A Casual Motive

Monica and I stopped by Robert Preston's Dental office...The receptionist told us that he was not in today and hadn't been in for a few days....

I had a warrant with me that allowed me to search his client list.....

Monica and five uniformed officers went through his files..It didn't take them long to find what we were looking for...

"Both Robert and Laura Peterson were his clients....But only Nancy North...Not her husband..."said Monica...

"Still..that's a link to both couples.."I said...

He had a very nice and neat office...Very clinical,just like I'd expect a dentists office to be...

I showed his photo to the receptionist...

"Yes..That's Dr. Preston...Is he in some kind of trouble?" she asked..

"We just want to talk to him for starters."said Monica..

''Well here is his home address... and his cell phone number...."she said.

"Thank you...Come on partner...There is nothing else here."said Monica..

We had done a work up on Robert Preston....Born in Washington, D.C.  Both of his parents had been dentists...He studied at Georgetown and John Hopkins where he met and married his wife,Margery...also a dentist....

They moved to Philadelphia where he did a short residency at a private clinic before starting his own practice...They both earned well over six figures and lived in a nice condo downtown I was told..

There wasn't even a traffic ticket on either of these people's records...And the people we talked to, Friends,Family members, Associates had not a bad word to say about him... but our friend Valerie Delores

told us a different story about "Bob"...

"He was controlling and a tad bit kinky....and very jealous...He was screwing  Mrs. Peterson, who wasn't impressed with him...She told me having sex with him was as exciting as watching paint dry and Mrs. North...but was jealous of the time and attention Mr. North and Mr. Peterson was giving to his wife...She was immensely pleased with both of them...Especially Mr. Peterson...He really didn't like that." she told us.

"We finally have what amounts to a motive for these killings."said Monica..

"Yeah,but he killed the wives too..."I said.

"Package deal..." she said.

II-

When Monica and I arrived at the condo where Dr. Robert Preston and his wife lived...We both marveled at it...

''Wow babes..this could be you and me one day."I said.

"On a cop's salary? I don't think so...Maybe if I go back to Law school and get high powered clients...Who knows?" said Monica.

"That's right...you were in law school....Damn you got body and brains..."I said..

Monica kissed me softly...

"Aww that was sweet....Now let's get on the elevator and get this perp." she said.

But finding the elusive "Bob" was not going to be easy.....His wife Marge came to the door...To our surprise..She was 9 months pregnant and had what looked like a black eye...She was trying to cover it with make up and doing a bad job...

She allowed us to come in..

We sat down....

"You want some coffee?" she asked..

"No mam...When do you think your husband will be returning?" I asked..

"He won't...We broke up...About two weeks ago..." she said..."He's moved out..and I don't know where he is staying."she said.

"You're due soon..aren't you?" I asked softly...

"Any day now.."she said.

"You would think a man would want to be around to see his first child."I said.

She held her head down....Monica looked at her strangely then said.

"That's not Dr. Preston's baby is it?" she asked..

She was shocked at what Monica said...She didn't know that Monica is a mutant with telepathic powers..

"No..it's not....Robert is sterile....Has been for awhile...If you're detectives ,I guess you already know that we were swingers... We and two other couples were in it together...I suppose I didn't take precautions and I uh got pregnant.....When Robert found out I was pregnant he was furious...But he was even more furious when he found out I had a threesome with Bobby and Freddie outside of the group..."she said hanging her head in shame..

"Which one is the father?" asked Monica..

"Bobby Peterson...He thought it was Frederick at first....but a DNA test has confirmed that it's Bobby...Bobby is uh Black you know...and the fact that I was going to have a bi-racial baby drove my husband up the wall..Now everyone would know that the baby wasn't his..Everyone would know his shame he said."she said..

"Did he black your eye?" I asked..

"Yes....Is it true? You think he killed the Norths and the Petersons?" she asked..

"Right now we want to talk to him." I said.

"I don't know where you might find him...."she said..

"Come with us...Pack a few things....I'm going to take you to the women's clinic...to see about that eye...and maybe you need to stay somewhere else until we get your husband off the street..Do you have any family or friends?" asked Monica..

"I have a sister...She lives nearby...She would never come to visit me because she hated my husband so much..." said Marge Preston....

"Can you call her?" asked Monica..

"I think so..." she said..

"Good..."said Monica...She looked at me..

"Partner...I'm going to take her with me...Keep me posted on anything else.." she said...

"Okay."I said.

Marge looked at both of us...

"You two...you're uh more than just partners...You two have something going on don't you?" she said looking at both of us slyly..

"She's my wife."I said.

"Really?" she said....

"Yes....We haven't been married that long...a little over a month..but we've been a couple for awhile.."said Monica.

