The 21st Client

The next morning, only Olivia came to county to see my father...She met him in court and turned in his official plea of Not Guilty on all counts...Despite the Assistant District Attorney , Lowell Jennings,( A snake if I ever knew one...And a person who just missed the corruption probe by the skin of his teeth..) trying mightily to avoid a court trial and offering a five year manslaughter plea, Olivia refused and argued for a trial and insisted on a non guilty plea.

She told me later she could feel the hatred spewing from his veins...I wasn't surprised...
She next argued before a judge that Johnny Ray's bail should be reduced...She brought up the fact that he was not a felon, had no previous record..was gainfully employed and not a flight risk...

The old Judge who was ogling her and winking and smiling every chance he got set his bail lower than even Olivia suspected...My sister and brother in law put up his bail and that afternoon, My dad walked out of court a free man..Well almost...The ADA argued that a monitoring device be kept on his ankle...Olivia argued against that, but then caved and compromised...She said she didn't want my father held any longer than necessary...

She allowed my father to talk to me when they recessed...

"Donnie Ray!  You got a pearl of a girl here...You better not ever mess up with her..She's a gem...She's the best....I'm free....I been in jail a month and she got me sprung!!!" he said.

I had never heard my dad so happy before...I was kind of happy myself...

I spoke to Olivia...

"So what are you going to do?" I asked.

"Your sister and brother in law are taking him to their house...I'm staying here..I'm going to the law library.....You can pick me up when you guys finish...How are you doing so far? " she asked.

"We've interviewed 15 of her twenty one clients....I've checked their alibi's...They've been cleared....We are having lunch now."I said.

"Tomorrow , we'll take a look at the crime scene...I'm going to subpeona the rest of the case files from the D.A.'s office." she said..

"Good Girl...We'll pick you up after we are through." I said.

"Okay.." she said.

"Olivia?" I said.

"Yes." she said.

"Thank you....I really appreciate what you're doing for me...I'm in your debt.."I said.

"You're my husband....I'm supposed to have your back." she said and kissed me softly... I stared into her brown eyes and smiled...

II-

Beverly and I had both rented cars for the day...She interviewed some, I interviewed the others... We met up for lunch and compared notes and then went back to interviewing the rest...In all, we interviewed 20 people by the end of the day...One client, Douglas Stevens, the President of City Council was unavailable...I now understood why the case Detective didn't interview them..These were powerful people,He didn't want to take any heat... Coward.

''D.R. All of her clients had problems with sex addiction and all of them are prominent citizens, Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, Businessmen...The kind of people who wouldn't want it made public that they had sexual problems...most notably, sexual addiction." said Beverly...

"I didn't know this many people were freaks." I joked... We both laughed..but our laughter was cut short...

A short pudgy , Blonde haired guy in an ill fitting suit  walked over to us...He had two uniformed policemen with him...

"Donnie Ray Alexander...Don't tell me you're back in town." he said.

"Bobby....I see you moved up..You made Detective." I said.

"Yeah....Homicide.." he said.

"That's quite a jump for you..."I said.

"And you? What are you doing? I heard you got married...Moved up North to Philly and you're a P.I. now." he said.

"That's right....but I think you knew all of that before you came here."I said.

He smiled..

''What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"We are doing our job, representing our client...If you had followed up and interviewed all of those other suspects...Maybe my father wouldn't be in jail in the first place." I said.

Beverly rubbed my arm..

"Easy D.R." she said.

"So that deadbeat is your dad huh?  It figures." he said.

"You need to stop talking right now.."I said.  I could feel the anger brewing in me..

He put his hand on his service revolver, just slightly...

"I'll talk as much as I want... You interviewed all those people and you got nothing , a big fat zero...I could have told you that much...but nooooooooooooo, you , the big deal detective, the guy who wanted the city of New Orleans to have a parade for him because he's so smart had to play big shot and go on a wild goose chase that led to nothing.." he said.

"How is your dad doing?" I asked..

He looked like he'd drank a can of paint when I said that...but he didn't answer...I knew I'd gotten to him then. His face got as red as a beat...

"I met your wife today...She subpeonaed my case files....and a case that was all but closed is now opened again...She even sprung my suspect...Then I hear that you and some other broad is goin around harrassing some of the city's more prominent citizens...Haven't you caused enough trouble?" he said.

"If you don't want anything else...We are going..."I said and Beverly and I got up...

"Stay out of my way...Don't mess with my case..."he said.

"Nice seeing you again Bobby....." I said and Beverly and I left and got in my car..

He walked out and got in his car...

