Quit While You're Ahead

FBI Special Agent Liason, Sharon Ferrell-Hopkins called us into the conference room the next day..

"I suppose you're wondering why I called you guys in here...?" she said.

''The thought did grab us."joked Sissy.. I passed out tumblers of coffee to Sissy,my wife, Carlotta, Jimmy and Tyriq who were also present..

"That fellow you were questioning yesterday...Tony Blake....I know him..." said Sharon...

"He's a suspect in his business partner's wife's murder...but right now...it looks like someone is trying to frame him."said Carlotta.

"Yeah well...eight years ago...His first wife, Yvette Rodman Blake vanished off of a cruise ship just like the one he was partying on...People say she either jumped or she fell off!...Her body was never recovered and we did a pretty thorough investigation...but we never got enough to charge him.....He had her insured up to the millions...Tidy enough for him to solve a cash flow problem he was having....We had motive, but no physical proof. " said Sharon..

''Wow! This wasn't his wife though...It was his business partner.'s..who happens to be gay...wife..he was having an affair with her...His present wife caught them the night that our victim died..."said Tyriq.

"You guys talk to the wife?"..asked Sharon...

"I had her down here yesterday....She suspected he was cheating all along and she walked up on them on the boat just an hour before our victim took a header off the boat..but it wasn't her." said Jimmy.

"You know this how?" said Sharon...

Just then Hazel walked in the room.

"Because....Mrs. Blake is right handed...Our killer is left handed...I can tell from the angle and projection of the blows to the head..." said Hazel...

"We got a witness that says he was with her for that hour up until Michelle Jordan was last seen.."said Jimmy.

''Top and I found film footage of the party that shows Mrs. Blake in all the places she said she was during our window of time" said Tyriq..

"You thinking a professional hit??" asked Sharon..

''No...Too sloppy, blunt force trauma to the head and then dropped over the side...We found blood from our victim on the side of the boat she was dropped, but no finger prints...Our killer was at least smart enough to wear gloves...but this was still amature hour.  " said Carlotta.

"We are at a dead end on this one right now...but..We may bring Tony Blake back down here."said Sissy.

II-

Carlotta ,Jimmy and Tyriq took two uniform policemen with them and brought Tony Blake back down to police headquarters...Sissy and I watched and listened.. from outside the window..

He was not pleased....In fact he was a little belligerent...This time in addition to them,FBI SAC,Sharon Ferrell Hopkins was in with them..

He saw Sharon and he frowned....

''You!  I remember you from Los Angelas...You're FBI..." he said.

"That's right...I remember you too..." she said.

"You come all the way to Philly to try and pin some unwarranted charges on me?" he said.

"Oh no...I live here now...That's my office over there...I saw them when they brought you in yesterday." she said.

"Why Didn't you tell us about your first wife?" asked Carlotta.

"For what? That has nothing to do with this...Michelle was not my wife...I didn't kill her and I didn't kill my first wife...You guys got nothin." he said.

"You know...I can't remember how many felons have sat where you're sitting now and said that same thing to us...They're all mostly sitting in a cell right now."said Tyriq, staring daggers at him...

He looked at Sharon with pure hatred...

"I didn't kill Michelle...I loved her...It was some of the best sex I ever had...Why would I kill her, she was worth nothing more to me than a good lay?" he said.

"Maybe because your wife was planning to divorce you...She had an iron clad pre nup...I checked...You'd have to pay her out the butthole."said Jimmy...

"So what?  Do you know what I'm now worth?  That wouldn't have hurt me at all...I had more incentive to kill MY wife than someone elses..." he said.

"You know, I did my research on you and I was all through your house... You had a large trophy..."Mr Entrprenuer" for the years 2010, 2011, 2012....2011 was missing...That trophy is the size and model of the blunt object that killed Michelle Jordan...Where is it?" asked Carlotta...

He looked confused...

"What? I-I-I don't know....Awwww come on...You guys settin me up?? I didn't kill Michelle, I swear...I had an argument with my wife...A violent one....I went above board to the ships bar and got drunk...drunk as hell....ask my wife...Ask the bartender...I ended my night face down in one of the cabins..."he said.

"Okay...but until then...I suggest you call your lawyer..We are going to hold you until we can check your story out..." said Carlotta...

"Awww, I don't believe this...And while you're wasting your time with me...The real killer is out there."he said.

"What hand do you write with?" asked Carlotta..

"Huh?/, What?? My right hand...Why?" he said.

Carlotta sighed...

"Mr. Blake...You can go...Sorry about this." said Carlotta...Tyriq and Jimmy held their heads down and sighed...Tyriq nodded and un cuffed him... Jimmy escorted him out.

..Sharon  looked at her good friend...

"Carlotta what was that?" she asked.

"It's not him Sharon...Our killer is definitely left handed....I don't know about his first wife...but he didn't do this...We are going to back check him just the same.Our killer is someone else...Someone Else that was at that party." said Carlotta..

Sirena, Duke and Hop walked in just then...

"Heyy Top,Rico,Jimmy...You might want to look at this." said Duke...

"That waiter we had down here yesterday...Tony Maiden...??" said Hop...

''Well this is a photo of Tony Maiden." said Sirena putting a photo of a soldier on the table...

Sissy looked at it....

"This isn't the guy you had down here yesterday..."said Sissy...

"No it isn't....In fact this guy..a soldier in this unit in Afghanistan is dead...Killed in action a year ago...However this guy...Damon Rodman of San Diego, California is very much alive...This is who we had down here yesterday.He went AWOL a couple of months ago and is in Philadelphia now...He stole this guy's identity and fished himself in with this catering company...The same company that was on the boat doing that party..." said Sirena.

