Down In The Hole

 Elizabeth Newly started out as a good girl...She was raised in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia in a two parent home...She made all A's through out elementary ,middle and high school...She attended Catholic schools mostly...No public school for her..

And then in the 12th Grade..Her senior year...She met Billy...William Joseph Ramsey.....He was the exact opposite...

His parents divorced when he was 12 and it seemed like his mother married every other year of his life...Usually some guy who hung around long enough to get her pregnant and then ,he was gone..

Billy was the oldest of four siblings...all girls....

His first arrest was at 15....HE and some friends held up a supermarket...

He did two years in the Youth Study Center and was released at 17....

He was home for a year...For awhile he did good..Went to school ,made decent grades, even worked...and then was back in jail again for car theft...

He caught a break and was released after three months ...Enrolled back in High School and met Elizabeth Newly...

For a while..He was doing good..He actually graduated...

Two weeks after he graduated he was back in jail....This time for a jewelry store theft....

He spent a year and a half in the State Penn and was released...

Elizabeth was dating another boy by then...But Once Billy was out, She ditched the other boy.....

Billy and Elizabeth got back together..

They got a place together, but being an ex-con...He found it hard to keep employment... and yet according to people who knew them both...They never seemed to want for much...

Around this time...a series of bank robberies began to mysteriously occur all around Philadelphia..
and shortly afterwords... Billy and Betty as she was called would have groceries...all of their bills would be paid and Billy would be gambling in the neighborhood crap games...paying off his debts, buying everybody drinks...

Detective Sirena Pile was working this case hard and she and her partner , Detective Tony Hopkins and five uniform policemen found the house these two were said to be co-habitating in.....

"I don't know..Sirena...This house is quiet like the last one we found last week.."said Hop...He was talking about the house in which we had found the rotting remains of Kelly "Junior" Barnes...The shot caller who had hired the two to work with two visiting bank robbers named Albert Campbell and Joe Cleveland who needed extra manpower for their crew...

Sirena said nothing..She knocked on the door...

"Billy Joe, Betty..We have a warrant for your arrests...Open up...POLICE" she said..

Nothing...

She nodded..

A policeman used a battering ram and hit the door knocking it off the hinges...Sirena and Hop rushed in..Glocks drawn... In the back, several uniformed policemen rushed the back door..

"CLEAR" they yelled..

"All Clear" yelled Hop...

Sirena smiled at her partner....

There was no one in the house...but the house was a mess...There was blood everywhere and everything was turned over and broken as though there had been a terrific fight..

Hop looked at his partner....

"What you think Sirena?" he said...

"I'm thinking this doesn't look good at all." said Sirena..

II-

 While Sirena and Hop worked on identifying and capturing ''Bonnie & Clyde" as we called them...the rest of us concentrated on catching the remaining members of that stick up crew.. Duke looked at his buddy Tyriq and asked him..

"Hey Rico..How is Lt. Tragg doing on the Sewer Killer investigation?" he said laughing...

"Like he usually does...More press conferences than actual investigating..Top,Jimmy and I gave him copies of our files and excellent lead notes..and Hazel gave him copies of the forensic information and in one week..he has no suspect and no leads...Instead of assigning detectives to the case..He has been supposedly running down the leads himself..He wants all of the credit.. He's been on the news every night talking about it."laughed Tyriq..

''What a morone...And to think he called ME a COWBOY, when I worked in his precinct..." laughed Jimmy doing his best Bugs Bunny Imitation.

"You guys wouldn't have just happened to have mentioned that case to Captain Cantrell did you?" I laughed...

Carlotta ,Sissy, Duke,Jimmy and Tyriq had complained bitterly about having to go down in the sewers to retrieve the bodies of the three prostitutes and how bad the combonation of decomp and sewage turned their stomachs..They were actually relieved to get a break from it...

Carlotta walked in with a tumbler of coffee and sat on my lap...She kissed me on the cheek..

 Sissy smiled...

"You two have been married what? Two years now...and still seem like newlyweds...I love that.." she said smiling...

FBI Deputy Special Agent in charge Sharon Hopkins walked in with two agents...She was the reason we were all here..

"Hey Guys.....Sometimes these cases like this go embarrassingly cold....and sometimes we just get a break...Our Organized Crime Task force has been listening to a certain underworld figure for years..a man named Tony Rackley, on the surface, a high stakes gambler....but suspected organized crime figure out of the motor city...used to work for Big Uncle...It seems as though he made a number of long distance calls to Philadelphia to a burner phone in the days leading up to our bank robbery...Take a listen.." said Sharon..

"Everything set.."said Tony Rackley..

"Yes...your information was solid..Me and Cleveland are set to take that bank down...Eight million dollar grab..We hired a local guy named Barnes to scope it out and disable the cameras...He's pretty solid..we got the whole lay out of the bank your guy gave us...We got him lookin for two more guys..We need a wheelman and one extra gun..but that ought to be in the works in just a matter of days.." came the voice of Albert Campbell..

