Control Issues

Monica and I and Lieutenant Frankie Cotton Jr.stood in the Medical Examiner's Office with Mr and Mrs. Groves and her brother and their funeral director...They had come to pick up the body of their slain daughter,Danielle Groves who we had found strangled and possibly sexually assaulted in her car trunk two days ago...

Mr. Groves was stoic...Mrs. Groves cried profusely as her son held her in his arms...

''I am so sorry for your loss Mr. and Mrs. Groves....These are two of my best detectives....I give you my word...We are going to get whoever did this..I promise you.." he said...

''Mr. and Mrs. Groves..We have some very solid leads...we are closing in on your daughter's killer."said Monica..

I didn't say anything...I understood grief...I didn't want to make somebody a promise I might not be able to keep...Right now...We had one suspect who might be connected to the killer and we couldn't find him and we had a mystery man, who's identity we didn't know... didn't look to promising to me from where I stood..
The Lieutenant and my partner had inadvertedly painted us into a corner...

Lieutenant Cotton looked at the two of us....

''Look,I really built you two up.. Don't make me out a liar..Please get this guy." he said...

"We'll do our best Lou." I said.

''Don't do your best...Get him...Look at this family...They are devestated.." he said.

"Yes sir." I said as he escorted the family and the funeral director to the hearse with the body.

I knew that Monica had read my mind and knew what I was thinking...She didn't say anything though..She tugged me on my shoulder...

''Come on partner...Let's get some coffee." she said.

II-

We sat quietly in the Bistro...Finally Monica broke our silence as we sipped tumblers of coffee..

"You know...before I met you..I cracked cases with less to go on by myself...and now I have a smart guy like you with me...I don't see how we won't crack this case." she said.

I smiled and rubbed her hands...

''We will...Let's look at what we got.."I said.

"Okay..Let's look at our victim..Danielle Groves...a good girl...no record....Educated in public schools, BA from Temple, Masters from Temple...An MBA from Drexel , Had a good job....I interviewed her former classmates, girlfriends and some of the people she worked with...Nothing odd ,nothing out of the ordinary in her past...I checked her financials,Debit cards,Credit Cards,Bank Account..completely normal...and nobody stands out in her past as even slightly suspicious."said Monica.

"These break ins...I looked at all 18 of them..None of the girls knew each other or our victim..but as random as they seemed...They all seem to have a pattern..They were all robbed right before midnight when the girls were either sleeping or not at home...not much money was stolen and other than that,jewelry..none of it very expensive and then there was the panties and bras and in some cases panty hose....There was a large deposit of semen all over these places as though one of them couldn't control themselves..That semen was found on our murder vicitms panties and her leg and in a discarded condom...The victim's phone was sold to a pawn shop by Robert Lawton...We also have him selling jewelry from these robberies to other pawn shops..So we know he is one of the B&E guys...I'm suspecting his partner is our killer and the other stick up boy.."I said.

"If only we knew who his partner was or where he was." said Monica...

"Yeah...We could use some luck right about now."I said.

''Uh Oh...Here comes trouble."said Monica...

My ex-partner, Detective Wally Becker walked in and sat down with us without being invited..

''Hey Nate...Hi ya gorgeous.." he said making goo goo eyes at Monica...

"So listen...I uh have been reading the twenties..." he said.

"Well that's good "said Monica sarcastically...

"I heard about your murder case...and how you may have tied it in with those 18 B&E's..." he said.

"Yeah,what about it?" I asked.

He looked at Monica...

"So if I give you something that maybe breaks your case...Can maybe you and me go out on a date?" he asked.

''Nope!" she said without hesitation.

''Damn girl..you sure know how to play hard to get." he said.

"Who says I'm playing?" she said.

I smiled...

"Wally what have you got?" I asked.