"And they let you two be partners?" she asked..

"Yeah...Things have changed.."said Monica.

"I'll say.." said Marge..."You two just have that body language....That's how I picked up that you two were together in some way." she said...Robert and I had that body language at one time.."she said mistily...

"What happened?" asked Monica..

"I don't know...I guess I never really knew him like I thought I did." she said.

III-

 I met Detective Wally Becker and three uniformed policemen at the trolley car station one hour later...He was sitting on the bench as if he were waiting for a trolley smiling...He had a plastic bag in his hand...

"What'cha got Wally?" I asked..

"Your hunch was right Nate...We dragged the sewers down the street from the Atomic club and we found this... A .22 and a silencer...The owner tried to wipe it clean of prints..but we dusted it and found a few....Your uh foxy sister in law should be able to do something with this." he said laughing..

"Thanks Wally.."I said.

''Where is your wife?"he asked..

''She's with her sister at the M.E.'s office, waiting for me.."he said.

"Give em both my regards..."he laughed...as he walked towards his car...

"Thank you Wally..I owe you." I said..

"Forget about it Nate...Same team babes." he said.

Something about Wally had changed...I couldn't put my finger on it...but he was different .....

IV-

We had another locker room..It was in the basement...Nobody used it and it was slated to be closed and either remodeled or used for something else..

Shortly after he gave me what would turn out to be the murder weapon...My ex partner...Detective Wally Becker had his pants down to his ankles...had Detective Kylie White spread eagle on one of the benches and had been going to town....making sweet love to her for the past two and a half hours...

"Ummmmmmm.." he grunted..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu..ohhhh my goodness..ouuuuuuu...Wally...Ohhhhhh my god..." came her shrill voice..

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...""Ohhh baby, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph..."she moaned...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Kylie...Kylie......ouuuuuuuuuu, more, more... ohhhhhh..."

"Sock it to me Wally...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...this feels sooo damn good...I needed this,ouuuuuuuuuu...you don't know how I needed this...ummmmmmm... "she moaned.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gooooddddddd lawdd it's soooo goood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh damnnn girl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeet jesusssssssssss ..arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."he cried ...out!!"Morrre...Morreee....morrre...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. "

"Wally..ouuuuuu..Wally....OHHHHHHH. Wally I'm cumming...ohhhhh my goodness..ouuuuuuu!"she wailed...

She was sweating profusely....So was he.....

"Ohhhhhhh,ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, here it comes...here it comes....ohhhhhhhhhhhh." he yelled...

"Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, Wally!!!!" she yelled...

They were rocking so hard... they looked like they were going to break the legs off of the bench....

They both began shaking and holding each other...They were both climaxing.....His bottom lip was quivering...She was shaking and sweating profusely....breathing heavily.....

"Oh My god, Wally!..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she screamed.

"Kylie.....Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god!"he screamed as he came harder than he had in awhile.

They both took deep breaths....he pulled out of her...He was wearing a condom...

He slipped it off and tossed it in a trash can....He pulled his boxers up and his trousers....He didn't bother to try and fix his shirt...Kylie surprisingly fixed his shirt and his tie for him once again.....

"My DNA is uh all over this precinct...Nothin better happen to you."he joked..

She pulled her panties up and straightened out her dress and he helped put her bra back on this time......She fixed her hair the best she could..

She turned and gave him a wet sloppy kiss...He held her for a long while,staring into her eyes....

"You got pretty eyes." he said.

"Thank you." she said...

They found themselves surprisingly kissing again, a little longer and tenderly this time...

"I'll make sure nothing happens to me.....Make sure nothing happens to you either..." she laughed as they kissed passionately...

 This was the third time in as many days that they had gotten together...She had sent him a text..He told her he had some case related work to do...(Finding the murder weapon in my case)Then he'd meet her.

He eased out of their embrace...

"I uh guess I should be uh going.."he said.

"It's okay..."she said and hung her head...He kissed her softly on the cheek...She rubbed his arms...

He wanted to take her in his arms again..but he knew how she could be....So he was about to turn and leave, when she grabbed him and pulled him to her and kissed him passionately for a few minutes.......He smiled and surprisingly found himself hugging her...Not something he usually did with a woman...They both eased out their embrace and smiled at each other sheepishly as he quietly slipped out of the locker room..

She stood in the corner and cried...She felt so good ,but all at once..she felt bad... Just two months ago she had had no man...Now she was torn between two....Both were incredibly good lovers...

She thought it would feel better than this...Most girls would be envious of her good fortune..

V-

 "Nate, Sis..it's a match...A ballistics match to all four victims..This is your murder weapon and I got DNA from the perspiration still on the weapon..it's a match for the DNA found in the semen at both death scenes..." she said.

