By God's Grace, She Flourishes

I sat in the Homicide Office with Detective Carlotta Rodriguez, Lt. Sissy Van Buren and Detective Tariq Pile... I had brought Krispy Kreme Donuts and tumblers of coffee for everyone...

''So that's it in the nutshell..Rollie came to me because he said that he was in this investment group..Each of the investors put several million in the pot...to be invested and to be used towards charities and as a neat little tax write off.  He didn't read all of the fine print though....Apparently there was a clause that said that the entire pot would go to the last surviving member of the club..." I said.

"So apparently somebody did read that clause and is knocking off all of the investors." said Carlotta.

"Yes..That's what Rollie thought and that's why he hired me...To look into this...Look at the facts..Wally Drollinger, world class swimmer and millionaire playboy...Drowns!, Cole Cummly, jumps in front of a train...and a hastily typed suicide note is found..  Sean ''Shakes" McGonigle suddenly jumps out of the 22 story window of his condo??? and Wayne Cooper, hung?" I asked.

"Not to mention, that Drug Kingpin, Nick ''Two Guns'' Cassidy's gun back fired on him and killed him." said Detective Pile.

"I talked to his people...All of them told me that he had gotten the second gun as a gift from Wayne Cooper..."I said.

"And Wayne Cooper is himself a murder victim." said Sissy.

"Yeah.  I researched that document....The document that was drawn up when the group was started....and guess what?  Wayne Cooper wrote up the document....His lawyer, Stanley Simpkins helped him and all of them signed it on the same day." I said.

"So who is left alive of the investors?" asked Sissy.

" Lola Devlin, the heiress of the Devlin fortune...and Dick Richards, the radio personality...oh yeah and of course ,Rollie Rollerson." I said.

"Hmmmm, Rollie brings this to your attention eh?  Then he just barely escapes being killed himself and everybody else around him is dropping like flies."said Sissy.

"Awww come on Sissy, you don't think it's him?? He's paying me to get to the bottom of this." I said.

"And you provide his unwilling cover."she said.

"You don't believe that." I said.

Sissy smiled - ''Relax Kevin...your client isn't smart enough to conceive of anything like that." she said.

Carlotta giggled....Detective Pile and I didn't....

"Well..I've got a few angles I want to look at...as usual ,I'll keep you guys abreast of anything I find out." I said.

"Okay Kev." they said as I left the office.

Who was I kidding? I didn't know where to begin...Only three investors were left alive and one of them was a murderer...but who?

My main suspect...The one who wrote the clause in the first place, was himself dead...I didn't know where to begin!

II-

So once again I found myself at Robert Foxworth's law office....

"Yeah,Rollie showed me that document they wrote up....Wayne Cooper was a sly dog...and his lawyer,Stanley Simpkins is even slicker Kev...He was in law school with me and Keith Wallace, The Assistant D.A....Only thing about Simpkins....He has a big hole in his soul where morals and a conscience lie...That cat will do anything for money...He's unscrupulous...even for an Attorney." said Robert.

"So Simpkins is a real wheeler dealer huh?" I said.

"Oh ,he's as slick as a can of oil Kevin...Once I read the fine  print, I realized and I told Rollie that this was a recipe for murder." said Robert Foxworth...

"Oh, you're the one who got him shook?" I asked.

"Wellllll...you see what's been happening...By the way, where is Rollie?" asked Robert.

"He's somewhere safe." I said.

"What you been up to?" he asked..

"I've been talkin to the friends and relatives of all of the deceased investors for the past few days...I've been just a step ahead of the cops... Wally Drollinger's fiance said that he had everything to live for and was not despondant at all...She told me he was a champion swimmer....How he could have drowned in a pool was a mystery to them." I said.

"Yeah Kev, but he was drunk at the time of his death." added Robert.

"He was going to AA....His sponser said that he had been doing good , swore that Drollinger hadn't touched a drop in close to a year." I added..

"Maybe he fell off the wagon" said Robert....I just looked at him.

"And Cole Cummly....Suicide?? Jumped in front of a train?? His parents, his girlfriend and all of his close friends told me that he was as happy as a lark on the last day they saw him...said that his suppose suicide just couldn't have been possible....I got the same story from Sean "Shakes" McGonigle's Mistress and his wife..
Both women told me that on the day of his death, he was fit as a fiddle...Had made vigorous love to both of them at different times of course and was in good spirits...and yet, he either jumped or was pushed out of the window of his condo to his death...The police list all of these deaths as simply suspicious." I added.

"What about Wayne Cooper? He was the mastermind, the guy who put this investment group of young rich African American millionaire playboys together...How was he?  His death was definitely a murder?" said Robert Foxworth...

I noticed that Chance Howard was in the office, shuffling papers at his desk and eating a very good smelling
Hot Dog....

"Jakes?" I said.