"Damndest thing...I heard that in all of the cases the girls had their underwear stolen...and I remembered a guy...a guy I busted a year ago...Up at the college..Drexel...He was a grad student there...Several girls reported that after he had come to visit them in their apartments they noticed their panties were missing..and in some cases bras or both...They were pretty sure this guy was the culprit..I picked him up...I mean it was a simple petty theft case I didn't want to be on it in the first place...Only all I had was these girl's suspicions..no real proof...I got a search warrant and went to his room, but I couldn't find anything...I went to his room three times...The guy was always mopping the floor ,Always cleaning up...Place smelled like bleach all the time...I found a pair of panties in the dumpster outside of his dorm...One of the babes identified it as hers...I was going to jack this guy up...but he knew his rights..He knew that I had no proof he deposited them there and I had no proof that they were ever in his possession,so I couldn't pop him...His name is Christopher Wilde...He's real smart....and he knows the law...So you gotta be real thorough with this guy...This is where he currently lives...I don't know if he's your guy...but you might want to talk to him.This sounds like him." he said.

"Damn Wally, you actually gave us a good pull...Thanks man!!..."I said.

He looked at Monica..

"I guess a thank you is in order Detective Becker. We are very grateful."she said.

''How about a kiss baby, Since you all grateful and whatnot?" he asked.

"I'm not THAT GRATEFUL" she replied dryly..

I cracked up laughing...

Wally didn't find it funny....He looked at me...

"You heard from Nyla?" he asked, changing the subject.

"As a matter of fact I have..I went by to see her and my son the other night." I said.

"You two tryin to uh get back together?" he asked.

"Nope! She's moved on.."I said.

"Ohhh so you met Frank huh?" he laughed...

"No I didn't..but she told me about him.."I said.

"They serious?" he asked..

"You need to ask her that." I said.

"She don't talk to me no more...Took my number out of her phone and blocked my calls.."he said.

''Wow, Can't imagine why any girl would do that"said Monica..

"Alright...I can see I'm not wanted here...Nate, that little favor was for you."he said.

"Thank you Wally." I said.

He got up and stormed out...

I looked at Monica as we walked out..

"How bout a kiss baby?" I said imitating him...

To my surprise, she turned around and gave me a nice wet sloppy kiss right in the doorway...

"Happy?" she asked smiling.

"Extremely" I said.

"I know you are." she laughed.

III-

Monica and I did a work up on Christopher Wilde....He was Black, the same age as Danielle Groves, and like her born and raised in Philadelphia PA.

He had no criminal record whatsoever...Not even a juvenile record...Educated in private schools in the area..Maintained a 4.0 average at Drexel where he got an Engineering degree and then entered into the MBA program, where he graduated with honors...

He and Danielle Groves attended Drexel at the same time..we managed to pull a photo of him from the DMV and from his Drexel year book..We circulated it around amongst the 18 B&E victims..none of them could identify him..He had been wearing a ski mask. We circulated his photo amongst Danielle's friends, former classmates and close friends...Not one of them had ever seen him...We then cross checked their classes...They may have had one or two classes in a two year period, but no one remembered the two of them ever talking or associating with him...

He presently had a good job at a leading engineering firm here in the city where he earned well over six figures and had a nice little house he had just purchased....

''He doesn't fit the profile of a guy who would be breaking and entering into people's houses Nate." said Monica.

"Or a person who would be stealing panties and ejaculating on the floor..He appears to be a handsome young man...I'm sure he has girlfriends.."I said.

"A check of his few friends told a very different tale..He was very awkward socially and for all his intelligence and arrogance, he was a complete awkward mess around females...He had tried awkwardly and unsuccessfully to date several women and the two women who did date him told Monica and me that he had uh "control issues.."

"Control Issues?" asked Monica..

"He uh..well, All I did was open my top and he saw my bra and he was uh done for the night..."said the one girl....

Another girl told Monica...We tried and he lasted all of twenty seconds before he popped off and I held him and told him it was alright, but the same thing happened again..He got frustrated and jumped up, put on his clothes and left."she said.

''Wow"said Monica...looking at me.."Well that certainly isn't your problem...You get on top of me and I wonder sometimes if you're ever going to get off..."she laughed...and then kissed me and nibbled on my ear...

"But I love it baby."she said.

I smiled.

IV-

Christopher Wilde sat in the fishbowl...He was brown skinned , about five foot ,seven, 120 pounds...Not a bad looking guy...He had that smug arrogant demeanor  of a future Master of the Universe...

I walked in first...I put some folders down on the table and smiled...

''Mr. Wilder...Do you know why you're here?" I asked.

