A Murder Revisited

 Valejo Suarez was sweating bullets....Carlotta, Angie and three uniformed police officers showed up at his apartment complex the night before and arrested him on Suspicion of murder charges....

He had spent the night in the city jail....This morning he was in the "Fishbowl", our interrogation room...

Two uniformed police officers had delivered him...He looked nervous, disheveled...

Carlotta was sitting alone in the Fishbowl...She looked a little sympathetic....He saw her and spoke to her in spanish...

"Hola." he said.

"Hola" she returned...

"Carlotta , I didn't do this...I know it looks bad...but I didn't do this." he said in Spanish.

"We found your fingerprints in the house and you lied to us about knowing her, about being with Eva and the extent of your relationship.." said Carlotta in Spanish..

"I know,I know and I'm sorry.." he said hanging his head...

Sirena and Hop walked in at this point...

Carlotta said to him in spanish...

"I'm not the lead detective in this case....It's time for you to speak English and talk to these two people...Detectives Sirena Pile and Detective Antonio Hopkins." she said..

He waved his head....

"Good Morning, Good Morning...Mr. Suarez....You could be in a lot of trouble...You've got a lot of explaining to do." said Sirena...

"Look I know how this looks, but you gotta believe me...I didn't do this...I swear I didn't..That's what I was telling Detective Rodriguez-Wallace..." he said,finally speaking in English...

"Why did you lie to us? asked Hop...

"Because I knew how it would look....Mindy and I....Mindy and I were in a relationship....I guess you know...I know..I know I am engaged to Eva....but Mindy and I were together secretly for about a year before I started dating Eva...We broke up...I started seeing Eva....Then we were at a pool party,..We were all very drunk..It was at Rollie Rollerson's country club...I saw Mindy again and she saw me and..and, the next thing I know..We had snuck away to the changing room and were making wild ,passionate love....We said we weren't going to do that again....See, she had started seeing someone too...But within a week...She was at my apartment and we were making love again...Then I was at her house, making love..... I gave her a burner phone..Told her to only call me on that phone and to tell no one who she was talking to.....I paid her credit cards off every month with the company account....I paid her utility bills...Anything just to see her, just to kiss her,just to be with her.." he said.

"WOW man, you were really sprung over her." said Hop..

"I loved her." he said.

"Yeah man...I see..."he said.

"What were you doing there Valejo?" asked Sirena...sounding a little sympathetic to him.

"We were at this lingerie store...Lady Chatterlies Lover, Panties and Bras for the discriminating woman...earlier...You can check my account..She brought some really sexy lingerie and she said she would model it for me...but I had a date with Eva..You saw us Carlotta at Mulberry Street...You and your husband...She texted me at quarter of two....near closing time....I made up a lie about being sick and I had my man Tego drive her home....I went and got gas...and I might have picked up a soda or something ,then I went to her house...She didn't answer her phone, which was odd and the door was open....I went in...and walked upstairs and she was already dead...lying on the bed, with the plastic bag on her head...I got the hell out of there then...I tripped and fell and my palm print and fingerprint was on the table,I imagine, but I didn't even want to hang around any longer...I got the hell out and pulled off." he said.

"Why didn't you call the police?" asked Carlotta...

"I did...I used my burner phone so that you guys couldn't trace the number...I was your anonymous tip...I didn't want anyone at the job to know I was sleeping with her...She didn't either." he said.

"This other guy she was dating casually...Who was he?" asked Hop.

"I don't know...She wouldn't say...Anyway..It wasn't important....They hadn't even slept together....They had been out a few times but she never really invited him up..  She thought of him as a friend...he wanted more...She was afraid she was going to have to hurt his feelings....She said he was getting a little too possessive." he said.

Carlotta, Sirena and Hop walked outside, where Sissy and I were standing...

"I believe him Sirena...This story falls more in line with what we already know." said Carlotta..

"I believe him too.."said Sirena..

"Still we gotta check out his story..but I'm beginning to think that he's not our guy either." said Hop...

 "Is this what your gut tells you detectives?" asked Sissy , who sounded funny saying that ,but was completely serious at the moment...

"Yes...They all said..."

"Okay...I'll put Jimmy on his alibi....I want to look at another case file anyway."said Sissy..

 "By that you are talking about the earlier murder...the one you said was simular right?" I said.

"Yes...I know he's in jail and I know he was the right guy...but I want to see if he has any connection to our victim or any of our suspects."said Sissy.

"I'm going to check the ATM Cam and the neighborhood cam to check out part of his story..." said Sharon.

II-

Jimmy walked in the office a few hours later....

"Well guys...His story checks out...I talked to Tego, Eva Dominguez....everyone...The clerk at the Seven -Eleven where he bought condoms, gum and soda...and the gas station...He was where he says he was ,when he says he was there..." said Jimmy..

