Laney

TWO WEEKS LATER!

We had all been back in Philadelphia for about two weeks...My wife,Olivia and Beverly had been to the detention center to visit Richard Graves nearly daily...

They had failed  to get bail for him....He was considered a flight risk.... Today however they looked a little more optimistic when I came to pick them up in front of the detention center...

"Heyyy Lover!" said Olivia..waving...

"Hi D.R. " said Beverly with a slight smile..

''You girls look like you had a good day today." I said.

''We have another hearing tomorrow with a new judge...We may just be able to get Richie released on bail...with an ankle bracelet as a provision."said Olivia..

"It's not much ,but it beats being locked up.." said Beverly as they both  got in the car...

"No doubt...but that's good news....especially for a guy who hasn't had much good news lately..." I said.

"I sure miss San Diego." said Beverly wistfully..

"I miss it too baby...all this rain we've been having here lately...I can't wait to get this over with...Maybe Hubby and I will take a short vacation somewhere..." said Olivia..

"I'm thinking of going to the shore with Nelson..."said Beverly...

I smiled as we drove back to the office.

II-

I decided to do a little snooping into the mysterious disapearence of Elaine Huggins- Graves......or "Laney" as she was called by her friends and family.

Somewhere around 1992...The story goes that a younger Richard Graves  was collecting rent from a tenant in one of his father's apartment buildings when he met the woman who he said would become his  soul mate.

The tenant and soon live-in girlfriend was shapely and attractive,Elaine Huggins a 28-year-old dental hygienist, youngest of five from a middle-class Irish Catholic family in Wynnewood.


Olivia and I talked to her brother James Huggins...the next day...

"Their early days were truly I think, you know, Prince Charming and Cinderella with the means to enjoy a modest but comfortable happy lifestyle...He was the son of the wealthy real estate mogul and she was doing pretty good with her practice." he said.

"They got married in 1993. Richard Graves was 40...Elaine or Laney as we called her was 29.Rich was shy, a little aloof, some people thought.  11 years older.My baby sister was lively, attractive, the one to gather friends for dinners and parties."he continued..

"They lived in a Tony Condo in downtown Philadelphia and had a nice home out on the Mainline....They partied with Philadelphia and New York City's Hoi paloi...They went to some of the most elite and trendy clubs and enjoyed the good liquor and recreational drugs..." said a friend of the family who Olivia and I also interviewed..

A Day later...Bev and I went to see Elaine's sister, Megan who said...

"It  looked as though Laney from Wynewood had hooked herself a prize.
Richie Graves was Elaine Huggins passport to an outside world to which she had not hitherto been privy but very much wanted to be part of. And for a series of years that arrangement worked very nicely and they were very much in love. But my sister wasn't going to settle for being arm furniture for her rich young husband. She got her nursing degree then enrolled in med school."

" She was just brilliant. She was beautiful. She was bright, happy and she had everything going for her. Elaine  told me  that she wanted to have children and Richie did not want to have children. So she decided to have a career.That's when everything went wrong...Richie told her in so many words to go out and get a job and not rely on his family's wealth. And that is when things went bad....Elaine
  threw herself into studies for medical school. She was focused with goals in her life. While Richie, by several accounts, was smoking a lot of marijuana, spinning his wheels in a corporate world he really loathed, and seeing other women on the side. Elaine's friends said the nearly 10-year-old marriage was suffering, turning violent.  She went to Jack, his younger brother for comfort at first and comfort turned into a romp or a couple of romps in the bed.."

We took Olivia with us to talk to Megan the next day...

"The turning point in the marriage was the frequency of phone calls that I received from Elaine. They got more desperate. She sounded more panicked, more fearful. "Richie was hitting me." These are her words now. "Richie is hitting me. He wakes me up in the middle of the night and he starts a fight. I just kept telling her, "Leave him. Leave him. Get the divorce eventually but leave him.Leave him now" said Megan...

Olivia looked at Beverly...took her niece's face in her hands and smiled..

"Reminds me of you telling me to leave Elwood after one of Elwood and I's many arguments concerning his cheating.." she said and kissed Beverly's forehead.

"He was hurting you Auntay...I couldn't bare to see my favorite aunt hurt." said Beverly quietly..

I looked at Megan and I asked her...

"Do you think Richie is capable of murder?"I asked her..

She looked at me...

"Honestly...No..I mean..you've seen him..He's odd yes...eccentric yes...a cheap skin flint maybe...but he's no killer....I never thought so...He's so high most of the time he can't even order take out,let alone kill someone...My brother and my late father seem to think he is capable of murder...."she said.

