Early the next morning...I stood on the roof of C.I.D.
headquarters....It was cool out...I was drinking a tumbler of hot
coffee...So was Sissy....
She looked at me and smiled...
''So Kevin...
Tell me something I don't Already know." she said.
"John "Jack Stevens, age 65 's credit cards were all maxed out and his bank account which should have been full was empty." I said.
"I know that." she said.
"I spoke to everybody that was in that phone,
well almost everybody and they just gave me basic facts about the man...nothing I could use." I said.
''Yup, know that."she said.
"I talked to his daughter yesterday...Her name is Jean...
"She had been educated in Philadelphia public schools, had gotten a
bachelors at Drexel University, majoring in Chemistry and had then
gotten a Masters at Howard University....She was married and lived in
D.C. where she gave birth to a son, now 22, attending Howard and a
daughter, 21 ,attending Morgan State.
She divorced
their father about ten years ago and returned to Philadelphia when her
mother died...Her father moved in with her... Her father retired from
his government job with a pretty decent pension and had been lucky with
the stock market and came into some more money....
Jean,
who worked for a Pharmecutical company was making a modest salary..A
check of her credit cards and bank account revealed nothing out of the
ordinary...She had no insurance policy on her father...and there was no
criminal record in her past...She appears to be on the up." I said.
"I know all of that too." said Sissy.
''
She's paying me to look into her father's death." I said.
''Okay.
.I didn't know that...but it doesn't help me..." she said.
"It seems her old man was dating a much younger woman, but had broke it off and was suspicious that he might be getting ripped off by her and that she was possibly seeing someone else." I said.
"Yes, the mysterious and
non-existant Marilyn Blake." said Sissy and smiled..
"Wow, young Detective Hopkins is good aint he?...We both checked out the same things."I said.
"He is a damn good investigator...I was trying to see how he matched up to you...I'm impressed with him..." she said.
"Sissy...He's being mentored by
you, Carlotta,Duke, Tyriq, Jimmy...All of you are great detectives...How can he not be good?" I said.
"
You're a great investigator Kevin...I swear, what I wouldn't give to have you and my guys together.." she said.
"You do!!....
You all just don't pay me that's all.." I said and laughed...
Sissy laughed too...
"Sissy, this
Marilyn Blake is real...
That's just not her real name...She sounds like a grifter....Call a few local police stations, ask if they have any cases like this.....I'm going out on the streets and see if I can shake up some information...Anything I get..I'll call you." I said.
I went to hug Sissy, but she surprised me...She kissed me on the cheek!!!...
"Be Easy Kevin..You're the best." she said.
"Always Sissy." I said and I left.
II-
I went to the Mermaid Club and talked to a number of the guys that hung in there...Nobody knew much of anything..I paid Big Chicken and Rollo Jones a visit...This was always interesting...
"Kev, Sounds like a girl named
Betty Smith...her and a guy... uh,
Bobby Smith used to scam in New Jersey...She'd hook an old dude...Usually some cat that just retired...Have him fall in love and get access to his bank accounts, his credit cards, the whole deal and then vanish...leaving the guy broke and heartbroken...They were a team...Used to Work Atlantic City a lot." he said.
''Chicken, you know what this babe looked like?" I asked.
''Kev, baby...Grifters, Identity thieves..
they don't get their photos taken." he laughed.
He was right...I thanked him and left...
I next called Atlantic City and talked to my old friend, Eric ''Sharkdollars " Redding...If anybody knew
..He knew.
''Yeah Kev...I knew a couple that fit that description....They ran a number of scams here in AC like that....but they got careless...killed an old dude...That was three years ago...They haven't been seen since." he said.
"Thanks Man." I said.
Sepia and I drove to the office of Wallace Binghampton...The man she and Bonita were buying the Duplex from...
I showed him a photo of the now deceased John Stevens....
"Oh yeah..yeah...That's Jack...One of my best tenants..." he said.
"He lived in that Duplex?" I asked.
''No...He lived in the one across the street...Directly across the street with
his wife." said Mr. Binghampton.
''His wife? He wasn't married sir."I said.
"That's what the Homicide Detective who is over there now told me...You know I thought Marilyn looked a bit young for him...Guess she was just a girlfriend. She used to write all of the checks for the rent." he said.
"Do you have one?" I asked.
''I gave one to the Homicide Detective...but I do have one." he said. He passed it to me..I gave it to Sepia..
"When did they move out?" I said.
"Oh she didn't! He did.!..Said he was moving back with his daughter about three days ago...I haven't seen her since then." he said.
''Mind if I take a look?" I said.
"Go ahead...The Detective is still up there." he said.
Sepia and I walked across the Street...
"Hey Detective Hopkins." I said.
"Hey Kev...Ms. Sepia." he said.
The apartment was bare, completely empty....
"She's a grifter man....Fleeced this man dry and then moved out...Her name is still on the lease." he said.
"I heard she was working with a man." I said.
"Yeah...but I couldn't find out much about who he is.." he said.
I looked around, then decided to leave...
''Well man,If I find out anything...I'll be in touch." I said.
"Thanks Kev." he said.
III-
I went back to Jean's house....
"Do you have any photos of your father and this girl?" I said.
"You know...that's funny...She never liked getting her picture taken...She was so camera shy....But I have one photo...It's a good photo of her and my dad, taken here on New Years Eve, the year before last." she said.
"Can I see it?" I said.
''See it,
you can have it..This bitch probably killed my father...or at any rate, stole his identity and robbed him blind." she said.