"Good..Now all we gotta do is find him.."I remarked.

"We have an APB out on him....We might yield something..."said Monica...

Lt. Cotton walked in...

"Today is your lucky day...A couple of uniforms picked him up at the train station...They are bringing him in now..." said Lt. Cotton...

Monica and I high fived each other...

"Booo yaaaaa!" we both said.

Lt. Cotton looked at us and laughed..

"What is this "Boo Ya" crap?....I thought yall might kiss or something...Like I'm gonna do your sister as soon as you two leave." he said.

Monique blushed...

"Frankie...."she said..

"Frankie What? You know I'm gonna kiss you.." he said..

"Uhhh come on partner...We got a suspect to talk to." said Monica..pretending to be outraged...

"Yeah...Let's get out of here." I said laughing.

VI-

 Dr. Robert Preston paced back and forth in the "Fishbowl" as we called the interrogation room...As soon as Monica and I walked into the room he began bellowing..

"I was wondering when you or somebody was going to come in here...You have no right to hold me, you have nothing...I demand to be released immediately and I demand to talk to your superior."he said.

I sat down calmly and showed him some photos...Photos of the dead victims...

"Friends of yours..."I said.

"WHAT? SO WHAT?" he bellowed...

"Bob you dog you...I never figured you for a swinger.."I said laughing...

"YOU THINK YOU'RE FUNNY? I KNOW THE POLICE COMMISSIONER...HE'S ONE OF MY CLIENTS..I'LL HAVE YOUR BADGE DETECTIVE!!!" he bellowed..

Monica ignored him and showed him photos of him at both crime scenes....

"That's you isn't it Bob?"she said softly...

"WHERE DID YOU GET THESE?" he asked..

I tossed the bag with the gun and silencer in it on the table...

"That's yours too!....That's your DNA on it and uh it matches the DNA in the semen you left on the car seat and on the bathroom floor  and the kitchen floor and in the bedroom and in two of our female victims..Bob you're a pretty naughty boy.."I said.

Monica tried but couldn't hold back a giggle.

"YOU DON'T HAVE MY DNA...I NEVER GAVE MY CONSENT!" he screamed..

''We didn't need your consent...You drank two cups of coffee when you got here and tossed the cups in the trash..You smoked a cigarette too...We got samples off of the saliva on the cups and the cigarette butts...It's a match..We got you Bob...We got you cold."said Monica..

His mouth opened wide....Then he dropped his head...

"We had a good thing going...a good thing...Everybody was having fun...Then she had to get pregnant...She messed the whole thing up....and by the black guy....No offense..."he said.

I took a deep breath...

"None taken..."I said.

"Nobody knew you were sterile did they Bob? And when your wife got pregnant...sooner or later they would have known that that wasn't your child....You mistakenly thought Fred North was the father..So you killed him and his wife...Then you discovered that Robert Peterson was the real father...You killed him and his wife....Isn't that how it all went down Dr. Preston?" asked Monica.

He sat quietly...All the fight was out of him...

"Yes." he said quietly...

I passed him some paper and he wrote his confession....I read him his rights...Two uniformed officers handcuffed him and walked him out....

Monica smiled..I smiled and pulled her to me....

"You know..The Lieutenant is right..High fiving and saying Boo ya is kind of lame....This is better ."I said and kissed her passionately....

"Ouuuuuu yes....yes....yessssssssssssssssss..." said Monica as she returned my kiss....

EPILOUGE-

 Robert Preston was convicted of four counts of first degree murder and given life without possibility of parole...He just missed the death penalty...

Monica, Monique and I accompanied Kylie White to Space Port...

"I'm so envious of you Kylie...I've never been to the moon..That's on my bucket list..." said Monique..

"It's not all it's cracked up to be..believe me.."said Kylie..

"You tell Carlos we said what's up and that it wouldn't hurt him to visit you every once in awhile.."laughed Monica...

"I know right?" she laughed...

"Just give him my regards...I aint sweatin the brother..."I said and hugged Kylie...

"There's my shuttle...I'll see you guys in a week.." she said and hugged and kissed Monique and Monica..

We waved as her shuttle headed her to the spaceship that would be taking off and heading towards the moon...

"Anybody notice who's nowhere to be found?" asked Monique..

''Detective Becker...Maybe he's chasing some other girl around.." I said.

"No..he's not!!...His heart is with Kylie....And I don't think he has to chase." said Monica...

"You think so siss?' asked Monique...

"Time will tell..but life is going to get real interesting in a few...Just keep your eyes and ears open."said Monica..

I kissed her cheek...

"And you keep your mind open." I laughed...She rubbed my hands softly..

"That goes without saying partner." she said...

The three of us laughed as we got on the shuttle headed in the opposite direction.