"No..But I'm sure you're going to tell me." he said smugly...

I showed him photos of the homes that were broken into...

"You know anything about this?" I asked.

''Should I?" he said.

I showed him a photo of Danielle's lifeless body found in the trunk of the car.....I looked at him, There wasn't a sign of emotion on his face...Nothing..No shock...No fear ,no nervousness..

''She looks dead." he replied dryly.

"She is dead. She was strangled and sexually assaulted."I said.

"So uh what has any of this got to do with me?" he asked.

"Her name was Danielle Groves..She graduated with you last spring in the MBA program in Drexel."I said.

''So did 300 other people ..So?" he asked.

It was then that my partner..Detective Monica Talbert walked in...Upon seeing her ,he sat up straight and was all smiles..

"Hello ,Chris is it?" she said.

''Christopher..but you can call me Chris." he said smiling.

"Would you like a Coffee??. Soda??, Water??" she asked..

"Nah..I'm good."he said.

"How about a sandwich? I can have somebody order out." she asked.

"Nah, I aint hungry.."he said.

"Smoke?" she asked.

"I don't smoke." he said.

"Where were you two nights ago?" she asked...

''What time?"he asked

"In between 11:30 pm and 1:00 am."she asked..

"I was home."he said.

"Can anybody verify that?" she asked.

"No..I was alone."he said.

"Did you know Danielle?" she asked and showed him a photo of Danielle Groves..

"Nope!" he said.

Monica eyed him suspiciously...

"You sure?"she asked.

"I'm positive."he said and yawned......

He looked at her...

"If you guys are through and you are...You haven't got jack as far as evidence goes...I'm going to leave now."he said arrogantly and got up and walked toward the door...Uh Detective....Detective Talbert it is?"he said and smiled a cocky smile.

"I think you are drop dead gorgeous....I wonder if it would be too forward of me to give you my phone number and get yours and uh ask if maybe you and I could go out together?" he said.

I couldn't believe the cockiness of this guy...

"You think you could handle me?" she said smiling...

For the first time...Christopher Wilde was rattled...His air of superiority was gone..he looked startled..

''Wha-What-What the hell do you mean by that?" he said...

''Do you think you could handle me? I'm a lot of woman.."she said....Then she laughed..."I'm just kidding..I can't date you until after I crack this case anyway...You know you're a person of interest.."she said laughing..

"You have no proof..you have nothing."he said, his arrogance returning...

"Maybe not...but I'm a very busy woman...You'd be better off with somebody else." she said.

He looked shook,almost frightened...He turned and stormed out of the precinct....

"Partner....You scare me..." I laughed...

"Nate...He's our guy...That's our killer...he lied when I asked him where he was on the night of the murder and did you see how he got when I asked him if he thought he could handle me?  It's him...but we'll need a DNA sample to tie him to the murder and the break ins.." she said.

"I'm going to put a team on him to watch him... and mean while..We still got to try and find Lawton..Lawton can fill in the dots." I said.

V-

We headed back through the city that night after work...

''Stop by the supermarket baby..I'm going to fix you dinner tonight.."said Monica...

"You like the one in Skyport don't you?" I said.

"Yeah...I gotta stop by my apartment first...I have some coupons." she said..

When we got to her apartment..We found the door unlocked..!

"Mo-Mo...Somebody has been in here!!!!.." I said..I pulled my glock and pushed her back...She pulled hers and we both entered....

I flicked on the light..

We went through every room...Nothing seemed to be taken..

"Nate..look...My drawer...Somebody stole some of my underwear....My bras...some pantyhose..." she said.

''Whoa watch out...The floor is uh sticky.."I said.

''Ewwww..this freak....He was in my apartment...Let's go jack freak boy up.." she said.

"With what? We have no evidence...No nothing..."I said..

"There is a street cam outside.."said Monica..

I walked outside...and pointed...

It was gone!!!!

"Oh My God!" she said.

"Call the police..then pack some things..You are staying with me tonight..Make sure you lock up good." I said.

She had gotten him riled up when she asked him if he could handle her....He had somehow found out where she lived and had come here...

This guy was creepy....As creepy as they come..I was certain now that he was our killer..but proving it would be a whole different story.

(DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED)