Honey Nest

Tyriq and Carlotta entered the dwelling...The Honey Nest that the very married ADA Mitchell Nelson paid for and used to bring women to and searched for anything the search team may have missed..

"Hazel said that the place had been wiped clean...No fingerprints whatsoever...Bleached down." said Tyriq.

"That's a tell tale sign right there....Nelson's fingerprints should be in here...This is his place and Emily Harris's fingerprints should be here..." said my wife Carlotta who looked around and then went in the bedroom....

''As my other partner, Jimmy would say...Jackpot..." she said...she was holding what looked like a piece of cloth and a strap...

''What you got there Carlotta?" I asked...

"It's a piece of a bra strap.....The bra that was uncovered in the dumpster had one of the straps missing...as if it had been tore...And this is a piece of cloth....Her panties had a slight rip.....I found these under the bed.." she said.

"It's probably nothing...but maybe we can pull more DNA." she said.

"It's something at least...Not what I was hoping for." said Tyriq...''Good pull Top."he said.

Just then, Sissy and Detective Sirena Pile, Tyriq's wife., walked into the room...I was very surprised seeing them both...

"Hey guys...Find anything?" asked Sirena..
"Just a bra strap and a piece of torn panty." said Carlotta

Sirena looked at her husband, Detective Tyriq Pile devilishly and remarked....

''Something you feel like telling me Rico?" she said jokingly ,but giving him the side eye.

We all bust out laughing.....

Tyriq , a master of the comeback didn't say anything, he just laughed and shook his head..

"Seriously...I was hoping to find fingerprints, DNA...something...This place was wiped clean....I can smell the bleach! I suspect that Emily Harris was raped and strangled in this very room..and that her killer may have worn a condom........" he said.

''Yeah, but you guys found a loaded condom in the dumpster with her clothing....Why would the killer include that?...He could have flushed it down the toilet." asked Sirena.

"Guess he was stupid." said Tyriq...

Carlotta cracked up!

"You guys want to call it a night?" I asked.

"I want to talk to the super, see if anyone has been in this room since the murder ,other than police.." said Tyriq.

''I'll do that with you honey...We haven't worked a case together, since before we got married." said Sirena.

I could sense that Sirena was brought along for that reason...Sissy hadn't said a word all this time...she motioned for Carlotta to come to her...

''What's up Boss Lady?" asked Carlotta.

''I did something bad tonight girlfriend...I'm so ashamed of myself..." said Sissy..

''What? ,What did you do?" asked Carlotta, thinking it was a joke.

''Lt. Cantrell kissed me in the lips in my office " she said.

"Sooo? He's always trying to do that or sneak one in..." laughed Carlotta..

''He didn't sneak one in...I let him!!! And I kissed him back....and worse....I-I- kind of liked it. He's got the softest lips , for a guy...And he smells so good...I nearly lost control, but I pulled myself together and asked him to leave." she said.

Carlotta's eyes got as wide as saucers and she smiled....

"Are you serious Boss Lady?" she asked.

"Yes....He kind of looked at me with one of those arrogant , I'm nearly in there looks.. and strutted out. I am such a whore..." said Sissy nearly in tears...

"No you're not...He is a good looking man and he wears those tailored suits and smells good...Any woman might succumb to his charms.." said Carlotta.

"But I don't want him...I want Eddie C...Not Eddie Cantrell...In my heart, I love Eddie C...I know this...Today was an aberration...I don't understand it...and I hate myself for being so weak. " said Sissy.

"You sure Eddie C. is who you really want?" asked Carlotta.

"Yes....He is...He's the one for me. The only one." said Sissy.

At this point, I jumped in....Not jokingly, but completely serious...

"Are you sure...Are you really sure?" I asked without a hint of a smile or a joke.

"Yes Keith ,I'm sure...I mean, Lt. Cantrell is attractive....I've always found him handsome and attractive.....but I like where I am with Eddie C.. We've got a nice thing going...I don't want to jeapordize that" said Sissy.

