The Heart Of The Matter

Veronica was too smart to say anything over the phone that would incriminate her...In fact...She didn't hang around her house long enough for us to get anything worthwhile on her...What we did get was video of her packing up all of her clothing and loading it into her late husband's Escalade and pulling off...

Owen Todd and Clerow followed her via GPS tracking system.... She holed up at a girlfriend's house in West Philly for a few days, then put all of her things in storage, except one suitcase and took a plane back to Virginia....Richmond to be exact!!

She left the Escalade at the Airport in Long term parking....Didn't matter..She was still using her credit cards and debit cards and I was still tracking any activity on them... I knew where she was!!!

Daisy flew back to California, but kept in touch with me by Phone and by Skype...It wasn't an exact science...but within a week...I had the evidence I needed...
Harold 'Hallelujah" Jones had indeed been poisoned by a rare chemical that I can't pronounce that indeed had the capability to throw him into cardiac arrest....Traces of it were found in his organs...I scoured several local drug stores and checked credit card records from close to a year before and I found the drug store the chemical had been purchased from.  I showed several cashiers a photo of Veronica and a positive identification was made.  I had her, dead to rights.

"The reason why we didn't see this before Kevin is because we weren't looking for it...I ran several tests for several different chemicals and medications and I got a hit on this.."said Dr. Barrett Harris.

"The important thing is that this was no accident right?"I asked...

"Oh noooo...This is a homicide..There was too much in the body for it to be otherwise.." he said.

Just then, Homicide Lt. Sissy Van Buren and Detective Carlotta Rodriguez walked into the office..

"Wow...Another homicide...Thanks Kevin." she laughed...

"Hey ,don't complain...we have a suspect." I said.

"You mean had a suspect...She's gone." said Detective Rodriguez.

"Relax ladies...She's in Richmond, Virginia." I said.

"You know this?" asked Sissy...

"Oh yeah...I know it.. Call the Chief of Detectives down there...Tell em ,I'm coming." I said.


II-

I sat in Sam Mother's Diner, a few hours later sipping a tumbler of Coffee..Chance Howard, one of Robert Foxworth's associate attorneys and a young man I have always said is as good an investigator as my self met me there...He had called and said he had something for me..

"Hey Chance...What's up?  "You want a coffee?" I asked.

"No Thanks Kev.....Check this out....I did a further check on Veronica Dusable's finances and guess what?  Her late husband isn't the only one she has a life insurance policy on?  She took one out on her current husband, John Dusable, the model...She took it out last year, about a week after they got married." he said.

"And two weeks after her last husband died...." I mused...

"Kev, You gotta find him...He could be close to death.." said Chance...

I had to admit...We had only been searching for Veronica...Her Husband was a non-factor....He was now kind of out of pocket... I had no idea where he might be...But a good place to check first would probably be his last known address..

II-

I drove over to the Jones House and to my surprise...the door was wide open....I pulled my gun...and I walked inside and looked around....

"Helllllp me.....Helllllp me pleaseeeee..." came a moan...

I walked into the foyer and there on the floor, holding his chest and in unbearable pain was James Dusable...

''Who...Who...Who..are youuuuuu?" he moaned...

''Who I am is not important....I gotta get you some medical attention."I said.

An Ambulance rushed James Dusable to the hospital.....Where his stomach was pumped and he was put on an I.V.....He was sweating profusely and in pain...Doctors worked around the clock to infuse liquids in his body.....

Sepia joined me and we sat with James the entire night.. He slept peacefully and the next morning, he awoke....He looked over at us, he managed a weak smile....

"What the hell happened?" he said.

"I believe your wife has been poisoning you slowly for awhile...You nearly died....You would have died if I hadn't of found you." I said.

"Oh this is crazy..She wouldn't do that." he said.

"She took a two million dollar life insurance policy out on you last year, right after you got married.. I wouldn't lie about a thing like that...I'm a private investigator....I was investigating the death of the husband before you." I said.

He looked angry...but was too weak to raise up completely....

"That bitch...She was playin me...Playin me all along....She told me she was just on a trip to see her sister who was sick." He said.

"Don't you find it funny that all of her clothes are gone?" my wife, Sepia asked.

He looked embarrassed,,a tear rolled down the side of his face...