Carlotta and Tyriq looked at Sharon..

"DAMON RODMAN!!!! RODMAN....THAT'S THE BROTHER OF YVETTE RODMAN BLAKE...Tony Blake's first wife...believed murdered!!!they all said in Unison...

"This wasn't about Paul and Michelle Jordan...This was about Tony Blake...This guy believed that Tony Blake murdered his sister and he came here and got on that boat to seek revenge!!! He probably murdered your worker so that he could take his place on the boat that night...Hazel said his throat was slit with a military knife.." I said.

" It makes sense...We need a search warrant counselor and a warrant to pick him up." said Sissy.

"I'm working on it...I just e-mailed Judge Freeman..."I said.

"Oh my God...Do you know he called me last week and asked me if I'd bought any new lingerie and panty hose from Victoria's Secret?" said Sissy..."That freak saw me in there a few weeks ago and he told me he liked my style." she said...

We all busted out laughing....

III-

I drove to pick Angie up...Her car had a flat...She was over at the catering company...I parked and was walking up on her Talking to Lt. Gary Lockwood.

"I see you have a flat." he said.

"Yeah, but it's cool...Somebody is coming to get me." she said.

"Who?  That white boy?"he said.

''No..He's working this case..."she said.

"I'd like to work your case..." he said.

"Excuse me?" said Angie..

"Angie...baby...Ever since I come over to IA, all I do is think about you...before you transferred...I used to stare at those big shapely legs of yours...when you wore a mini-skirt...I used to dream about how good your na-na was...I can't get you off of my mind...and I know you remember how good it was...I know you remember how I used to put it on you....I remember how good you put it on me girl....I need you to come back to IA...I need to hit that thing...Yes lord." he said.

"You're my Lieutenant now...I wouldn't sleep with you if I wanted to....That is fraternization...."said Angie..

"What? Look at Sissy's unit....Tyriq and Sirena are husband and wife..." he said.

 "They're not partners and he doesn't have any authority over her...He's not her supervisor.."said Angie.

''Duke is married to the Forensic Investigator." he said.

''Hazel is not a cop, she's part of the Medical Examiner's Office." said Angie...

"And that Puerto Rican Girl, Carlotta...She's married to the ADA..." he said.

"Again...He's not a cop...Not her supervisor and is not a ranking official of the PPD....I guess you're going to mention Hop being married to Sharon next right....Two different agencies...She's FBI, He's Police...So what you got?" she said, laughing...

"Okay...Okay....but you're with Sissy...You're in Homicide...so for right now...I'm not your supervisor...But I'd like to supervise those panties and that bra coming off.." he said.."Heh,heh,Heh.." he laughed...

"You know...you need to stop right now....Quit while you're ahead..I could have a great sexual harrassment case against you...Wouldn't look good on your record..." said Angie...

"You'd have to prove I said all of that stuff first." he said...

"You know Gary,I used to be in love with you....I would have moved in with you...I would have married you if you had asked me....Why did you turn out to be such a jerk?" she said.

"Angie please...I didn't know how you felt about me then...If I had, I would have asked you to marry me..Let's go to a hotel and make love...just one time...I swear..it would be so good...I need you,I have to have you..."he said.

"Like I said...A sexual harassment charge won't look good on your record.." she said.

''So you're going to be like that huh? I'm in tight with Lt. Tragg and he's tight with the Deputy of Operations...I'm on the fast track to Captain and maybe more...You uh treat me right and tomorrow, you might be a Lieutenant and won't need to be in Sissy's group...You'll have detectives and cops of your own.."he said.

"That's it...You're so busted Gary." she said.

"Oh cut it out baby..."he said.

"No...you cut it out!" said a tall, dark skinned police officer with Captain's bars...and slightly greying hair...

He turned around astonished...

''Huh? What?Captain Daniels??"he said.

''That's right..I already know who you are loverboy....You broke that patrol woman's heart over in my precinct...Now here you are trying to run game on a detective??....and an IAB Detective at that? How stupid are you??" he said looking at Lt.Lockwood with pure disgust as did I..

Three police officers handcuffed him, snatched his badge and took his gun...

Angie opened her blouse, revealing a wire bra...

"I was wearing a wire...Everything you said was on tape.."she said and closed her blouse up...

''Damn girl...Could you let me see that wire again..just one time?" he said , drooling at the sight of Angie's bra. She closed her blouse in disgust!

"Let's go lover boy.."said the Captain and the two officers that hustled him off..

I walked up to Angie..

"Nicely done Detective and I witnessed the whole thing."I said.

"I didn't make any new friends by busting that creep, he was popular and well liked by the big boys...I may have wore out my welcome in IA...." she said.

"I doubt that and if anybody gives you trouble...You know you have a friend in the District Attorney's office..
but you know....You can always come back to your real home...Homicide...Come on Angie...You spend more time with us than you do your own unit..You're always welcome.." I said.

She hugged me...

''You are so sweet...Carlotta is sooo lucky..." she said.

"Come on...I'll give you a ride back to C.I.D.   I'll have someone pick this car up." I said..

"Keith...Jimmy doesn't know about any of this does he?" she asked.

"Why would he have to?  He's busy working his murder case...''I said and smiled.

"Carlotta is sooo lucky...So lucky I didn't meet you first."she said and smiled sweetly....I smiled back at her..

And  she got in my car and we drove off!

(CONCLUSION NEXT)