"Boss Lady...You know I love you like a Big Sister, so don't take this the wrong way....I'm going to tell you this because you need to hear it...You like the attention Lt. Cantrell has always given you...You do.. Any woman might...The flowers, the gifts...even sometimes the advances....Now he's got you confused...If you really want him gone...You've got to tell him in a way that he knows you mean business....Show him...Same way you showed Rollie Rollerson." said Carlotta.

Sissy hugged Carlotta tightly.....

"Girl, I love you soo much...You totally get me...You and Angie...That's why I'd go to the wall for you..." she said.

''What am I? Chopped Liver over here?" I asked...

Sissy smiled and hugged both Carlotta and me..... Carlotta's Walkie -Talkie went off....

"That's Rico and Sirena...They're done..." she said.

''Let's get out of here.. Let's go to Jakes for Hot Dogs...All of us..Rico,Sirena, Sissy...It's on me!" I said.

Sissy, Carlotta, Tyriq, Sirena and  I, all left the crime scene and went over to Jake's where we had one of his fantastic hot dogs and some cokes....


II-

The next day... Detectives James "Jimmy" Barlow, Edwin "Duke" Baylor and Tony Hopkins had a surprise waiting for us when we came in the office.

"Hey Rico, Carlotta....While you guys were re canvasing the crime scene last night...The three of  us picked up your other suspect...." said Jimmy.

"Sitting in our fishbowl is the illustrious Carlton IFISEEYOUFIRST Johnson...." said Duke..

''Yeah.. We picked him up in West Philly." said Hop.

"Thanks Guys....Come on Top, Let's have a go at him." said Tyriq as the two of them entered the Fishbowl..

Carlton IFISEEYOUFIRST Johnson was tall, thin, well dressed and even tempered... He was an up and coming player in the West Philadelphia drug game with three arrests and one conviction on his record..

He looked Carlotta up and down and smiled at her sheepishly...She smiled at him flirtatiously and sat quietly.. Tyriq did the talking...

"Good Morning Carlton....Can I get you something.. A Coffee?" asked Tyriq..

''Yeahhhh..A coffee would be nice.. Two creams and uh ruh...six sugars." he said smiling at Carlotta, who pretended to blush.

An officer brought him his coffee...

He looked at Carlotta and whispered...

"You got a man baby?"

She showed him her wedding band...

"I sure do papi ...He's standing outside looking in here." she said.

"I don't blame him...I wouldn't let you out of my sight either." he said, still grinning from ear to ear.

Carlotta put a glossy of the dead Emily Harris floating in the water tank on the table...He eyed it and grimaced a bit..

"Damn...baby girl has looked better." he said.

"So you know her?" asked Carlotta, speaking for the first time.

''Yeah...Me and her..we uh used to kick it."he said.

"In the fancy condo, her well connected boyfriend was paying for?" asked Tyriq.

''Yeahh..before that and until recently...Yeah ,me and Emily was kickin it before she married Justin Harris." he said.

"Where were you two days ago?" asked Carlotta.

He smiled...

"I wish I was with you babes...but unfortunately...I was locked up...Some cops in the 23rd knocked me on Saturday and I didn't get out of CFC until yesterday and then your guys picked me up again...I just can't stay out of trouble." he said looking at Carlotta and laughing...

Tyriq picked up an IPOD mini and scrolled through it...He was silent for a minute , then he smiled...

"This interview is over Mr. Johnson....You can go...An officer downstairs will take you where-ever you want to be let off at." he said.

Carlton smiled ,looked at Carlotta and said-''Always a pleasure to be of service to law enforcement. Tell your husband, he's a lucky man."

"I am certain that he knows that." said Carlotta ,shaking her head and laughing..

Carlotta smiled at him and then turned to Tyriq and sighed......

"What's up?" I asked them..

''Modern Technology....This IPOD Mini is great!!!...I checked through decks....Johnson was indeed picked up in the 23rd on Saturday and he was at CFC until yesterday...Meaning that he couldn't have committed the murder.. He was locked up..."said Tyriq.

''So we are back to square one...No suspects, No evidence."I said.

"We have something papi...Somebody in that building killed her...Somebody already there!!!...Hop and Jimmy are searching for somebody leaving that building with a package on traffic cam and the crime stopper video...That's our killer.." said Carlotta.

III-

Lt. Edward Cantrell walked in just then...I wondered when did the man ever work in his precinct..He was always over here... Though I couldn't blame him...So much eye candy around here. Not just the detectives,but we had pretty female uniformed cops too.

"What's goin on Duke, Rico, Jimmy?" he said as he strutted in with yet another tailored suit and a bag of chinese food from Chinese Bobs..

''Hey Lieutenant Cantrell, Nice suit. "said  Jimmy.

''Lookin Good Daddy." said Duke.

"Hot Damn..what bank did you rob?" laughed Tyriq. Lt. Cantrell smiled and gave him dap!

Lt. Cantrell just laughed at them all and kept walking....Sissy's office door was closed and her shades were drawn..

Carlotta gave Lt.Cantrell a big smile and said-

''Hello Lt. Cantrell...That is an incredible suit you're wearing and you smell amazing.." she said.

He smiled..

"Why thank you darlin..." he said.

''Boss lady is really very,very busy right now and she can't see you." said Carlotta.

He looked at her like she was crazy...

"Nonsense darlin...I brought us some lunch...Chinese Bob's!!!..Best Chinese food in Philadelphia" he said laughing and knocked on the door...

If you got up close, you could hear moaning...and what sounded like kissing...

"I've got to go babes...but I'll be back tomorrow." came the unmistakable voice of Eddie C!!!

 Eddie C. was kissing Sissy passionately in her office... I noted that they made considerably less noise than Carlotta and I in simular situations...We moaned and carried on something terrible, which is why she was reluctant to make out with me over here in C.I.D.

"Oh Eddie, thank you for that wonderful lunch you surprised me with." she said in between another soft kiss...

"Chinese Bob's still has the best chinese food around here." he said and kissed her again...

"I'll say." she said. Eddie C. held Sissy in his arms and just looked at her..Then he smiled...

"You are soooo sexy... I hate to leave but I gotta go babes...This was the best lunch hour I've had in a long time..."he said.

"Why don't you have lunch with me more often?" she cooed...

"After that kiss you layed on me today babes...I certainly will be by more often...Damn...I aint gonna be able to concentrate at work." he said.

"Oh hush up silly!" laughed Sissy seductively....They kissed some more...

"Oh and babes...if you're serious about what you said...I'll start making preperations to box my stuff up this weekend." he said and they embraced in a tender kiss again..

"I don't ever want to be without you every morning again." he said and placed another passionate kiss on Sissy...

"If you don't stop kissing me Eddie, neither of us is going to get any work done the rest of the day." cooed Sissy as she tried to get out of his embrace...

Lt. Eddie Cantrell had seen and heard enough...He  dropped his food...It splattered all over the floor..He stomped his foot and stormed out of the office in a huff....

Tyriq banged his fists on his desk laughing....

I slapped the wall and laughed until my sides felt like they were going to split...

Carlotta, Duke, Jimmy, Sirena, Hop ,Hazel and Sharon looked stunned...This was the second time this had happened.First time they had witnessed it.

Sissy and Eddie C. walked out of the office...She stared at all of us ,staring at her and Eddie C.  She looked at the floor and at the wall and shook her head....She wasn't laughing this time...she looked ...a little weary....I felt sorry for my good friend.So Did Carlotta.. She was not laughing...

"Hey Guys.. What's happening Keith? Whoa, what happened here?" said Eddie C. ,looking at the mess on the floor..Sissy looked at the floor and just shook her head...

 "Uh ,one of the officers dropped their food...Damn shame...It smelled good." I lied..

Tyriq was now in hysterics... Eddie C. looked at him and smiled..

"This happened the last time I brought Sissy some Chinese food...It wasn't the same guy was it?" he asked.

"No...No...This was someone else." I lied again..By now, Duke and Jimmy were bowled over in laughter..Hop, Sirena and Hazel still looked a little confused as to what had just happened.

 "I hate to say this, but yall got some clumsy officers workin here...That was good food and expensive too...Sorry I missed it." said  Eddie C. who was now laughing himself.

Sharon and a couple of FBI agents stared at the whole thing and just walked into their office area and went on about their business.

Two or three police officers began cleaning up the food and mopping the floor...They were smiling...

"Damn shame to waste that good food." Eddie C said again.

Tyriq was still laughing...Sissy looked at him oddly... He looked at her, tears were flowing from his eyes...She looked at him and smiled and put her index finger to her lips....Eddie C. kissed her again...

''Well,I'll see you babes..gotta go.  Bye guys...Shame about that chinese food." he said as he left.

By now, everybody was laughing hysterically....Except my wife Carlotta..

Carlotta looked at her friend, Lt. Sissy Van Buren, who was not laughing...

''You okay Boss Lady?"she said sympathetically...Sissy just held her head down...

"I hope I am Chica...Eddie C. and I had a heart to heart and then we had some great food and then I broke one of my cardinal rules...He's been bugging me to let him move in with me for months now...I've agreed to it!!!..In a few weeks we are going to be living together Chica...He told me he wants to marry me in so many words." she said.

''WOWWWW!!! That's major.. You're engaged!" said Carlotta, her eyes getting big!

"No...Not quite...He still has to get me a ring ...He still has to ask me, for that matter..but we are closer to being that than ever before." said Sissy.

"I am so happy for you Boss Lady." said Carlotta.

"I think I had an attack of conscience today....I called Eddie C.  I told him I had to see him...I've never done that with any man before." said Sissy.

I believed that...She's never had to..

"That's okay...Just as long as this is what you really and truly want." said Carlotta.

IV-

A few hours later, Detective Tony Hopkins called everybody into the video monitor room...

"It took me and Jimmy awhile , but I think we found what we are looking for" he said.

"If you look at the screen on your right...There is a guy, leaving the building, just as the police are arriving...It's a little after 7:00pm...and he's got a plastic bag...You can see through it...The dummy didn't have the common sense to use a hefty trash can liner or a back pack...When we get a closer view look what we see, a torn bra, woman's tights, a smartphone, a rust colored dress, shoes, a wallet...It's the same thing we recovered from the dumpster...." said Jimmy.

"And if you follow the crime stopper cameras about twenty blocks south of there and look at the time, 7:37pm...There is the same guy dumping the contents in the trash can.." said FBI Special Agent Sharon Hopkins.

''Can you get a close up of his face?"  asked Sissy.

They did....Carlotta and Tyriq looked at each other...

"Oh My God...That's the superintendant's son!!!  we interviewed him...." said Tyriq..

"We've got to go pick him up." said Carlotta..

"You get a DNA match and we've got him" said Hazel....

I looked on with pride....

How my unit had grown...Cracking big cases....Doing major things...I was so proud of this group...I couldn't think of a better group of people that I had ever worked with.

I stepped out in the hallway and I heard Lt. Cantrell on his cell phone..he appeared to be a little shook up..

"I'm okay Carol....No...I'm...I'm a little disappointed...but I'll be alright....I'm done...I think I have my answer... Her and me?  It's not going to happen.I can't do this anymore..I'm making a fool out of myself..Hey, I gave it a good try....Can't do no more than that...Thank you again for being so good about this...She's out of my life, out of my system now....I think I'll be down to see you this weekend....Let's drive over to Baltimore...Get some Crabs, drink some beer, hang out on the waterfront...I know a great little cantina down there. Yeah, sure...I'm alright....I gotta...I gotta go, go now..." he said.  He looked as if he was fighting back tears...but he straightened himself out...took out a hankerchief and wiped his face and his brow...My Man Ed! I thought.

He saw me and he looked up....

"Oh heyyy ADA Wallace..." he said and walked out into the cold night.

I could see that he was in a lot of psychic pain.....I just stared at the door as it closed behind him.


(CONCLUSION NEXT)