Another Eddie

Carlotta and I arrived at Sissy's office the next day with steaming hot tumblers of coffee for Sissy, Dr. Hunter,Tyriq Pile ,Jimmy Barlow and Duke Baylor...We also bought two dozen doughnuts and some extra coffees for several uniformed policemen who were also present...

"Man thanks ADA Wallace, you're the only ADA who brings us coffee and pastries ." laughed Detective Jimmy Barlow..

"That's why you guys love me." I joked...

"Uhhh, save that love stuff for Top." joked Detective Tyriq Pile  as nearly the whole room burst into laughter..

It was the gallows humor of men and women who had a grisly task....The task of trying to solve the ghastly double murder of one of our team...ADA Joshua Washington...a man I called friend..a Man who had helped all of these people do their job better over the years.

"Okay guys, settle down..settle down...Here is what we know so far...A. Whoever did this, is a professional...They knew what they were doing...I checked the survelience  cameras...They were disconnected before the perps entered the premises...The alarm system was disconnected also..
We can determine that this murder occurred approximately twelve hours before the bodies were discovered." said Sissy.

"Duke and I and some uniforms interviewed some neighbors...None of them recalled seeing anything...but one woman said that close to midnight, she heard some yelling and screaming...and what sounded like a rapid succession of fire cracker like pops." said Carlotta.

"Yeah Lou...at least two people said they heard like a rapid succession of fire cracker like pops around midnight...then nothing!!..Then one loud scream and another, single pop....Then the house went quiet...Nothing...Nobody saw anything..or anybody at the house." said Duke.

"What about the crime stopper cameras?" asked Sissy.

"Negative Lou...No car driving up, no nothing....These guys walked to the house...Jimmy, some uniforms and I canvassed the neighborhood....We went from door to door..We looked at video...Every car on that block is accounted for..." said Tyriq.

"These two might have walked to the crime scene.." said Carlotta... "They might have parked their car down the street or a few blocks away and walked..." she said.

"My people didn't find any Fingerprints or DNA whatsoever in that house...And of all the shots fired..the only bullets recovered were the ones in the body and maybe one or two loose casings..Whoever did this took most of the shell casings with them and we detected a smell of bleach throughout certain areas of the house." said Dr. Hunter.

"Wow, this was a professional hit...A contract killing.."I mused.

"No...Even wiseguys and players aren't this meticulous ." said Sissy.."but whoever it is..They seem to know what we would  be looking for...They got rid of all the evidence.."said Sissy.

"Lieutenant..what if what Carlotta said is true...They parked blocks away and walked to the house in latex booties and latex gloves? That would explain why there is no foot impressions, no finger prints..." said Jimmy Barlow..

"And what if there was no forced entry because...Joshua Washington knew them?? Duke was the first at the scene and he said that the door was already open." said Carlotta.

"That's something to think about...Duke, how did you happen to come across the scene?" asked Sissy.

"911... They sent the call to Officer Hopkins and Officer Malpass and they patched it to C.I.D...I was up and me and Jimmy went to the residence.." said Duke.

"That's odd aint it? They got clipped around midnight and we don't get a 911 call until close to noon...Yet none of the neighbors called 911 or even knew what had happened." said Tyriq.

"Yeah, strangest thing." I said.

II-

"Go On...Don't let me interupt you." came the voice of Lieutenant Edward Louis Cantrell...who had just entered Sissy's office and was listening intently to Sissy and her detectives and the uniformed policemen detailed to her discuss the case..

Sissy looked up...A broad smile appeared on her face...The kind a young school girl has when she sees her crush...It wasn't the type of look I saw on Sissy's face often...

Eddie Cantrell had been her mentor, her teacher....He was a Detective's Detective..Tall, about six foot, three, urbane, Handsome and smooth as silk...Women melted when he walked in a room...Young detectives, Sissy Van Buren , Angela Belton and Barbara Dennison all began their careers working under his command..I remember...All three of them used to melt when he walked in a room and all three tried to sit up front to hear his morning address...

He was a good man...He mentored all of them and many more detectives...Including Edwin"Duke Baylor...and Tyriq Pile...who got snatched by Lieutenant Tragg later on...This method Sissy had of allowing her detectives to brainstorm together and work out a case was a method Ed Cantrell had mastered and taught her,first when she made Sergeant and later on when she made Lieutenant and left his command and took Angie Belton with her...He had trained them both well..

''Ahhh Sissy, it is so good to see you again...And I mean GOOD to see you...lawd Jesus."he said ogling her curves...

Sissy giggled like a school girl...Carlotta and I both gave her the serious side eye..

"Hello Lieutenant Cantrell.." she said..

"I just came to tell you that I've got your back...I was sick to death when I heard about what happened to Joshua and his wife yesterday...The Commisioner and The Deputy of Operations wanted to put the entire C.I.D. on this...but me and ADA Wallace fought for you..We held em back...I told em that you got some of the best detectives in Philly working under you....and that judging by your unit's recent successes..I'm one hundred percent certain you guys can and will crack this case...Hell, I oughta know...I trained most of you,
You, Duke, Tyriq, Is Angie Belton still on this squad?" he asked.

"No Lieutenant, she's in Internal Affairs." said Sissy....

''Alright... She's movin right along...And who is this pretty little thing here?" He said looking at Carlotta..

Carlotta found herself reduced to mush as well...She giggled and blushed...

"That's Detective Carlotta Rodriguez.."I said...

"I remember you...You used to be a roller, Rode around in the patrol car...Used to get coffee for my detectives.." he said.

''Yes...That was me." she said.

''Yeah, then you helped us solve one...You found something that all of my detectives overlooked." he said.

Carlotta blushed like crazy...