He must've thought that I forgot about playing front and follow...I knew that he had a
GPS tracking device on my car and that he wasn't far from me...

I took my car back to Avis rent a car....I took the GPS device off of it and tossed it in a
waste basket outside...

Beverly pulled up in her rental car...I checked her car...Sure enough...Her car had a tracking device under it too...I took it off..Drove out to the levy and tossed it into the
water...

We laughed and pulled off...I wonder how long it would take him to realize he was no longer getting signals...

Beverly turned her car in...We rented another car, completely different and pulled off.

III-

"Bev tells me that you made a new friend." laughed Olivia..

"Yeah, this guy reminds me of Mark Snark...the cop in Dallas.." said Beverly...

"He's just as dumb as Mark Snark....At least Mark Snark was a patrol officer...This guy, Bobby Grandon is actually a detective...He couldn't make a case on a suspect if the guy confessed..."I said.

We all laughed and enjoyed a nice meal and listened to some cool sounds in the club we were in..

"Della is going to have a full house...The three of us and your dad..."said Beverly...

"That's why I told her we were eating in town....Plus I wanted to make sure we weren't followed...Grandon is dangerous...I wouldn't put it past him to try to intimidate us if he could..From now on...The three of us stay together...Okay?" I said.

"Yes sir!" said Olivia, smiling..

"This is your town,Donnie Ray." said Beverly, smiling.

IV-

Despite what I had told them about staying together...I dropped them both off at the courthouse the next day and I went to the precinct...

Detective Bobby Grandon was nowhere to be found...I smiled when I wondered if he was still out trying to find out where I was..

A young Black detective who I did not know approached me..

"You're Donnie Ray Alexander" he said.

"Yes and who might you be?" I asked...

"I'm Detective Dwayne Baptiste.." he said.

"I don't know you.." I said.

"You don't remember me..I used to go fetch coffee for you and some of the other detectives when you were here on the force...I was a rookie..Patrol cop then...After that FBI sting...A lot of the old guys went to prison and some of the older guys saw the writing on the wall and that gave guys like me the opportunity to step up, take the detectives exam and move up." he said smiling...

We shook hands...

I looked around the squad room...I saw a lot more black faces....Both uniformed cops and detectives...Perhaps this was a sign of real change...

"I'm looking for Detective Grandon." I said.

He laughed at the mention of his name...

"You don't want to talk to him..." he said.

"Oh and why not?" I asked.

"He's in hot water with the Lieutenant.....He took some surviellience equipment that had been loaned to us by the FBI without proper authorization for an unauthorized search and he lost the equipment!!!!!" he said cracking up laughing...

He was talking about the GPS tracking devices he had placed on my and Beverly's rental cars...

"He was out all yesterday trying to track down the cars he put them on...He found the cars..they were rentals...but people from both agencies said that they knew nothing about any tracking devices...Then he went looking for you...He searched every hotel in town looking for you and your wife..The lieutenant didn't want to hear it...This was his third serious goof up of the week...He's on suspension...The guy's got the lowest clearence record in the unit...The Lieutenant asked him to clear one case...That case was the Markland case...And from the way things looked...He screwed that up..So he's been taken off the case..." he said.

I laughed hard...

"Wow...Who is on the case?" I asked..

"Take a guess?" he said.

"You?" I said.

''Yeah...and I just want to close it..." he said...

"So do I...Look..I'm a Private Investigator now...I can investigate on my own...But it'll be a lot easier having a partner from the Police Department...It's not my desire to embarrass the department...I just want to get to the truth..."I said.

"Fair enough....What do you have?" he asked..

"My associate and I interviewed 20 people ...20 0f her clients....and We checked their alibi's...All of them were cleared except one...The City Council President...We didn't get to talk to him...He came to visit her that night too...At 8:00 pm and he left at 9;00 pm..That's all I know..." I said.

"Then we need to check his alibi, his financials, the works and then try to question him...He's hard to catch up with."said Dwayne...

"Yeah,I gathered.. How bout we check the crime scene?" I said.

"Okay...Wanna take my car?" he said.

"That'll work." I said.

V-

Detective Baptiste and I went to the crime scene....There was blood splatter on the ceiling and on the wall and tables and chairs were turned over...

"There was terrific violence in this room..." he said.

"Yeah...a crime of passion..." I said..

"We found a condom with your father's DNA in it and his fingerprints were everywhere.." he said.

"So you know the suspect is my father?" I said.