We talked to Megan's husband who had this to say about his brother in law..

"He ,Richie could show rage--verbal rage. And, ultimately, I think he was very capable of physical confrontation. Physical rage. He wanted to control Laney because probably he couldn't even control himself and Elaine was the only thing or person he ever controlled in his life. And he was losing control of that. His Old man removed him from the leadership of the corporation because it was losing money steadily under his leadership or lack of it..That's why Jack got the nod..And it just didn't cut with Richie Graves...."he said.

"Court records show that Richie had another lawyer ,before he met my wife...A Franklin Sullivan who filed an affidavit in 2003 denying he ever abused Elaine and his lawyers say they know of no abuse."I said.

"But back in 2001, Elaine Graves got a lawyer,Shane Rosen and began the paperwork to prepare for a divorce."said Olivia..

"All she wanted out of the disillusionment of the relationship with Richie was just a fair settlement. She wasn't going for the $1-million payoff." said Megan..

"You think we can meet with Rosen and Sullivan and discuss the actual terms?" asked Beverly..

"If you have a seance you can....Sullivan was killed in an automobile accident in 2004 and Rosen died of lung cancer in 2008." said Megan's husband.

''When was the last time you saw or heard from Elaine?" I asked.

"January 9, 2005...I'll never forget that night....I got a call from Elaine...She was distraught..She said she just needed to get away from Richie...So I told her to come over for dinner and drinks..and to pack an overnight bag..As soon as she arrived, though, the trouble started.Richie called...He was high as a kite...He was pleading with her to come back home ,saying if she came home everything would be alright..At 7:15 that night, Laney gave up on her evening away from Richie. She was going back to their condo, 45 minutes away in the city. We agreed to meet for dinner in the city the next night...but there was something odd about the way she looked when she left us.." said Megan..

 ''Odd?" asked Olivia...

"Yes...she stood on my front porch and she said, "Megs, if something happens to me tonight, promise that you'll check it out. I'm afraid of Richie." And I let her go. I hugged her and I let her go home and I have not seen her since.Neither has anyone else." she said.

It was a chilling tale...A tale that sent the three of us back to County Lock Up to see Richie..

Jail hadn't been good to Richie..He had lost weight...Had grown a beard and hadn't been bathing on a regular...He did tend to let himself go at times...

To our surprise...He told the exact same story that Megan and her husband told...He verified everything they had told us, up to a point....As Richie would tell us...Elaine arrived home and they polished off a bottle of wine and smoked some good weed and then "I relieved her of her panties and bra and we made love well into the early morning hours...Ironically,it was some of the best sex she and I had had in our married life....

I passed out and when I woke up hours later..She was gone and there was evidence that she'd gone in my safe and taken a large amount of cash...Needless to say...I haven't seen her since...That was January 9th or 10th 2005."he said.

I found the cab driver ,who drove her from their condo to the train station...He said she rode alone...I found film footage of her walking in the train station....but nobody has a record of her buying a ticket or getting on any of the trains that was running around 4:30-5:00 in the morning or getting off of any train..and I checked every station going in every direction.....This was her last known sighting....

Surprisingly enough there is film footage of Richard leaving his condo at 3:35 am and returning at 6:00 am...He says he was so high he doesn't remember where he went or what he did...Nobody else does either...There is no film footage of him at all in that time period...

III-

A few days later...Olivia and Beverly won him bail...which was paid immediately ,allowing Richard Graves to leave prison with an electronic ankle bracelet on and confining him to his townhouse in midtown...

"Thank you again girls..Once again you've saved my ass..." he said to Olivia and Beverly.

...

ADA Rios walked up to him..

"They haven't saved you yet..They've just bought you a little time.." she said..She looked at Olivia and Beverly and smiled..

"Hola mamasitas.."she said.

"Hi Nina."said Olivia and Bev as they walked Richie out to the car where I was waiting..

"Richie...Be good...Stay in your townhouse when you're supposed to be in there, you hear?" said Beverly..

He smiled at her..

"Of course I'll be good.."he said with a wink..

He had shaved, had gotten his hair cut and apparently had taken a bath and brushed his teeth...

I drove him to his townhouse...

''We'll see you in court in a few days."I said.

''Wouldn't miss it " he said and smiled slyy as he walked into his townhouse..

He had a kind of weird smile on his face and waved at the three of us as we drove off..Something about the way he smiled kind of un-nerved me..

IV-

The rain poured that  Friday afternoon...We closed the office...Josie and her boyfriend, Paris and Nelson both were spending the night with Beverly.....Since there was another bedroom in her suite ,They could take that room and Nelson and Bev would sleep in her room.