"Yeah and Sgt. Sanchez told you to take the Detectives test...I remember...I see you took his advice." he said.

"I did...I've been a Detective for ten years now.."said Carlotta proudly...

"No more running for coffee for you huh? You got patrolmen doing that for you now huh?" he laughed..

Carlotta just laughed.

"Sissy ,you still married to that silver tongued lawyer?" he asked.

''No..we've been divorced for a number of years now." she said.

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh..reallly now." he said with a sly grin.

"But I uh...I am involved with someone...His name is....His name is Eddie ..also." she said.

"I'll be damned....I missed out...I hated when you left my unit...But you had to move on...You were progressing....I shoulda kept in touch." he laughed.  Sissy didn't say a word...She was blushing like crazy.

"Oh-Okay guys...Duke...check out his cases...Especially recently released felons that may have had a grudge against him...Jimmy backtrack their phone calls...Chica...You and Tyriq check both of their laptops for any threatening or odd emails....And somebody...I don't care who...Look at more video footage of the next three blocks going both ways...Maybe we can pick up a car or something.." she said.

''We're on it.."said Tyriq, Jimmy and Duke  as they,Dr. Hazel Hunter and all of the uniforms got up and left the office... Carlotta was getting ready to leave when Sissy subtlely grabbed her arm indicating that she didn't want to be left alone with Lt.Cantrell...

She didn't leave and I didn't leave either..

Cantrell sat and chewed the fat for awhile...When he realized that we weren't leaving...He got up quietly...

"Well Sissy, It was nice seeing you again...I just wanted you to know that whatever you need, manpower..
,hours, resources..You just call ole Eddie C. and I'll get it for you....Call me anyway sweetness."he said and kissed her on the cheek...Sissy was now beet red if that was possible...I smiled as Lt. Cantrell let himself out of the office.

III-

"What was that about boss lady?" asked Carlotta laughing...Sissy was always laughing about me and Carlotta and now it was Carlotta's turn.

"Chica...I had a mad crush on that man for years...I mean..I was like ADA Wallace is when you come around....and Keith you know I love you like a brother, but Carlotta reduces you to mush....You know it's true and that's okay, because you really love her and me being her best friend...I know that she loves you too..With Cantrell...it was different...I was married...and here I was lusting after this man, My supervisor at the time...Thinking about him when I was at home with my husband." she said.

"You two didn't?" I asked...

"Oh no....No never...I never cheated on Robert while we were married...Unlike him of course...Anyway...Cantrell, who I idolized....All of us female detectives lusted after and idolized the man.. was just so smooth and sexy, but proved to be a bit of a hound.." said Sissy.

"He is attractive...But I can see that he has wandering eyes...He was trying to look down my blouse. and then I caught him checking out Dr. Hunter" said Carlotta... I just laughed.

I couldn't say that I blamed the man...Between Sissy, Carlotta and Hazel Hunter we had three of the finest women on the force in one unit...I certainly loved coming over here...

''Well, shortly after I made  Detective Sgt., He started coming on to me...He knew I was married...but he started coming on to me strongly...He cornered me in his office one day after all the other detectives left and tried to kiss me...I backed away...He apologized profusely...I kept my distance from him after that and I never wore skirts again...Just pants or tights...Not that it mattered...He didn't care, I often felt him undressing me with his eyes...What he did bordered on sexual harrassment...But I got promoted despite him.I kind of lost respect for him after he did that and never thought of him the same way again...Funny he asked me if I was still married...He must have forgotten.. He knew...As soon as my divorce became known..He started calling me, stopping by my new house...Asking me out."said Sissy.

"You ever go out with him?" I asked.

"Only once, To Josies...and I took Angie Belton with me..I guess he got the message.He stopped calling...I went my seperate ways as a Lieutenant and he went his...He's a good cop..He did teach me well." she said.  "But I didn't want to be alone with him...Thank you guys for staying." she said.

"Just remember your Eddie C." said Carlotta.

Sissy smiled..

"I did Chica..I did..and it wasn't  hard...but I did...Eddie has been so good to me lately....Sent me those flowers over there in the vase...Got up this morning and cooked me breakfast..." she said, suddenly realizing she may have let something slip...She looked at me and smiled..

"This may be a long case...I'm going to need some, well some companionship.." she said ,blushing..

"It's okay Sissy..I told your girl here the same thing." I laughed and slapped my knee.

"I've been staying with Keith all week boss lady." she said.

"See?..We gonna be alright girlfriend.." said Sissy...

"Yeah."said Carlotta as the three of us laughed...

IV-

Carlotta had left her car back at my condo...I picked her up in my car....

"What a day huh?" I asked as we drove off..

"Yeah...We may have gotten something." she said.

"Oh yeah, what?" I asked.

"Tyriq and I backtracked both computers and we found a series of threatening emails sent to both of them from somebody calling themselves "The Avenger"  We traced the origin of the emails to a computer in a cyber cafe in Chinatown....That's where we are going tomorrow." she said.

"Good stuff." I said...

"Yeah and Jimmy found something on that video cam too..." she said.

''What?" I asked.

"A White impala about three blocks down and an SUV that doesn't belong to anybody in the neighborhood..Maybe that's what transported our killers...He also got a grainy video of two people, looks like a man and a woman in black latex or spandex body suits with sunglasses on and baseball caps." she said.

"Now we are gettin somewhere." I said.

"Yeah...and now counselor...I don't want to discuss this case anymore..until tomorrow." she said and leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

"You know what?" she said.

''No what?" I asked.

"You reduce me to mush too." she said and pulled me to her and kissed me long and softly for a long time...

"Damn girl..." was all I could say...

"Keith,let's go home..."she said.

''Home? Home Carlotta?" I said.

"Ohhhh, you know what I mean...Your place."she said.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)