At police headquarters, Central Investigation Division....Arthur Richard Smith sat quietly...He was brown skinned, tall, six foot three..athletic build...with a nice tailored suit on and a cocky self confidence that bordered on arrogance...
I had asked Sissy ,Jimmy and Carlotta not to mention that Jean was still alive...That was going to be our trump card...
''Look let's quit with the games and get this over."he said.
"Okay Mr. Smith.."said Carlotta...She put a receipt for a Spanish Astra pistol in front of him...
"Paid for with your credit card." said Carlotta..
He smirked...
"So?"
"I knew her....We dated.."he said.
"Another woman in Wilmington,Deleware..Angela Walker....You know her?" asked Jimmy...
"Yeah...casually...AND?"he said.
"That all you got...that I bought a pistol two years ago? I don't even own that pistol anymore..."he said..
"So what? So was a lot of people....You got any witnesses? Anybody see me do anything?" he asked..
"Because I'm married , as I'm sure you know....I'm a bad husband, a cheater...not a murderer..." he said.
"A woman was shot the other night and guess what the bullet fragment told us?" said Carlotta...
"What?" he asked, now annoyed...
"That a Spanish Astra was the gun used....That's not the common weapon used by guys around here...and here you are...once again...In the area.."said Jimmy...
"Co-incidence....Now if you don't have anymore than that...I'm out of here..."he said and got up....
He walked out and stared at me and Sissy....
He smiled at both of us....I followed him to the parking lot...
"Hey!" I said..
"Who are you, another detective?" he asked..
"My name is Kevin Morris...I'm a private investigator...I was hired by Jean to look you up..."I said.
"Oh really?" he said..
"Jean is lucky to be alive...I know you shot her..."I said.
"You do huh?" he said.
"If it's it's the last thing I do..I'm going to make sure you don't hurt anybody else."I said.
"Oh yeah? Good Luck with that." he said laughing and got in his car and pulled off..
Smug bastard. The last laugh was about to be mine.
II-
Sissy,Jimmy,Carlotta and I knew that we didn't have enough to hold him...but we wanted to rattle his cage..let him know that he'd been exposed.....Frighten him...
I figured he'd either flee or try to find Jean and silence her for good...Make sure she never woke up to identify him...Since she was the only living witness who could definitely say that he shot her..
I was right...The next two days he visited every major hospital in the area until he found the one Jean had stayed in.....And either Sean Jackson or Peeping Tom was around to photograph him....
He questioned hospital officials about when Jean had been released and where she had gone....Of course they didn't know..
Clerow and Owen Todd tailed him.....
I also knew that he was going to do his due dilligence and find out all he could about me too..Since I,like Jean was the only living witness to his crimes....He asked around at The Mermaid Club and Josies about me...He even visited my job..I wasn't there...Well,I was actually below him in the sub-basement headquarters of Morris Investigations...
It was time for him to get a very jolting phone call...
III-
''Hello."he said.
"Hello Richard or should I call you Arthur? That is your real name isn't it? Arthur Richard Smith? and this is your real phone number right? Not those two phony numbers that go to that phony apartment you claimed you lived in right?" said Jean..
He was silent...
''Cat got your tongue Arthur?...Don't worry...The police don't know a thing....I told them that I don't remember anything...but I do...I REMEMBER EVERYTHING! See..The Private Investigator I hired is pretty damn good..Didn't take him long to figure out your game..."said Jean..
''What do you want?" he said.
"Well, you caused me considerable injury...I'm partially paralyzed thanks to you....That private detective did his work...You lied about a lot ,but you didn't lie about your bank account..Seems you do very well Mr. Smith...I want money...I want my medical bills paid...in full and I want a nice percentage every week coming from you..."she said.
"Or what?" he said icily...
"Or I call Lt. Sissy Van Buren and tell her I suddenly remember everything...and worse...I tell your unsuspecting wife...She's a lawyer too isn't she? She's out of town on business...She's the real money isn't she? Bet you she has no idea that she's married to a lying cheating psychopath who has killed two women...two women who found out about her and threatened to blow her phone up..."said Jean.
''Where are you, let's talk." he said.
"There is nothing to talk about....And don't get any silly ideas about trying to shoot me again...I have a legally registered firearm and I know how to use it..."said Jean..
"I want twenty thousand dollars in small bills at my house tonight...no later than ten o'clock or I speed dial Lt. Sissy Van Buren and tell her everything..." said Jean..
"Ten O'clock it is...you blackmailing bitch!" he said ,stomping his foot...
"I'm here and I'll be there with the money at 10:00 sharp.." he said.