Olivia and I came down to her room...We had popcorn, Cokes and Pizzas that we ordered..The six of us ate and played cards and talked about this weird case..I taught them how to play Texas Hold em...

"I almost don't want this case."said Olivia..

"You think he's guilty?" I asked..

"If not guilty, then definitely not a good man..and creepy as hell." said Olivia..

"I know right Auntay?" said Beverly...

"I know one thing...Dude is the unluckiest guy I know.He turns around and he gets arrested and charged with something." said Nelson laughing...

"Thing is...Nina doesn't have much of a case...and she knows it.."said Olivia..

''Yeah,but we don't either.. Livy,Bev..people just don't drop off of the face of the earth...and yet this woman did...without a trace...Her bank accounts remain intact...I checked...No movement on any of her credit cards in ten years...Impossible...No job...no nothing...She's got to be dead."I said.

 ''And there is still the question of where he was in that three hour period when he went out and she vanished."said Beverly.

We looked at Paris..

"You're completely in the dark about this huh?" I said.

He smiled and shrugged..

"You guys are all lawyers...It's the conversation I expect." he said diplomatically..

"Let's talk about something else...Talking about that man gives me the creeps." said Beverly.

Just then...there was a huge thunder clap...All of the lights went out!!!!!!..

 We all looked at each other....  I looked out the window....The entire area seemed to have blacked out....for a couple of blocks.....

 "Uh Guys...I'm not superstitious...But how about if we refrain from talking about Richie Graves? I think Shortcake had a very good idea." I said...

"I'm with that" said Paris....who looked shook!

Olivia put her arms around me and said-"I think that is a great idea too."

Not one person disagreed!

EPILOUGE-

A few days later,Tuesday Morning to be exact...Josie got a rather disturbing phone call...It was from ADA Nina Rios ....

"Boss Lady...You have a phone call from ADA Rios.." said Josie...

"Hmmm...I wonder what this is about?" said Olivia...

"Maybe she's going to drop the charges against Richie" said Beverly with tongue in cheek..

"Fat chance of that." laughed Olivia...She took the phone... "Good Morning Nina.." she said.

"Hola Olivia...Rather than tell you this on the phone...Why don't you meet me at your client's condo.." said ADA Nina Rios..

"Why?? What's up??" said Olivia...

"Just meet me here...and bring me some Columbian coffee...You know how I like it mami." she said and hung up...

"What was that about?" I asked...

"I don't know...Nina wants me to meet her at Richie's condo...You guys feel like taking a ride?" said Olivia...

About a half an hour later...Olivia ,Beverly and I met ADA Nina Rios at Richie's condo...Richie was nowhere to be found...

Olivia passed her some Columbian coffee...

"Here you go Nina...just like you like it...Now where is my client?" asked Olivia...

"Yessss..Where is he? That is the question..."said Nina as she sipped her tumbler of coffee..

FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge Sharon Ferrell Hopkins walked in the room then..She was carrying the electronic Ankle Bracelet that Richard Graves was supposed to wear..

"He's gone!!...Your guy flew the coop!  No sign of him anywhere....We have a BOLO out on him and he is now on our FBI Top Ten Wanted Fugitives list."said Sharon...

I looked at the ankle bracelet and just shook my head....I laughed a little bit...

Beverly looked at it too, but she didn't say a word...

Olivia was stoic...She said nothing...

"Still think your client is an innocent man Livy?" asked ADA Nina Rios.

"What do you expect me to say Nina???....What would you say if you were me?" asked Olivia...who looked like a disappointed parent...I actually felt a little sorry for my wife..She had worked so hard for this creepy man...Had believed in him even when I didn't.

"Point taken...but you know this doesn't look good for him and it won't help you when  we get him and you try to defend him or get him bail...Which he can forget at this point..."she said.

She was absolutely right and even though Olivia and Beverly didn't say anything..I'm sure they knew that ADA Rios was correct!

Olivia sighed...

"I took your advice about the shoes...This is one of the pairs I bought out in San Diego.."said Olivia...showing Nina her new shoes..

Both Nina and Sharon looked at Olivia's shoes..

"Ouuuu girl, those shoes are fierce..." they both said in unison and began laughing.....

Beverly sensed my confusion and said to me..

"Don't try to figure it out D.R. We are women as well as lawyers...." she said and kissed me on the cheek...

I just smiled weakly....

To date, there has been no sign of Richard Graves....He remains on the FBI's Top ten most wanted fugitives list...No one has any idea where he could be..

His wife ,Elaine Huggins -Graves ("Laney") remains missing.