"It's the score of a lifetime I tell ya..I get my finders fee and you divide the rest between your crew and you guys can retire ....You got all the roads checked?"said Tony Rackley.

"Everything..We go in right at opening before a lot of people get there..We take it down strong and we hit the exits, bleach down the cars, which have already been stolen and we have another car waitin and we get ghost...We lie low and we split the dough and we outta here."said Albert Campbell..

"Great, call me this weekend."said Tony Rackley..

(Click)

''So the conspiracy originated in Detroit."said Carlotta.

"Right..Rackley has connections and ties to the Philadelphia area..and I wish my girl Sirena was here...Here is where it gets cute." said Sharon..."In the days after the bank robbery..Rackley made another call to the same burner phone sounding completely different...

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN ON IN PHILLY?? WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO??? IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO DOWN SMOOTH......IN AND OUT..YOU ASSWIPES GO AND SHOOT A COP?? A COP?? WHAT WERE YOU THINKIN?" screamed Tony Rackley...

"Man...It was that guy that Al hired to do the scope and get us two guys....Those guys were cowboys, real nuts...A guy and a babe...They shot the security guard and the cop..not us...But we got other problems..The dough...It had dye packs and it exploded...We gotta lay low until this stuff wears off of us.."said Joe Cleveland.

"YOU IDIOTS....YOU GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN THAT, YOU MADE NATIONAL NEWS...THE FBI AND EVERY COP IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA KNOWS WHO YOU ARE..YOU AND ALBERT ARE ON EVERY NEWS CAST...YOU GUYS ARE HOT..NO FENCE IN THE AREA WILL TOUCH THAT MONEY...YOU GUYS JUST SIGNED MY DEATH WARRANT..I NEEDED THAT DOUGH...I NEEDED IT!"Screamed Tony Rackley...

"Looks like our boys are in trouble."laughed Jimmy...

''So they were made and couldn't spend the money.."laughed Tyriq...

"But we know that already." said Sissy and Carlotta in unison...

"Wait,Wait...It gets better."said Sharon.. "Just last week, one last call was made." she said.

"Yo Tone" came the voice of Albert Campbell...

"What do you lames want?" said Tony Rackley..

''We took care of part of our problem...That nut who hired those two whack jobs....Gone..Me and Cleve took care of him..we made sure he was found with all the banks money...They got their money and he can take the fall..."said Albert Campbell.

"Are you nuts?.The cops know you two were in on the bank heist...They aint forgot you two." said Tony Rackley...

''Check it out...There is some nut job killin girls and droppin their bodies in the sewers..So last night, Me and Cleve whacked those two cowboys and dropped them in the sewer..near the edge of town...The cops are lookin for them for the killings...They'll find em..blame it on the serial killer...problem solved...The pressure on us will be off...We can regroup and hit another bank within a few weeks and do it the right way..We got a new shot caller and some solid dudes lined up and another bank....The cops won't be lookin for us so hard now that they got their money back and will soon have their cop killers..We got a babe makin an anonymous call to em soon." said Albert Campbell..

"You two really are simpletons...I don't have time...I owe people money...The kind of people who won't be kept waiting..You blew it.Don't come anywhere near Detroit and don't call me at this number again...You guys are too damn hot...FBI is breathing down everyone's back." said Tony Rackley...

"Oh My God...This is too much!!!..We got them on tape confessing to three murders...and that means that three of our suspects are dead and we got the banks money back.." I said.

"Isn't it cool?" said Sharon laughing giddily...."We are going to win this thing yet!!"she said and hugged Sissy, who laughed also.

Just then Sirena and Hop walked in..

"We found the house they were renting...but from the looks of the house...These two may have met foul play...Blood everywhere."said Sirena.

''Another dead end." said Hop.

''Sirena,Hop!!...Your suspects are dead!!!...Listen to these tapes Sharon has." said Carlotta.

Jimmy walked into the conference room as the others filled Sirena and Hop in..

"Guys...It's Hazel....I think we found Bonnie and Clyde." said Jimmy..

III-

With personel from the Philadelphia Water Department..and several uniformed policemen..We all entered the sewer once again...

''Ayee Mios Dios..The smell.." said Carlotta as she held on to Sissy and walked along the sides..

''Hey guys can't Sirena, Chica and I just wait top side for you to retrieve the bodies?" said Sissy jokingly..

Duke,Tyriq ,Jimmy and Hop's expressions gave her her answer..

Sissy smiled weakly...

"I guess not...But I am a Lieutenant..I don't have to be down here." she said jokingly....

Sirena and I cracked up laughing....

"There are the bodies Siss...They have been brutally beaten, throats cut ...They've been down here a few days judging from decomp and the time they've been in this stinky water..."said Hazel as Water officials and uniform policemen pulled the badly decomposed bodies of William Joseph Ramsey and Elizabeth Newley from the sewer water...to dry land...The pair of bank robbers known as Bonnie and Clyde had finally come to the end of their road.