"Before you go..Can I ask you a question?" asked Jean..
"What?" he said.
''Why did you shoot me? We were having such a good time...I know I satisfied you in the bed.."she said.
"You did...but you were starting to get clingy, asking questions, wanting to come over to my apartment...I don't like my side pieces to get clingy...I've got a wife for that...And now I find out you've hired a private detective....See...It was things like that I-I-I just couldn't have...It wasn't personal....Not at all." he said just as non-chalant as if he were talking about making brownies...This guy was a real monster.
He hung up....
Of course that entire conversation had been taped...He had just made his first big mistake...I had him on tape at least admitting that he shot Jean...
Jean was not paralyzed at all..She was fine...Fit as a fiddle...Thank God...
I knew that Arthur Richard Smith was not going to wait until ten o'clock to deliver that money...He was going to head over to MY HOUSE and finish the job...See ,That call had been made from my house...I knew he was smart enough to track the GPS on Jean's cell phone and pinpoint her exact whereabouts...
IV-
"Yo!" I answered.
"Big Cheese..He just left his house....and he had what looked like a pistol with a silencer..."said Owen Todd..
"Good...I wouldn't expect him to use the Spanish Astra ,since we know about it...Stay on him...He should be here shortly..."I said.
"Okay...Everybody in place?" he asked..
"Yupper." I said.
I hung up and I looked at my wife Sepia..
"Please try not to make too much of a mess.." she said as she picked up our daughter....
"Relax..I got this all under control...There's Eva now..."I said.
Our friend, Eva Corona drove up....
"Be careful Mister Kevin."said Eva...
"Always..."I said and I watched as they pulled off.. I then sat down in my living room and waited...
It didn't take long...I heard my basement door being jimmied...This guy had skills...He got in through the basement and quietly walked up the basement steps to the kitchen..
He looked around and then quietly slipped into the living room with his pistol, silencer intact...cocked..
"YOU BRING THE MONEY?" I said laughing....
He was startled.....
"You know...As smart AS YOU THINK YOU ARE...You were really quite easy.to figure out...I knew you'd track the GPS on the phone call ,just like I knew you'd come here looking for me and her...Here's the bad news...She's not here..."I said...
"Well here's some bad news for you...I'm here and I have a gun...with a silencer...You on the other hand don't appear to be armed..Nobody will hear me pop you..Nobody even suspects that I'm here..."he snarled..
"I'm a card playin man ace...and my .357 mag and my friend's .45 trumps your little pop gun on any day."said Kool Kat who had his gun aimed at his head....Arthur turned to the side and Clerow had his .45 aimed at his chest...He was smiling that toothy grin of his...
"What the hell?" he said....
"If I was playing chess...I would say checkmate at this point ace....More bad news....the minute you broke in my house...you were photographed and it was automatically faxed to C.I.D. headquarters..."I said.
I opened up the door...
"I got some people that want to talk to you." I said..
Detectives Duke Baylor, Tony Hopkins and Tyriq Pile walked in with two uniformed officers ,who took his weapon handcuffed him and read him his rights..
Detective Jimmy Barlow walked in...He took one look at Arthur and smiled..
"Arty..How's tricks? Didn't think you'd see us again did ya?" he said.
Arthur Richard Smith stomped his foot in disgust....
''Keep that up and you're gonna have one hell of a foot ache pal."laughed Jimmy.
Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and Sirena Pile walked in next....Carlotta was holding a bag with a Spanish Astra Pistol in it....
"I don't believe it...I'm being arrested.." he snarled..
"Believe it Arthur." said Sirena..
"Another killer off the streets...Thanks again friend."she said and kissed me softly on the cheek.....
I smiled...
Kool Kat looked at me and smiled..
V-
Sepia and I stopped by to visit her...
"Here this is for you...Buy something nice for that baby girl of yours...I can't thank you and your husband enough for all you've done for me.." she said.
"So Jean, before you date anyone else...you check with me first."I joked..
"That's a damn good idea...You're joking, but I'm serious." she said.
We all enjoyed a nice big belly laugh.
EPILOUGE-
He is presently in the Virginia State Correctional Center awaiting execution...His wife promptly divorced him...She had no idea she was married to a serial killer...
Sepia was at the counter ordering our food...I put my arms around her waist and kissed her neck...
"Ummmmm,I feel something very hard behind me sir...Is this my husband...or some other guy who is very,very glad to see me?" she asked..
"How about both?"I said kissing her neck...
She smiled...
"Good to know...A girl can never be too careful..."she said and we both laughed..
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