Marina

Detectives Barlow, Pile and Rodriguez sat in the monitor room attentively watching the video feed from the Little Norway Bar that we had gotten from them, detailing the night of the murder....

Sissy and I walked in late...

Carlotta lead the discussion...

" So we have our mystery man here sitting at the table with our victim, having a drink...." she said.

"Then what started out as a seemingly friendly conversation appears to get loud..." added Detective Pile...

"Look there...Our Victim...Arkady appears to be getting up." said Detective Barlow..

.

"Yeah, he appears to be going in the back.." said Detective Barlow..

"He's goin to the bathroom." added Detective Pile....

"Yeah,probably to use one of those electronic toilets you was tellin us about...the kind that flush after you move." said Detective Barlow...

All three Detectives burst into raucous laughter....I must admit ...I was laughing myself... Carlotta stopped laughing and brought us all back to the task at hand...

"Okay, wait...slow it down....ease in....Look...Look right there....Our mystery man, look what he's doing...He's putting a powdery substance in Arkady's drink...and he's mixing it up...so it disolves..'' said Carlotta.

"That's the murder right there!!!!...We got him on tape putting something in Arkady's drink!!!" said Detective Pile...

"I wish we had audio...so we could hear what they were saying...If Kevin Morris had sent us one of his "anonymous" packages...we'd have audio, video , the whole works." joked Carlotta...

Sissy smiled wryly....

It was true though... when Kevin had helped us out on a case...We had the best evidence...Clear and concise... This however was good enough...It was a good visual...

Arkady appeared to be ending the conversation after drinking the entire glass of liquor...The mystery man got up and walked out of the bar....

Within minutes...Arkady appeared to be holding his stomach and feeling some discomfort...and then he folded over like a tent , amid the screams of the customers and fell to the floor....Dead!

"If we knew who this guy was...we could close the case.." said Detective Pile...

"I've seen him....I've seen him at the hotel." said Detective Barlow....

"You have?" asked Carlotta...

"Yeah...before I knew who he was...I've seen him there since the murder....He didn't stay long...It was as if he was looking for somebody." said Detective Barlow...

"Jimmie...get back down to that hotel...take some undercovers  with you...If you see him, pick him up...Copy that photograph and post it......We need to get this guy."  said Sissy.

"I'm on it." said Detective Barlow..

"I want to observe this video more...Run it back to the very beginning...when the bar first opened.." said Carlotta..

"Is there something else Chica?" asked Sissy.

"I want to determine a timeline...See when he came into the bar.." added Carlotta.

My baby is, if nothing else...intense....That's what makes her such a great investigator.

II-

I ate my lunch with Lt. Sissy Van Buren and Detective Pile....Detective Carlotta Rodriguez continued to watch the video feed from "Little Norway"...She made a few calls to the FBI and Interpol....While we were eating...Detective Barlow returned..

I looked up at him...Sissy asked him-

"You pick up our mystery man?" she asked.

"No...but after interviewing close to 100 people that were either too afraid to talk to me or just didn't know anything...I found someone who is at least willing to talk." he said.

He had with him, a young woman who looked to be about 28 or 29....

"This is Marina....She's a workin girl." he said.

I stood up...

"Hello Marina...I'm Assistant District Attorney Keith Wallace." I said.

"I am Marina..I am only willing to help you, if you can help me with immigration." she said.

"Immigration?" I asked.

"I have one arrest for prostitution and one for theft....They are threatening to deport me....I just can not go back to Russia...I have nothing there...but I am afraid." she said.

"Afraid of what?" I asked.

''What Nick will do if he finds out I am talking to you." she said.

"He doesn't have to know....I'll get you out of here without anyone knowing or seeing...Sissy can we go to your office ?" I asked.

''Sure...Let's go up the back steps." she said.

Sissy, Detective Barlow, Marina and I all went up the back steps and into Sissy's office and closed the door and closed the blinds...

"Ten years ago...Arkady and his brother ran an ad in Russian paper...they offered us jobs and money in America....Many girls...like myself...We come..We take long ride on ship to America...They tell us that we owe a lot of money for the ship ride and that the only way we can pay the debt we owe is on our backs...and so we live at the hotel...We sleep with men...many men...we pay a large percentage of the take to Arkady and his brother....We get only enough for basics like food and a few clothes...Anytime we leave neighborhood, it's under the watchful eye of Bruno.." she said.