"Yeah man, Jakes makes the best." he said.

"I can't find any next of kin for Wayne Cooper...I did talk to a few of his business associates...but they couldn't tell me much." I said.

"Did you say Wayne Cooper?" said Chance Howard...

"Yeah..what about him?" I asked.

''He has a brother...an identical twin brother....His name is Dwayne Cooper....He's loaded too...He lives near Penn's Landing.." said Chance.

"How do you know him?" I asked.

"He's a lawyer....I've run into him a few times...I can give you an address." he said.

"Yeah, do that...He's worth talking to." I said.

"Hey Kev, how many investors are left alive?" asked Robert.

''Just three, Rollie Rollerson of course, Dick Richards and Lola Devlin..." I said.

"Well you better put some eyes on them before they become the next victims." he said.

"I'm certain that one of them won't be, but I know what you mean." I said.

III-

Chance Howard gave me the address and phone number... I called it several times but got no answer, I drove to his Penn's Landing condo, but got no answer....People that lived near by who knew him said that they hadn't seen Mr. Cooper in about two weeks..I wondered if he'd met foul play also....but then I thought, why would he? He wasn't one of the investment club members.

I called Dick Richards and we had a nice conversation on the phone...I asked him to meet me at Josies and he agreed... I had checked him out...A popular radio personality....I had courted him to be on my new sattelite radio station once, but he had declined. There was no hard feelings, especially when he got to meet my wife and Bonita and they sold his present house to him.....

My meeting with him wasn't until later...I decided to check on the other living investment club member...It's only woman member..Lola Devlin..

Lola answered the door of her home in a white sheer negligee, white bikini panties and a white bra....I was a little stunned at first, but then I had heard she could be a little eccentric.

"Well hellooooo." she said seductively....

"Hello to you too." I said....I was certainly glad that Sepia wasn't here...

"You said on the phone that you are a private investigator?" she asked...

"Yes..I am...I've been looking into the deaths of the members of the investment club that you're a member of." I said...

She was oblivious to whatever it was I had said... I looked around and I saw empty bottles of Margarita mixes and half full glasses of Lemonade and Margaritas and water on the coffee table and the sink and on a table in her bedroom...

" A private dick eh?" she laughed at her own joke..

''Aren't you the least bit concerned about your safety?" I asked.

She laughed hysterically and then ran her hand down the crease of my trousers and squeezed softly....


Her eyes grew large....she smiled...

"Ohhh Myyy Mister Morris.....You are well stacked... Nothing private about that dick...whooooooo." she said and looked at me slyly...

I moved her hand....

"Maybe we'll talk another time ." I said.

She was obviously drunk....I could gain no headway here...

"Maybe...we'll do something other than talk.....MY...MY....MYYYYY.." she said seductively...

I just shook my head and left.

IV-

I arrived at Josies...Dick Richards arrived too..He was a half an hour late....For a  minute ,I began to wonder if he too had had a sudden accident.

"Hello Kevin...We meet again." he said.

"Yes..How about that?" I said.

"How is that pretty little wife of yours? Sepia right?" he said.

"Yes...She's just fine."I said.

"Yesssss lord....You are one lucky man....So is that lawyer that's married to her partner....Bonita isn't it?" he said.

"Yes...Look...I'm here to talk about the recent and not so recent deaths of some of the members of your investment club...It seems you, Rollie Rollerson and Lola Devlin are the sole survivors."I said.

"Ahhhhh Lola Devlin....Have you met her?" he asked.

"Yes..I stopped by her house a few hours ago." I said.

"And I'm the one who's late?  Lawd Jesus what I wouldn't do to get that hot number in the sack...whoooo lawd...she's a hot little mama.." he said.


''Mr. Richards..Neither one of you seems concerned that you may be the next person to have a fatal accident." I said.

"I've got security around me , around the clock." He said.

"Where is your security now?" I asked.

"Outside....waiting....I'm going to the strip club after I leave you and chase some girls man." he boasted.

"If I were you sir...I'd go somewhere safe and secret and stay there until I can figure out who is behind this." I said.

''Oh I'm not worried about that and I'm sure Lola Devlin isn't either...Lawdddd jesus....Hey, do you think she's still up?   I'm gonna call her." he said.

I shook my head in exsasperation...

"You know...she lost a ton of money recently...Bad investments....I don't know how she manages to stay afloat...Financially I mean....Them breasts of hers will keep this whole city afloat....Whoooooo doggie! But financially, by the Grace of God, she flourishes somehow." he said.

"You're not going to her house are you?" I asked.

"Nahhh, I'm going to the strip club...I may call her after I get out...but thanks for the heads up Kevin..I'll tell my guy to keep an eye out for any killers." he said and got up and left...He was laughing....He wasn't taking this seriously at all.

I shook my head...I wouldn't be surprised if he became the next victim.

(Definitely To Be Continued...)