was across town in an apartment complex... I drove there and walked around...It wasn't long before I found the complex and a car matching the license plate that J.J. told me belonged to her..

I called J.J.

"Hello" he said.

"J.J.  It's me...I think I've found your girl..." I said.

"Damn Kev, you are good..." he said.

"I'm going to give you the address, you want to get over here?" I said.

"I'm on it..." he said.

III-

J.J. arrived shortly and I pointed to the car outside of the building.....

''Yeah, that's her car...you seen her?" he asked.

"No...but if her car is there..Chances are she's either in there or not far from here." I said.

"How are we going to find her? There must be hundreds of people in those apartments?" asked J.J.

"Well , I hate to do this...but this will surely bring her out." I said...

I walked over to the car with a small ball pean hammer and broke the side window out and opened the door of the car...Sure enough the alarm went off!  It was loud!!!

Lights came on all over the apartment...J.J. and I watched and then walked into the lobby....

Suddenly we heard a loud scream!!!

Followed by people coming out of their apartments and gasping~!

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"Hey man, put your damn clothes on!" came another voice....

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" came the scream of another woman....

J.J. and I jumped back...We couldn't make out the face , but we saw a well tanned naked man at the door...He saw us and ran down the hall and down the back fire escape..

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH, There's a dead woman in this room..." screamed a woman....

J.J. and I ran up the stairs to the first floor and into the room....and there was Margaret Ellis.....nude and very dead!!! She had been strangled!!!

"Somebody call the police!!" I yelled...

J.J. walked into the room...

"Don't touch anything!" I said.

"Hey man, the shower is still running...." he observed....

I looked around....There was a huge suitcase....It was empty!!!

"I don't see the money anywhere!!!" he said.

I was flabbergasted, a woman had been murdered and all he could think about was money...500G's was a lot, but I'm just saying...

Outside, a police car roared up...The naked man streaked past the crowd who was still gasping in shock....He escaped down an alleyway....

"He was in here, but he doesn't have a bag or a suitcase!" said J.J.

I looked at the floor....There were two sets of wet footprints....They were too big to belong to Margaret...

"J.J.  Look at that!" I said , pointing to the two sets of wet footprints....

"What? It's footprints..."he said.

"Yeah..two sets of men's footprints...That means there was more than one man in this room..." I said.

J.J. looked dumbfounded...

(TO BE CONTINUED!!!)