He's Got The World!

Sissy, Carlotta ,Sirena and I sat at the bar talking to the bartender about Curt Swanson...Carlotta showed him a photo of Curt...

''Have you ever seen him?" she asked.

He smiled at her...

''You've got the cutest accent....Yeah,I know Curt and yes he was in here last Friday night..."he said.

Sissy showed him two photos....One of Mindy Bridges in happier times and another of her in death with the plastic bag around her head that deprived her of air and led to her death.

''You ever see her?" asked Sissy..

"Yeah...That's Mindy....Poor thing...Somebody killed her...You don't think Curt?....Nahhh, Curt wouldn't have done this...He was crazy about her.." he said.

''Was she a regular in this bar?" asked Sirena..

"Actually...She was...Her and her girlfriends came in here a lot...Curt would buy them all a round of drinks...But he really had his eyes on Mindy...he told me he had taken her to a couple of movies and a few dinners and a couple of lunches...but she had never so much as invited him over to her house...He uh just couldn't close the deal...She never saw him as anything more than just a co-worker or a friend...I even tried to put a good word in for him...but Mindy's interests were elsewhere...She had a second phone and she used to whisper to someone else on it all the time...We never knew who..." he said.

''So you can't be sure what time Curtis left here right?  Because he told us he left at ten." I said.

"I think he was gone before that...It was pretty packed in here that night...There was a football game on....Eagles game...you remember...and uh...I didn't see him in the crowd...but like I said..It was crowded in here..." he said.

Just then, Tyriq, Jimmy and Hop walked down the stairs....and approached us...

"Rico and I just finished in the monitor room....They have a very sophisticated monitor room upstairs..They time date everything..."said Hop..

"Yeah and we got a time stamped copy of our boy leaving here at five after eight....Got him on film...So he lied to Jimmy...He left here two hours before he said he did...

"And guess what he's wearing...A Black baseball cap, a black turtleneck in 80 degree weather, black trousers, black shoes and black shades.....But we got a good look at his face....That was him.." said Jimmy..

"That proves that he lied...That gives him opportunity...but it doesn't place him at the murder scene...Let's just hope that Duke uncovered something.." said Sissy.

II-

Duke had a detail of uniformed cops and CSI people going over the house with a fine tooth comb again...The Basement, the attic, the bedrooms...looking for something..Anything..His wife, Forensic Investigator, Dr. Hazel Hunter and FBI Special Agent in charge, Sharon Ferrell-Hopkins were on hand...Sharon had some FBI crime lab personell with her,helping the police..

Sissy and  I drove up with Sirena...We were met by Duke...

"Hey Keith, Siss, Sirena...We are going over this place again...I got a couple of guys talking to neighbors...Trying to see if anybody saw anything earlier..." he said.

"Chica,Rico,Jimmy and Hop got a photo of him leaving the bar at five after eight off of the bar's cameras...and the bartender all but told us that by ten , there was no sign of him." said Sissy, who showed him a copy of the photo..

''Look how he's dressed? Like he's trying to conceal himself." said Duke...

Sharon left the FBI crime van...

"I think we got something guys...Those neighborhood cams are the best thing since sliced bread...Look at this....That's your boy .....it's 8:45 pm....He's entering this house..She said, showing Sissy and I the downloaded video on her tablet...

"He's letting himself in with a key....This doesn't play....We know she was involved with Valejo...And the bartender told us that she never so much had invited him up...How would he have a key to her place?" I asked.

"Easy....He stole it!  Had it duplicated...and returned the key to her..."said Sissy...

''And this poor girl had no alarm system..." said Sharon...

"He was in here hiding the whole time...Waiting......When her girlfriends left...He killed her..."said Sirena...

"But if he loved her...Why?" I asked...

"I plan to ask him that, when I arrest Him." said Sirena..

Hazel walked over to us...

''We got something...Found  a piece ofone latex glove in the attic...It's torn..No fingerprints on the front...but on the inside..We found a fingerprint.. I used your FBI crime lab van...They ran it through decks...Curtis Swanson has no criminal record, but he once worked at a bank and he was bonded...They did a cross reference and we got a hit....It's his prints.." she said.

III-

My sexy and beautiful wife was smiling as she and her partners, Detectives Tyriq Pile and James Barlow came walking into the squad room some hours later...

"We found the locksmith that duplicated the key...Curt Swanson had this key made a month ago...He paid with a credit card."she said.

"We must have went to about ten joints before we found the one he used...You better be extra good to me tonight.." said Tyriq, looking at his wife, Detective Sirena Pile, who smiled salaciously..

"Aren't I always extra nice to you?" she said and gave him a passionate kiss...