"Everybody knows...In fact Grandon asked for that case to close..And we all knew why...You sent his pop to prison for murder...He wanted to send your pop there too..From the beginning ,the case against your pop looked weak...Your father never denied being there...He told us that he and the good doctor were uh, ahhh .." he said..

"I know...Sleeping together...That's my old man, what can I say?" I said.

Detective Baptiste laughed..

"But we have him leaving at midnight...Now the coroner told me that the time of death could have been anytime after that and when she was found...Which was at three in the morning..." he said.

"Wait a minute...You got a call at three in the morning?" I said.

"Yeah...an anonymous tip..Someone said they heard a loud argument and screaming." he said.

"That was three hours after the fact...Why did they wait so late?" I asked...

"Unless that was the killer calling back!" I said.

"Did you guys look at ATM cameras, Traffic cams, Crime Stopper cameras?" I asked.

"The coroner suggested to Bobby three times to scan the area and the building..but he hadn't got around to it..."said Detective Baptiste...

"You and this Coroner are smarter than the lead detective on this case."I said.

"She's the smartest woman I know." he said ,blushing...

I looked at him...He was blushing...

"I'm married to a very smart woman.."I said.

"I know...I met your wife yesterday...I was in court with Bobby..." he said.

"Is he your partner?" I asked.

"Hellll no...and thank goodness...I was there for another case and I looked in on this case..That's when I saw your wife....Her name is Alexander and so is the defendent...I observed the way he talked to her...and I put two and two together...That she's your wife and she's defending your father....By the way, who is her assistant?? She is bangin." he said.

I smiled...

"That's my wife's neice....She's also an attorney, she's assisting with the case." I said.

"Uh Huh." he said.

I was impressed...

"I put two and two together too..You're a very smart guy...You're going to make a great detective....and you and this coroner have more than just a professional relationship." I said.

"We are engaged.." he said proudly...

"Smart move my man...I like you already..."I said.

"Donnie Ray is that you?" came a voice...

I spun around...It was my wife, Olivia and her niece, Beverly!!!!..

"What are you two doing here?  How did you get here?" I asked.

"We took the street car...We wanted to view the crime scene...And plus..We've both always wanted to ride a street car in the Big Easy!" said Beverly...

"Yes..and I see you had the same idea.."said my wife, smiling...

  "Dwayne!  This is my wife, Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander..and her niece, Attorney Beverly West... This is Detective Dwayne Baptiste." I said..

"Pleased to meet you." they both said.

"He's taken over the case...Detective Grandon is on suspension...Something about a GPS tracker..." I said.

Beverly cracked up laughing...

"What we do know is that the murder may have taken place anywhere from midnight ,when my dad is seen leaving and 3:00 pm...There was a call made to the police reporting the murder at 2:58 pm." I said.

"Why did the caller wait so long?" asked Beverly...

"That's a good question. I'm thinking it was the killer."I said.

"I've got the list of those five people who say that your father was in the bar after midnight...We should talk to them tomorrow."said Olivia...

"Yes...and we've got his boss at the fishery as a charactor witness" said Beverly..

"For what it's worth...I don't think your dad did this Donnie Ray...We never had a strong case against him anyway and he didn't confess..All we ever had was circumstantial at best." said Detective Baptiste..

Beverly smiled salaciously at him...I just nodded my head..I thought I caught him checking her butt out when she walked away momentarily....Not that I could blame him...Like her auntie..Beverly had a very sexy body...She broke necks when she walked by any crowd of men...Detective Baptiste was no different.

"Bev..Why don't you go talk to the coroner tomorrow...Detective Baptiste's fiance?" I said...Giving them both the side eye...They both seemed to be a mutual admiration society all of a sudden.

Olivia smiled and held her head down...

Beverly looked kind of embarrassed...Then she got herself together and smiled..

"Yes....Yes. of course...I need to rent another car" she said.

"Oh, I know a place close to here....I can take you in my car." said Detective Baptiste and bring you back here to pick up your aunt and uncle.." said Detective Baptiste smiling just a little too much for my tastes..I just laughed...It was funny...We had been on another trip like this where Beverly didn't appreciate the attention of a man...This was not the same at all..It was almost like they were as I said, a mutual fan club,These two.

"Thanks man" I said.

Beverly was all smiles as the two of them left out... Olivia looked at me and smiled.

"I'm going to fix her fresh tail.." said Olivia smiling...She sent Beverly a text...

"I'm telling Nelson." she texted ..

Beverly texted back- "LOL! I'm not doing nothin Auntay...but he is cute."

Olivia smiled wryly and just shook her head laughing..

I cracked up laughing...

(TO BE CONTINUED)