"Who's Bruno?" I asked ...

"Bruno Jefferson is their enforcer.He is an American soul man, like you." she said.

"Oh ,you mean muscle?" added Detective Barlow...

"She means he's Black." said Sissy...  I had to smile...I remembered Detective Barlow mentioning a big Black enforcer  the day before....

"Yes.. that too..He collect all the money..he pay the madamn and the girls and he drive Nick around to collect...If we have any trouble..Bruno takes care of it....When I get busted...Bruno bailed me out...then he took me to Nick , who beat me for getting caught....Mr. Nick told me that if I get deported, not to mention his operation or he'll have me killed..I am afraid....He has already had Bruno kill someone." she said.

"Who? Who did Bruno kill...?" asked Sissy..

"A girl named Sirena...She was rebellious...She wasn't really into this..She try to escape...She try to come to you...Police...Nick and Arkady order Bruno to kill Sirena...Sirena is beaten by Nick and then taken away...We never see her again." said Marina..."That was three months ago." she added.

"So you didn't actually see Bruno kill her?" I asked.

"No, but she's dead..Never seen again." said Marina.

Sissy showed her a photo of our mystery man...

"Who is this? Do you know him?" she asked.

"That is Sirena's fiance...He used to be cop back in Russia..He was looking for her ..His name is Leonid..Leonid Putinsky.." she said.

"Do you know where we can find him?" I asked.

"I might know....but you can not tell that I told." she said.

"Don't worry Marina...We won't say a thing." I said.

"This is a photo of Sirena....she was my best friend....She stay in hotel room next to mine...." said Marina.

"Very attractive girl...We'll do all we can to find her murderer." I said.


III-

Carlotta finally entered Sissy's office...She was excited...She didn't even notice Marina....

"Guess what?" she exclaimed...

''What is it chica?"said Sissy.

"I just got off the phone with the FBI....our mystery man's name is Leonid Putinsky and he's ex-KGB...and a former cop from Moscow...Nobody knows how long he's been in the country." she said...

Detectives Barlow, Pile and myself all looked at each other and smiled...

"What?" she said.

"This young lady here just told us all of that Carlotta." said Sissy gently...

"Well there's more..come and look at the monitor." said Carlotta...

She looked so sexy when she was excited like this...

We stared at the monitor...then we watched the timeline.....

"Leonid appeared to have been in the bar close to an hour before Arkady got there and Nick wasn't there...He apparently had been waiting for him...This wasn't just a chance meeting..." She said...

"We got him...We got him for Murder one...." said Sissy...

"This Bruno fellow...The one you said killed his fiance...where can we find him?" I asked.

"Oh that's no problem...I know that...He's probably at the bar..." said Detective Barlow...

"Pick him up too.Suspicion of murder." said Sissy..

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

"Meanwhile we've got to stash Marina somewhere safe..." said Sissy...

"Yeah, but where?" I asked.

"I gotta call in a favor to a friend... You leave her here..I'll take care of it." she said.

III-

I looked at Carlotta...She looked drained...She had really been doing a lot of the logistics in this case...making calls, studying film...and interviewing people with Detectives Pile and Barlow...plus entertaining me a couple of nights on top of that..She looked depleted of all energy....I felt sorry for her.

"I'll bet you're beat." I said...knowing that this was an under statement.....

"I am..I'm hungry." she said..She looked at me and managed a weak smile.

''How bout we get some dinner and I'll drive you home?" I said.

"That would be nice, but I'm really tired." she said.

"I know you are.....Me too...We'll just eat and I'll sit with you until you go to sleep and I'll leave...or, I don't have to stay at all..I'll just drop you off." I said.

"You don't have to leave Keith..Stay with me...I could use the company. Hold me until I drift off...If you like, there is plenty room for you to sleep either on the bed or my sofa  if you like. If you don't mind.." she whispered...

I smiled....Wow...I was certainly entering new territory...

"I don't mind at all. I can crash on your couch." I said.

Carlotta was too tired for a smart alec quip or comeback...She just smiled...She held my hand and rubbed it softly, I kissed her forehead softly......In the background, I saw Sissy looking at us and smiling a matronly smile.

We held hands and walked outside towards the Philadelphia night.

(To Be Continued...)