Duke, Sirena and Jimmy put on latex gloves and examined the bodies with Hazel.... They had both been shot multiple times and beaten badly...

I looked at Sirena..

"We got em girl...We got em...Your friend has been avenged!!!...I hope that's enough for you."I said and hugged her..

"It'll have to be enough." said Sirena..

Just then we heard a loud splash....

"What was that?" said Carlotta....

"It's a body!! Floating down the stream over there...It's a girl." shouted Duke , shining his flashlight towards the body..."HEYYY FELLA STOP!! POLICE" he yelled.

''Somebody else is down here!!!...Look ,over there...Somebody is running.."said Hop.

Tyriq, Jimmy and Carlotta began to run after the figure...

''STOP...POLICE!!! STOP" shouted Carlotta running along the sides..

Tyriq fired a warning shot that was so loud, it echoed through the tunnel....The man, a chubby white male about 25 with coke bottle glasses and sandy blonde hair threw his hands up in the air, before he tripped and fell in the water...Splashing it on the the three of them...

"Ayeeeeeeeeeeee Caramba!" screamed Carlotta...

"I oughta shoot you for splashing me with this nasty water."screamed Tyriq..spitting water out of his mouth...

 Jimmy pulled his glock and eased up on him....more than a little disturbed that his shoes were wet and his suit ruined...

"Get up and show me your hands dammit." shouted Jimmy...using his other hand to wipe smelly and foul water off of him...

"Don't shoot, Don't shoot...I surrender....I'm the one you've been looking for ." he said...

Carlotta pulled him up out of the water....Tyriq handcuffed him...

"What do you mean we've been looking for you?, who are you?" she asked..

He looked a little disappointed...

"I'm Ronald Bowells...The Sewer killer, duhhhhhh." he said.

Sissy and Sirena brought up the rear....They didn't touch him..They held their noses....

"PHewww...At least we don't have to come back down here again." said Sissy...

"Amen to that...goood gosh the smell.." said Sirena..


IV-

It had been a hell of a day...We had found the dead bodies of our murder suspects, William Joseph Ramsey and Elizabeth Newley.."Bonnie and Clyde" as they were known...and Tyriq and my wife Carlotta had unwittingly captured Ronald Bowells, the Sewer Killer ,who was ironically enough dropping the body of his fourth and final victim in the sewer as we were recovering the bodies of our two cop killing suspects..

Ronald Bowells gave a full confession to Tyriq and Carlotta some hours later after everyone had showered and changed clothes.....He seemed to love the attention he was getting..He confessed to all four murders...He mentioned that he was not responsible for the two additional bodies we found today....We already knew that, based on a wire tapped conversation we had heard.

"I really didn't expect you guys to be down there in the sewer....That guy that was on television that was supposedly leading the investigation didn't have a clue....That was your plan huh...Parade clueless on television ,while you guys were really doing the investigation huh?  A real good plan.." said the talkative serial killer, Finally Tyriq and Carlotta got up...They had heard far more than they wanted to hear...

''Oh God, that guy really just needed someone to talk to..maybe he wouldn't have killed those four girls.."said an exasperated Tyriq..

''Aye Mios dios..He would have talked their freakin heads off."said Carlotta....Who looked at me...

"I just want to go home and take another long hot shower and cuddle up with you." she said.

''Sounds good to me babes." I said as I put my arms around her and headed out the door..

''Good Job guys.Old Lt. Tragg will kick himself when he finds out you guys caught the Sewer Killer."said Sissy ,who was laughing to herself.."Good night everybody."

V-

Lt. Tragg called a press conference on the steps of the commissioner's office...Later on that evening..

''Gentlemen,I'd like to give you an update on the progress of the investigation of the Sewer Killer, The serial killer who has been terrorizing this city...We have new leads and-" he said.

A reporter interrupted him..

"What new leads? They caught him hours ago...He's confessed...We thought this was about something else."said the reporter..

"Caught him? Who caught him? What are you talkin about Herb?" asked Lt. Tragg...

"Don't you cops talk to each other?" asked another reporter...

"Of course,but I've been out in the field all day."said Lt. Tragg.

"Some detectives workin on that Bank Heist found the bodies of the two bank robbers who killed that cop two weeks ago and while they were down there...Ronald Bowells...That's the guy's name was in the act of dumping another body...They picked him up too..."said another reporter....

"Yeah, they caught him in the act."said yet another reporter...

''Looks like you got skunked Lieutenant.."said another as they began to laugh and walk away....

Lieutenant Tragg looked like he had drank a can of latex paint..

"I don't believe this..They caught Bonnie and Clyde and the Sewer Killer in one day...They're killin me.." he sighed....

He wanted to be anywhere other than where he was right now...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)