"Where is she James?  She's in Richmond...but where at in Richmond?" I asked.

"She talked about a sister that lived somewhere in Richmond..." he said.

''She's an only child...She doesn't have any siblings." I said.

"Damn" he said.

"Don't worry about it...I'll locate her." I said..."You get some rest." I said as Sepia and I got up and walked out of his room....We saw Dr. Barrett Harris and another Doctor talking in the hallway...When they saw me , they called me over...

"Kevin....It's a match...the chemical in his system and the chemical in Harold Jones's system is one in the same...If you hadn't of found him...He would have been dead in a matter of hours." he said.

I hung my head...Then I looked at Sepia...

"Hey Sepia...you feel like a short vacation?" I asked.

"Vacation?...Where?" she asked.

"Virginia!" I laughed.

III-

"Kevin,it's beautiful" said my wife,Sepia as we got off the plane...

"Maybe we'll come back here next year for vacation." I said as we got off the plane and got into a cab...

I called the Hampton Police Department and told them where I was headed and got confirmation from them that they had spoke to Sissy and Carlotta.

The cab pulled up to the house...I paid him and Sepia and I got out...I walked behind the house...As instructed..Sepia walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell..

A black guy with dreads came to the door...He saw Sepia and was all smiles....

"Well Helloooooooooo..sexy!" he said ,still grinning...

"Hi, is Veronica here?" she asked..

He suddenly got sullen...

"Who wants to know??" he sneered.

"I'm from the Atlantic Insurance company.....I had bad news for her and good news!...Her husband has died in Philadelphia and we just want her to sign these papers." said Sepia in the fakest southern accent I'd ever heard...I laughed to myself.

At that ,Veronica came to the door...

"How did you know I was here?" she asked,looking suspicious...

"He told us on his death bed....Tragic ...He had a massive heart attack....So young...You're his next of kin...So we located you to tell you that you're due for some money." said Sepia as sweet as she could be.

Veronica smiled.....

"Just sign these papers." said Sepia...

"Whoaaaaaa, we gone get paid!!" said the young man....

"We? ,Who said anything about we?" snapped Veronica.

"Hell, you been stayin here rent free and eatin up all my food for close to two weeks, I oughta get somethin." said the young man....

"You have been gettin somethin....If I recall, you just got somethin a few  minutes ago and last night and a couple of nights before..." she said.

"Well eh, heh ,heh, heh....that is right...heh,heh ,heh...but you was enjoyin it too..heh ,heh heh." he grinned...

Veronica looked at him with icy disdain...

"Boy, don't flatter yourself...you is just somethin to do.After I get my money,I'm gone break you off a little change and then I'm out..." she said. "Let me go get a pen." she said.

Veronica came back to the door with a pen and I walked up the steps..

"Gettin Good at this eh?" I said.

She looked at me with an icy hatred..

"YOU!!! How did you find me??" she said.

"Who is this guy Ronica..Want me to shoot him?" said the young man....

Sepia stuck a .22 in his ribs..

"Now sugar, you wouldn't want me to have to ventilate you, would you?" she said with a fake southern accent...

The young guy threw his hands up in the air and backed away...He was no fool.

"It's Over Veronica...All over." I said.

''Damn you...Damn you.....Damn...Damn..Damn...Damnnnnnnnnnn!" she sputtered!

The Hampton Police drove up...Two Detectives and three uniformed Policemen .They read her her rights and handcuffed Her.

Her male friend stood there in awe as they dragged Veronica to the police car...She never said another word.

EPILOUGE:

Veronica Lee Jones Desable was extradited back to Philadelphia where she stood trial for the first degree murder of Harold "Hallelujah" Jones and the attempted murder of James Desable..her present husband...She was convicted of both and sentenced to Life without the possibility of parole. She didn't look at James the entire trial nor speak a word...She just held her head down and was marched off to prison. James divorced her shortly after she began serving her sentence...

Daisy Jones paid me handsomely... She was in town the next week and had dinner with Sepia,Bonita, Robert Foxworth and I..

"This is a nice place...I can't thank you guys enough for clearing that up and putting that harpy in prison where she belongs." she said.

"All in a days work" I said and laughed at my own joke...

Sepia,Robert Foxworth and Bonita laughed too...as we waited for our food to come.