"And I checked the ATM cam, the Crime Stopper Cams and The traffic cams...He went to her house at about quarter to three in the morning...She was already dead...Hazel confirmed that and he left about 3:01...So he didn't have a tryst with her..It looks like he discovered the body and high tailed it out there...His shoe print matched and everything..."said Sharon....

Duke and Tyriq walked in just then,

"We checked his burner phone...and hers...He got a text from her at quarter to two...He texted her back at ten of two.....That was the last text she sent....She was murdered in between the time she last texted him and right before he got there..."said Duke..

"That eliminates him as our suspect...Since we can account for his movements up until he arrived at her house...He couldn't have killed her....He wouldn't have had time to leave Mulberry Street and do all of that other stuff ,kill her and then text us when he did...It's not him..."said Tyriq.

"That puts us back at square one.... No suspects."said Sirena...

III-

Sissy,myself, Carlotta,Sirena,Duke,Tyriq,Hop and Jimmy took the elevator to the basement....Deep into the bowels of the C.I.D. building....The archives where all closed case files are ,as well as cold cases....

Lt. Perry Mutter smiled upon seeing Sissy....

"Sissy Van Buren...To what do I owe the honor? You usually send a uniformed cop down here with files..." he said..He was a white man, nearing sixty two..Six feet , three inches, solidly built , a ruddy reddish complexion....Red hair and freckles...

 "I know...but today...I came myself and I brought my troops..." she said.

"Hmmm...Only one I recognize is Duke.....I know Tyriq from Robbery-Homicide, but I don't think I know the rest.." he said.

"Heyy Perry.." said Duke..

"How's it hangin Duke?" he said.

"Hey Lt. Mutter." said Tyriq...  "You met my partner....Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace..." he said.

He looked at Carlotta, then smiled...

"Yeah...I remember her...She was your partner over at Robbery -Homicide...I see she followed you over to real Homicide huh? 

"I know you remember me Perry." said Carlotta.

"Yeah,I do...Memory is a little foggy."he said.

"Actually...I followed her..She was over here a few months before I came." said Tyriq diplomatically...

"Didn't you get married?  You still married ?? I remember you were married to a cute little Detective...She was over in uh, Special Investigations..." he said.

Tyriq smiled and pointed to Sirena...

"Still married...This is that cute little detective...Mrs. Sirena Pile.." said Tyriq, beaming...

"Don't you ever call me whipped again." I joked...Tyriq laughed heartily...So Did Sirena and Lt. Mutter..

Sirena giggled..

"I told him to stop teasing you Keith..." she said.

Mutter looked at me...

"ADA Keith Wallace...You uh married Detective Carlotta here....Smart move...You beat me to her..." he said and we all laughed...Carlotta blushed....

"Heyy man, how you doin?" I said.

"Just waitin to retire...I'm out of here at the end of the year...I've already put my papers in." he said.

"This is Detectives James Barlow and Antonio Hopkins..." I said pointing to Jimmy and Hop, who he did not know...

"Guys , this is Lt.Perry Mutter, a living legend...."I said..

If there ever was a detective who was like the TV cops...It was this man...Many of the closed files down here was his...He had survived shootouts, Had taken down crews by himself and had finally grown weary of the streets....As he approached 63, he longed for a simple job...A job that assured him he could come home safe every night...And here he landed...He was one of the good guys...

"Perry, remember that case I closed some years ago...the one where the girl had the plastic bag placed over her head?" asked Sissy...

"Yeahhh..Yeahhh..The Swanson case....Did he get a needle yet?" asked Perry Mutter.

"No...not yet...I called the prison today...He's still there and he's got a few more appeals.." said Sissy...

"Damn shame...murdered that young girl for insurance...She was too young for his old ass anyway..." said Mutter...

Carlotta and Sirena busted out laughing..

"You did good work on that case Sissy...That was  years ago...You were a young detective then...Like these guys...Making your bones...Those files are over there in Alphabetical order....Have at it." he said.

We all began looking for the case file....
IV-

It didn't take long to find it and to put it on a table.... Unlike a lot of detective's files...Sissy kept well typed reports, photos and complete lists and notes on everybody she interviewed and documentation of all physical evidence...She demanded that all of her detectives do the same and they did...

"Sissy, your perp's name was Caryl Swanson huh?" I said.

"Wow...one of our suspects name was Swanson...Curt Swanson...." laughed Jimmy..

"Guy I interviewed last night." he said.

"Oh My God...Did you say Curtis Swanson?" asked Hop...

"Yeah why?" asked Jimmy...

"There is a photo of his family members...That is Caryl Swanson's ex-wife and look..There is his son!!!....It's Curtis Swanson!!!....The guy you interviewed last night..That's this guy's son." said Carlotta..

We all gathered around and looked at the file.....Sissy shook her head....

