It's very rare that the pastor asks me to meet with him after church....On most Sundays, Sepia and I leave church services and go to Mabel Jenkin's Soul food joint ,along with everyone else and have our Sunday dinner...
Today was different...Pastor Struthers, his wife Gina, Deacon's Basil Robinson and Larry Weatherford sat in the church office along with an attractive young lady named
Daisy Jones...who was not a member of our church.
''What's this about?" I asked.
''Kevin...this is Daisy...Daisy Jones..She's the daughter of our late deacon, Harold "Hallelujah" Jones." he said.
'Oh yeah,I remember him...He died last year didn't he? Heart attack??"I asked.
"Murdered??? What makes you think that?" I asked.
"Call it a hunch....call it whatever, but my step-mother,Veronica Lee -Jones -Desable remarried just one week to the day of my dad's funeral....She had a life insurance policy on him worth one million dollars...She couldn't wait to cash that in....and then she hired a lawyer, Robert Foxworth to try and dispute my dad's will....She failed in that effort and even he got a little suspicious and refused to represent her in a second effort..." she said.
''Well ,I can see you being a tad suspicious ...but none of this actually proves that your dad was murdered." I said.
"Kev...you know that I aint a conspiracy theorist man...Me and you are from the streets,but her dad was in perfect health...He beat me and Chess and Chris Thompson in three games of 21 basketball...the DAY BEFORE HE DIED! He was in great shape...
He told me that he'd just been to his doctor and had a clean bill of health." said Basil Robinson.
"Kevin....The man wasn't sick a day in his life...Then all of a sudden..boom...He's dead." said Larry Weatherford.
"You know, he could have had a condition that even he didn't know about." I said.
"All of that is true....but isn't it funny that he dropped dead one week to the day that the million dollar insurance policy was filed by his wife?" asked his daughter, Daisy.
"Hmmmmmmm..." I said.
"Look,I'll pay you....Look into this for me...If you don't find anything fishy, I'll let it drop.." she said...
"Okay...I'll see what I can find..." I said...
"Thank you so much..." she said.
"Deacon Harold "Hallelujah" Jones died a year ago...Where were you? How come we are just hearing about this now?" I asked.
"I was in California....That's where I live...In Daly City,outside of San-Francisco...I had to take off from work to come here and settle his affairs and then rush back...As you can imagine...That's expensive and time consuming." she said.
"Yeah, you're right." I said.
''Here is my card and my information...I'm staying at this hotel...I can supply you with as much information as you need...This is my phone number." she said.
"Okay...I'll be in touch." I said.
Pastor Struthers smiled...
"You're in good hands dear...If anybody can get to the bottom of this...Kevin can." he said.
Sepia smiled as I came out of the church office.....
"You got another case don't you?" she said.
"You guessed it?" I said.
"What's goin on at work?" she asked...
"The Radio Station studio is up and running...and Sheila and Harry Charles will be interviewing D.J.'s this week...Thursday,I got a couple of meetings..One with you guys..The Board of Directors...(Clerow,Sepia,Bonita,Chris and Chess, the investment group I put together that actually owned my company now) and another with some advertisers...Other than that...I'm free to look into this." I said.
"What kind of case is it?" I asked.
"This girl thinks her step mother murdered her father." I said.
''Ouuu sounds juicy." said Sepia.
"Sounds suspect..but I said I'd look into it." I said.
"Got time for me?" she asked , smiling seductively....
"I've always got time for you.." I said...We both laughed...
III-
The Next Day, the first person I went to see was Harold Jones's physician...Dr. Barrett
Harris...
"Yeah...I had just gave him a full physical days before he passed... He was in better shape than most men his age... Slim athletic build..very little fat, great cholesteral...normal blood preasure...He ate right..fruits, vegatables, low carbs...worked out regularly....He swam, played basketball, jogged....I mean he was a physical specimen...I couldn't believe it when they said he had a heart attack!"
"Did he see a cardiologist?" I asked.
"Yes..he did as a matter of fact...at the urging of his wife...I know the guy....You should talk to him...His name is Stevens...Brian Stevens....He saw him one time...The week before he died...after the life insurance policy was filed." said Dr. Harris.
"Okay...I'll check him out." I said.
"My secretary will give you the address on your way out." he said.
"Cool ...Thanks again." I said.
I spoke to the cardiologist, Brian Stevens next....
"I don't know why he was even here...Man had the best heart I've ever seen for a man his age..No fat in his veins at all...Great shape...Very athletic guy....His wife insisted that he get a stress test...He passed with flying colors....Had something to do with insurance...
I remember thinking..what a lucky guy...50 years old...great shape, hot little minx like his wife...I imagine she was wearing him out in the bed." he said to me conspiritorily.
"Oh she was younger?" I asked.
"Oh yeah....She looked no more than 28 or 29 years old...30 at the max...Hot young thing." he said.
We both smiled.....I looked at his charts and shook my head...He did indeed seem to be in the prime of his life, great shape.
"So doc, you don't find it strange that just days after you saw this man, he had a massive heart attack and dropped dead?" I asked....
He looked around, then he whispered to me...
"I have always thought it was strange...unbelievable....Not that it can't happen...It does sometimes...but the way this woman was acting, rushing us, almost trying to get me to write that he was a little abnormal when he wasn't sent a chill down my spine even then...I started to ask to see the autopsy report...but I just let it slip." he said.
III-
I went to the Medical Examiner's Office next and looked at his autopsy report...It showed nothing abnormal...It just looked like he'd died of a heart attack. I talked to the coroner who actually did the autopsy...He couldn't remember anything abnormal, but then said that he wasn't looking for anything abnormal...He too thought it was odd that a man in such great shape would just die...but like the others...thought little of it and let it slide.
Now I had to admit...I was a bit curious...I checked Jones's medical records and pharmecutical records...Except for Viagra and Allergy medicine...He wasn't taking any other type of drugs...
"I guess I shouldn't be talkin about this...the man is dead now, but he was buying Viagra like crazy...Every three weeks he was buying a bottle....After I saw his wife I understood why...She's the type of woman that could exhaust a man...I don't think he had erectile dysfunction..but he needed to keep up...He was in his 50's and his wife was young enough to be his daughter." he said.
"But other than that ...he was healthy?" I asked.
"Oh yeah....I was shocked to hear that he died so suddenly." he said.
Later on that day I spoke with Chris Thompson, Chess and Basil Robinson...all men that were at least ten years younger than Harold Jones...
"Kev ,I was never so embarrased in my life.Him and Chess played me and Basil a game of 21...They beat us 21-7.....and you know that I can ball?" said Chris Thompson...
Chess laughed...
"Man, Chess scored one basket Kev, just one...He just dished off to Hallelujah Jones and Jones took us to the rack." said Basil...
"That was the day before he bought the farm man...damn shame." said Chris..
I headed home...I was tired and my head was spinning...In just one day....I had heard enough to make me believe that something wasn't kosher and yet...I couldn't prove a thing...but now my suspicions were aroused...Of course I needed more...Isn't this where all my cases began?
(To Be Continued...)
1 comment:
Great Lead in story.....Loved the title!
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