Detective Jimmy Barlow looked at me...

"Well Counselor...We got enough for a warrant?" he asked...

"I'm calling the Judge right now...I'm going to have him email it to me and you guys will have it in about 15 minutes." I said.

Sissy smiled and looked at Sirena...

"Alright Detectives, PICK HIM UP!" she said.

IV-

Curtis Swanson was standing on Broad Street,reading a paper...He had just finished a tumbler of coffee and had tossed the cup in the trash ,when Detective James Barlow approached him..

"Curt..Curt my man, what's happenin Captain?" he said.

Curtis smiled...

"Hey Detective Barlow isn't it What's up?" he said.

"Curtis man...It appears you uh got some of the details of the story you told us all wrong."said Jimmy...

''Huh? What are you talking about?" he said.

Hop walked up on the side of him...

"Like you told us you left the bar at 10:00 last Friday, when you actually left at 8:00 and you told us that you had never been in Mindy's house and you were there..with a key, you had duplicated..." he said.

Curtis smiled weakly...

"You guys know huh?" he said..

"We know."said Jimmy...

Curtis turned and ran...he ran down crowded Broad Street....pushing people and knocking people down ...With Jimmy and Hop in hot pursuit...

He turned the corner and ran into Sirena and Carlotta with their glocks drawn...!!!

"It's Over Casanova..."said Sirena..

"Hands...Let me see your hands!!" said Carlotta...

He stopped dead in his tracks...

By now..Sissy,Tyriq and Duke converged on him with glocks drawn....

Duke handcuffed him...Tyriq read him his rights and then turned him over to his wife Sirena..

''Your collar babes.." he said.

"Why Curtis..Why? We heard you loved her?" said Sirena..

"I did....but she never could see me as anything but a damn friend...Do you know how many lunches and dinners I paid for??? ...Not just for her, but her friends...I took her to a couple of movies...I covered for her at work..All this time..I was right here...Right here...and she couldn't see me...because she was busy screwing that damn Latin loverboy Valejo.." he screamed...

He looked at Carlotta-"No Offense...I happen to like you." he said.

Carlotta shrugged and gave him the side eye...Sirena and Tyriq cracked up!

"You knew about them?" asked Carlotta...

"Yeah I knew about them...I caught them making love at Rollie Rollerson's pool party....In the damn locker room on the bench...screwing with wild abandon..." he spat....

"If you hated Valejo so much ,why wasn't he your target?" asked Sissy..

''Killing him was too easy, too good for him...I wanted him to hurt...To hurt like I was hurting...He's got the world...He's got a business...A nice car....money and a beautiful fiance...He's Got the world...Why'd he have to have her??WHY???" he screamed...

Hop looked at him...

"I don't know man...Come on..let's go." he said..

By now...Several Police cars had pulled up and they took Curtis Swanson away....

Sissy smiled..

"Another murder down......That makes me happy...Once again...We have 100 percent clearence...Detectives, give yourselves a hand!" she said.

They all smiled... We all walked to whatever vehicle we arrived in and headed back to headquarters...

EPILOUGE:

Curtis Swanson was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison...Sissy had led the investigation that had landed his father on death row and now years later she had led the investigation that had put him behind bars...

Eva Dominguez and Valejo Suarez eventually reconciled....Their engagement is still on as far as I know..

It was a warm night...a nice warm night in late summer...

We were all hanging out in Roxys...a different bar for a change...Mixed crowd and unlike Josies or Aqua Bar, no live entertainment...We entertained ourselves by playing the jukebox...

In one corner...Duke and Hazel were kissing passionately...So passionately,I knew they would be leaving soon..

In another corner...Hop and Sharon were also kissing and dancing slowly to the music...oblivious to everyone around them..They too would be leaving soon...

Tyriq and Sirena were holding hands and looking into each others eyes and talking quietly at a booth in the back...

And newly engaged Jimmy and Angie were standing outside the door, kissing passionately...They might not make it inside here...

 At the end of the bar, Sissy and Eddie C. , also newly engaged..were kissing passionately.......Also,soon to be leaving...

Beds would be squeaking tonight...No doubt!

Carlotta and I ,who were usually known for our public PDA were just laying back in a booth...Carlotta was leaning her head on my shoulder and smiling..

"You happy babes?" I asked.

"Yes...I'm always happy when I'm with you..." she said..."I'm equally happy everyday when I come to work...Working with all of my favorite people..These are my best friends." she said..

"It's a great night isn't it?" I said and kissed her forehead...

"It's a night for love."said Carlotta , who then put her arms around me and leaned her head on my shoulder...

She was right...It was a night for love!

(For L.)