The photo was of a very shapely and attractive young woman...A woman younger than Jean , the type of woman that could spellbound a man his age as well as an older man...I looked at this photo of Marilyn Blake or whoever she was and I got the idea that I could perfectly see how she trapped this man, enthralled him in bed and totally took over his life...but why kill him? I wondered.
"Thank you Jean...I'll be in touch " I said.
I got the thought to check his credit cards for any activity after we found Jack Steven's body.... There was one entry...Somebody had bought a lot of food...The kind that is non-perishable from the local market...
Paper towells, TV Dinners, Toilet paper, Sliced Ham and Cheese, Chips, Dip...et al...I went to the Market and asked if I could check the video of the days before and after Jack Stevens death and there she was...The mysterious
Marilyn Blake!!!! I now at least had a face.. Time to call Sissy!
I showed Sissy and Detective Hopkins the two photos I had of "Marilyn Blake" and I told her about a
Betty Smith in New Jersey...A suspected Grifter...
Sissy showed me something...
"Amazing you got that photo, the same time we got our information." she said.
''Kevin ,I called the Bunco squad here and in Camden ,Atlantic City and New York like you said and I got a hit ,not on
Marilyn Blake, but on
''Betty Smith" in Camden and Atlantic City...She has a rap sheet...Prostitution, Grifting,Wire Fraud,Check Fraud, Identity Theft...Look at her police photo and now look at
your photo...They are one in the same...But here is where it get's interesting...She was arrested on Wire Fraud and Identity theft in New York City.....Same woman...Look at the name...''
Paula Jones" said Sissy.
"There's more.
."Paula Jones", like
"Betty Smith" and even "
Marilyn Blake" are recently deceased elderly people whose social security numbers and identity was stolen. So I ran her name through decks and her name comes up again....and look where...In
London...." said Detective Hopkins...
"London? ,The U.K.?" I said...
"Yes.. Her name there was
"Sarah Cooper"...
Sarah Cooper was a recently deceased woman...27 years old who died in an auto accident.." said Sissy,
Just then...a very pretty woman walked in...I could tell by the way Detective Hopkins eyes lit up when she walked in that she meant something to him..
"Kevin, This is acting FBI Special Agent in charge, Sharon Ferrell...She is filling in for Frank Cotton until he returns...." said Sissy.
"Pleased to meet you." I said.
"I'm pleased
to meet you...So you're the legendary Kevin Morris huh? Wow! That was a great tip you gave us in that Bank Robbery case...Helped us get the money....Thank you..I've heard so much about you.." she said.
I smiled...but said nothing....
"Anyway...I ran that photo through decks Sissy...Our girl's real name is
Emma Short-Downey...She was born in Atlanta, she's 32 years old and has a trail of arrests for Prostitution, Fraud, Wire Fraud..Identity theft, writing bad checks, you name it.. She has close to 20 arrests in Pennsylvania, Deleware Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Georgia,Florida and even overseas in London.,various alias's and three convictions, and two short stays in the big house... One was in the Women's Prison in New Jersey and the other was in Deleware. She's married to this cool gentleman...
William Downey...Convictions for writing bad checks, identity theft, wire fraud, et al..Did a three year stint in federal prison for violating the Mann act...Taking a minor across state lines for prostitution. This was out in California before he married Emma Short. Looks like these two psychopaths have teamed up...They're suspects in the death of an eldery Atlantic City man. Three years ago...Both vanished before they could be charged with anything.Haven't been seen since."she said.
Eric "Shark dollars" Redding was on the money! I thought.
''Wow! But all of these are non-violent crimes...How did they escalate to murder??" I asked.
"We'll have to ask them that when we catch them." said Sissy.
''If they're even still in town." said Detective Hopkins.
''I think they are still in town."I said.
"I'm going to check and see if any cars were rented under the name of
Marilyn Blake or with any of Steven's credit cards...Only one card was missing."said Detective Hopkins...
''What about Stevens new car?"I asked.
''We have it!..We impounded it for evidence."said Sissy.
"Good deal.."I said.
"Thank you baby." said Detective Hopkins to FBI Agent Ferrell and kissed her in the lips....
''You're welcome boo."she said as she prepared to go..."Nice meeting you Kevin." she said.
''Same here."I said.
Sissy looked at me...
"
His fiance...They live together..." she said. "I'm surrounded by so much
love Kevin...Keith and Chica, Duke and Dr. Hunter, Jimmy and my girlfriend, Angie Belton and now my rookie and his FBI agent." she laughed...
''And Detective Pile?" I asked.
''He's married to another detective ..She works in the fugitive squad."
"That's why you guys are so good Sissy,
surrounded by love." I said and laughed...
"
Oh is that what it is?" laughed Sissy.
"Good for him" I said and smiled.
"You said you think they're still in town?" asked Sissy.
"Yeah....Judging by the types of things they bought...They're someplace close by...Not far....I'm almost certain of it. Keep a patrol car in that neighborhood on that house.." I said.
"Will do." she said.
"Hey..it's been two days and I haven't seen your other detectives...What did you do lay them off?" I asked.
"No...Nooo. Carlotta and Jimmy are working a murder....Tyriq and Duke are working another murder..and ADA Wallace is trying a big case...
I'm just co-ordinating and watching over Detective Hopkins , who seems to be holding his own." she said with the pride of a mother who is rooting for it's youngest child...
I put my arm around Sissy and hugged her...
"Just a matter of time....We'll get em." I said.
"Be Easy Kevin." she said.
"Always." I said as I left her office.
I couldn't put my finger on it...but I knew these two were still in town, somewhere close.
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
