Woman Of Many Names

I was going to pay Veronica Lee Jones Desable a visit...but then I thought better of it....I didn't really know her and I had no reason to visit her at all...I had absolutely no proof that she had done anything legally wrong at all...and she certainly wasn't going to confess anything to me... I decided to do some more digging...

What I found out was astounding...First of all, Veronica was born Veronica Phillips in Vicksburg, Virginia...She graduated from High school there, Went to Hampton University for three years and then dropped out...She married a young serviceman named Anthony Huggins...The marriage lasted all of one year...Next she married a man named Guy Lawrence Lee... Lee was a Pimp ,who put her on the streets....
She had three arrests for prostitution in Virginia....Lee wound up shot to death! His killer is serving a 25 year sentence in Virginia...

The next stop for Mrs. Lee was Philadelphia Pa., where she moved in with an aunt , now deceased and remade her entire image...No one knew of her past in Virginia.(Her two prior marriages, her arrests for prostitution( No jail time!)) She finished up her studies , earned her bachelors degree, got work at a couple of Law offices here in the city and began attending her late aunt's church....To them, she was just a nice church going, single and available young lady.  she had many young suitors...but she turned them all down. None of them had the right amount of cash in their pockets.It was here she met and married a much older man, a widower by the name of Harold "Hallelujah" Jones , her third husband...Who had the right amount of cash in his pockets.

I met with Daisy at her hotel and told her everything I had found out...She was astounded!!

"What? She'd been married twice before she met my dad?" she said.

"Yes...Do you think your dad knew?" I asked.

"No...I'm certain he didn't." she said.  "And he certainly didn't know that she had been a hooker.." she said.

''Well, I've got a lot of evidence that really isn't anything.....Where is your dad buried?" I asked.

"In a cemetary out near West Chester." she said.  "She tried to have him cremated, but the family fought her tooth and nail on that.." she said.

"With your permission, we can have his body exhumed and we can have the coroner take another look...I've got a friend in the coroner's office....Maybe if I talk to him...I can get him to take this case..." I said.

"Oh Kevin...thank you so much..."she said.

"I need you to come with me...I have a friend I want you to meet." I said.

"Okay Kevin.." she said.

II-

I drove Daisy over to Peeping Tom's spot in Northeast Philadelphia.....I had him wire Daisy up really good..

"What is the plan Kevin?" he asked.

"I want her to talk to Veronica...get her to talking...maybe she'll say something incriminating..."I said.

"It's a crap shoot Kev that she will....She has no reason to talk to Daisy or you at all. Why don't you let me and Lockpick get her house." he said.

"You think you can?" I asked.

"Come on...Call up the guys and get a scope.I'll be ready in a day or two." he said.

III-

A few days later, We took one van...Peeping Tom drove , while Daisy,myself, Clerow, Owen Todd and Sean Jackson rode inside. I had already got the ball rolling on the exhumation...I had got Robert Foxworth to draw up the papers and had Daisy sign them authorizing it...I had then had Robert and Cole take the evidence I had collected to Homicide, where he was discussing, reopening this case as a possible homicide case with his ex-wife, Lt. Sissy Van Buren of Homicide..I had Chance Howard doing some additional research for me.

Finding the house was not a problem...She and her new husband...a Model, Mr.James Dusable were still living in the same house that Daisy's Father had bought..Only she was driving the Escalade and James Dusable was driving the Ford Focus...

We watched the house for hours...Finally we saw Veronica and her new Husband leaving, getting into their Escalade and driving off... Lockpick Johnson disabled their cheap alarm system and got inside.,..Peeping Tom and I and Sean Jackson wired the house for sound and video in under 15 minutes and was out and back in the van before anyone noticed....

"Are you sue this is legal Kevin?" asked Daisy...

"Probably not...which is why I'm not a cop..." I said.

Clerow laughed that toothy grin of his...Owen Todd smiled too.

"Kev, come on, let's get out of here...They're coming back." said Owen Todd...

Sure enough, they were...Perhaps they had just gone shopping.

We pulled off.

IV-

An hour later, Daisy and I knocked on the door of their house...Unknown to Veronica, Owen Todd and Clerow were outside putting a GPS tracking device under her Escalade...Just in case she decided to skip.

Dusable had gone out again...Veronica was there alone... Upon seeing Daisy, an icy grin appeared on her face...

''Well look who it is...It's you." she said.

"Yes it's me and I brought someone with me...This is Kevin Morris, a private detective." she said.

''A private detective??"she said.

"That's right, he's been looking into my father's affairs.." she said.

" Still think I murdered your father eh/ When will you give that up?" she said...

"When you're behind bars" said Daisy...That was getting straight to the point.  I could see that these two women had probably never liked each other.

"Keep wasting your time...You got nothin darlin." said Veronica.

"I've been doing some investigating Mrs. Dusable or is it Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Huggins or better yet Mrs. Lee?" I asked.  She looked at me as if she wanted to plunge a meat cleaver in my chest...

''My husband will close that smart mouth for you."she snapped.

"Which one?" I asked.

She attempted to slap me but I grabbed her arm in mid air...

''Not a good move for you." I said.

"Get offa me...Get offa me." she said. I let her arm go...

"Did your late husband know that you made your living staring at the ceiling back in Vicksburg? Or did he think you were a local girl??" I asked.

"What he knew or didn't know doesn't matter now does it?" said Veronica with an icy stare.

"You're right....but here is what I know....Mr. Jones 's body is about to be exhumed tomorrow and if there is any foreign substance in his body , you're going to have a foreign substance in your body..They'll strap you to a table and stick a little needle in your veins and all of your troubles will be over ." I said.

I watched Veronica's face...Not a hint of fear or emotion...She was a real cool customer.

"An autopsy was done." she said coldly.

"Yes, because they thought he had a heart attack...They didn't suspect foul play, so they didn't LOOK for anything else. The coroner told me that himself." I said.

For the first time...there was fear in Veronica's face...

"Get out...Get outta my house, both of you or I'll call the police and have both of you arrested for trespassing." she said.

"Okay Veronica....Just giving you a heads up." said Daisy as we both walked down the steps and got into my car.

As we drove off, Daisy laughed.....

"We got her , shook her up real good."

"Yes...and scared people say and do things that trip them up." I said.

"Let's hope we trip Veronica up." said Daisy!

V-

I got a call from Robert Foxworth....

"What's going on Robert?" I asked.

"Mann Kev, you better be glad that Sissy Van Buren is my ex-wife and I still have some drag with her." he said.

"Really?" I laughed.

"Yeah...I took all of the papers you gave me pretaining to the case to her and the signed deposition from Daisy and she reluctantly got a judge to sign an exhumation order...It's going down now." he said.

I turned to Daisy....I smiled.

"They're exhuming your father's body !" I said.

Daisy smiled and hugged me...

"Kev?" said Robert.

"Yeah?" I answered...

"The original coroner who did the autopsy last year is going to give the body another look....I think this will determine once and for all what is up." he said.

"I hope so...Thanks counselor." I said and hung up.

I got another call...It was Clerow! I had had him and Owen Todd sit back and observe the house.

"Kev...That babe is on the move...She packed a suitcase and got in the Escalade and pulled off...Me and Owen are following her now." he said.

"You got a GPS on the ride?" I asked.

"Yeah." he said.

"Cool..Don't follow too close...let me know where she lands." I said.

"What's up?" said Daisy.....

"Our bird just packed a bag and left the nest." I said.

"We got her!" said Daisy...

"Well, maybe..." I said.

Only time would tell now!

(Conclusion Next!)