''The name... I knew when I heard that name something sounded familiar....The detective that worked that case with me...Ray Folger....He interviewed Curtis Swanson, four years ago...Not here...We were in the old building...remember Keith...Northwest Detectives ?" said Sissy...

''Wow...I was brand new...So were you Sissy..You hadn't made Lieutenant yet.....I didn't know any of you guys.." I said.

"What Video were you in that year Top?" asked Tyriq,laughing...

"Verrry funny Rico...and I thought you were my friend." joked Carlotta, laughing herself..

"You know I love you like a play sister." joked Tyriq....and they both started laughing....

"God...these two are so silly,you'd almost think they were siblings..."said Sirena....

"Anyway..he and the mother were living in Kensington then....They were divorced from his father...His father was living with the murder victim....She was twenty years his junior and just a few years older than Curtis...The mother and son were on welfare, just getting by....He and the new common law wife at least had a roof over their head...We interviewed both of them and cleared them...Something went sideways in his dad's relationship....He had two huge life insurance policies out on her...He murdered her and then tried to make it look like a robbery...Then he tried to collect on the two hefty life insurance policies...He was very sloppy...Ray and I cracked that case in little over 36 hours..." said Sissy...

"You think it's possible that Junior has copied his dad?" asked Duke...

''That's where my thoughts are going Duke...he was at the trial...Everyday...I remember him now...He's older..got a goatee....but now I remember him..."said Sissy.

''So this is a grudge right?" asked Sirena..

"No...Not really...I didn't get the impression that he or his now deceased mother cared too much about the dad....What this is ,is whatever went screwy in junior's relationship with this girl...caused him to do the same thing his father did....He told you that he barely knew her right? Except for work??" said Sissy looking at Jimmy.

''He said they were just work buddies...They went to lunch, they hung out..." said Jimmy...

"But he follows her on Twitter and Instagram and is her Facebook friend...He told you he'd been to her house a few times." said Hop..

"What if this guy was in love with Mindy? What if he hadn't got the nerve to tell her how he feels yet? And what if ....he discovered that she was sleeping with the boss? What if he discovered who she was really calling on that burner phone?"I said.

''For a minute there I thought you were talking about yourself...The way you used to be about Top.." said Duke..

Carlotta smiled and blushed...

"Stop teasing my honey bunny...I had a crush on him too." she said.

"We know...We were so glad when the two of you stopped pretending and finally got together." laughed Sissy.

''I know right?, They played this little game of cat and mouse for close to a year.."laughed Sirena...

"All jokes aside...Keith may be on to something..."said Tyriq...

"He said he was at Roxy's until 11:00 on Friday night...even if that's so...Where was he after that?  We know she had company until 11:00...He said he went home after that...What if he didn't?" said Jimmy.

"He couldn't have been with her because she texted Valejo at quarter to two." said Sirena...

"We don't have him on the cameras during that time coming over...we don't have anybody coming over or leaving until Valejo arrives and by then she's already dead." said Hop...

''What if he was already there? What if he left the bar before he said he did and before she arrived with her girlfriends...and was hiding...waiting to spring? We didn't check for anytime ,except when she arrived with her girlfriends and afterwords..."said Carlotta...

"Top, you scare me the way your mind works...I created a Frankenstein Monster when I trained you." said Duke..

''What do you mean when you trained her...She worked under my tutelage for three years." said Tyriq...

"Who introduced you to her?" said Duke...

Sissy ,Sirena and I just shook our heads...

"You know...If I didn't love Lotta so much,I'd be jealous...The way they fight over her.."said Sirena..

''Ditto." I said,laughing...

''At any rate...We need to give Curtis Swanson a second look..Jimmy, You, Chica and Rico check out that bar and check his alibi...Duke go to his neighborhood, talk to his neighbors...See if they remember him coming home on Friday night...Sirena...Hop...you need to look at more video...." said Sissy...

V-

Angie and Sharon appeared just then....

"Can I have my man back?" joked Angie...

We all laughed..

"I heard you were down here.." said Sharon..."Secret meeting?" she asked..

 "No...looking through an old case file...I had a murder case, some years ago..exactly like this one and guess what?  Our chief suspect was here last night and he's the son of the guy I arrested for this murder.."said Sissy.

''Wow...You guys get some doozies.." said Angie..

"Why is everybody down here?"asked Hazel who had just joined us...

"Revisiting an old murder case." I said.

"How bout we all visit some dinner?" Anybody feel like eating out tonight?" asked Angie..

"Yeah..We haven't all hung out in a long time..Not at the same time" said Jimmy..

''Sounds like a plan..Let's take a break and resume this in the morning." said Sirena.

We had a new suspect..I was hoping that this too didn't lead to a dead end...A case that at first seemed lime it was a routine murder had spiraled into one of our more complex cases...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)