The day was over....The city was beginning to get dark....It was about 8:00 pm....I was rushing home after a long day in court and then several meetings with the Mayor, The District Attorney and others...I was exhausted....I wanted to get home and see my wife...
I am Assistant District Attorney, Keith Wallace ...I prosecute Homicides and other major crimes...It had been pretty quiet lately...My detective and law enforcement friends had been doing routine cases lately and making court apearences...No major cases, no excitement...The past few weeks were kind of boring...Sometimes boring and peace and quiet is good.
As I headed home this night...I called my wife...Detective Carlotta Rodiguez-Wallace...
"Hola Papi"she said in a very seductive voice...
"Heyyy sexy..where are you and what are you doing?"I asked..
"I'm home...and I just finished taking a nice hot bath..."she said.
"Are you Naked?" I asked...
"Noooooooooooooooooo...I'm wearing one of your white shirts...I have on a lavender thong..."she replied...
''Lawd girl, you gonna make me crash my car..."I said just imagining her..."You soaking wet?" I asked..
"Nooo horny man..I am dry,I was lotioning my legs..."she said laughing....
"I can't wait to get home to you..."I said...
"Ouuuuuuu,I can't wait for you to get home to me either..So get off this phone and pay attention to the road...So that you can get home to me safely and in one piece."said Carlotta...
I laughed.....
"Okay baby...I'll see you when I get home...."I said..
But shortly after I hung up...Carlotta's phone rang again....
''Ohhh papi you are sooo horny...What do you want?" she laughed...But it wasn't me....It was a man though and he was in tears...
"Carlotta...Is this you?" said the man..
"Yes...Who is this?" she asked...
"You don't remember me?"came the voice..
"Who is this?" she asked..
"Carlotta...I've done something bad...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."said the man ,who began to cry and weep over the phone...
Carlotta hung up...
''Ayyee Caramba!" she said..
Her phone rang again...
"Hello"she sighed...
"Carlotta don't hang up....I've done something awful.."came the voice..
''Who is this?"she said...
Then she heard what sounded like a muffled gun shot...
"Carlotta...I just killed somebody...I had to do it...I had to pay her back for what she...what she...what she did to me....arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."he wailed...
"I had to do it..I had to do it...I had to do itttttttttttttttttt..She left me no choice...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."he said continuing to cry profusely......
"Where are you??, Who are you??" asked Carlotta...
"I'm upset right now....I'll talk to you tomorrow.."he said and hung up... II-
Two hours later-
I couldn't believe it when Carlotta called me and told me that there had been a murder in Center City and to meet her there....I thought she was joking at first...but then I realized that she wasn't...I turned around and headed in the opposite direction....
Once again..I saw the familiar sights....The crime scene tape and policemen mulling around and a crowd of bystanders.....
Beyond the tape...I saw the body of a very young and attractive African-American woman sprawled in the street...her lifeless eyes staring emptily at the full moon....a gunshot wound in her chest, near her heart..a cup of coffee she must have been holding spilled out on the sidewalk...
I saw Lt. Sissy Van Buren and Detective James "Jimmy Barlow talking to her distraught girlfriend..another attractive African-American woman...
"So you two had just left the coffee shop, is that right?" asked Sissy...
"Yes...We had gone to the gym and worked out pretty late...We went and got tumblers of Ice Coffee's...We were talking...She had just gotten engaged....We were just talking and then she collapsed..."she said..
"Did you hear anything? ,Did you see anyone?" asked Jimmy.
"No...We were just walking and talking and laughing...We stopped for the light at the corner and the next thing I know, she tossed her cup of coffee up in the air and fell to the ground..."said the woman who was still crying profusely and shaking...
I saw my wife and her other partner, Detective Tyriq Pile kneeling down by the body...They both had on latex gloves....with them was Dr. Hazel Baylor, our forensic investigator...
"Hey Keith...."said Tyriq...who picked up a shell...." This is the type of shell used in an M-16 ...It's military...She was hit ,center mast...in the chest...She died instantly...She never saw it coming..."he said..
"This shot came from a distance of about 200 feet....judging by the angle of the shot and the way she fell.."said Hazel..."I'll know more when I get her to the Morgue."she said.
My wife Carlotta, who usually greeted me at these scenes with a kiss...was somber....
"He called me...He told me he had just done this...I can't believe this."said Carlotta...
"This isn't your fault Carlotta...There is some nut out there who wants attention...Who knows your name...The voice didn't sound familiar at all?"I asked.
"No...but he talked to me like he knew me....I wish I could recognize it." she said...
Just then a Tactical Squad Patrolman walked over to us...
"I'm Sgt. Thompkins...We think we got a bead on where that shot might have come from..."he said.
Carlotta looked at Hazel...
"Release the body Mami."she said.
"Okay Carlotta...I'm done here anyway.."she said.
''Rico, Jimmy...Let's follow Sgt. Thompkins.." she said.
III-
We traveled about 20 blocks west to an empty studio apartment....
Carlotta looked at the open window...Used an electronic telescope and zeroed in on the block where the murder occurred...
"Oh My god...It was right here...."she said....
"He set up right here...on this bench....It was perfect...He had a clear view...and he took aim and fired..." said Tyriq...
"He could have gotten an even better shot from the roof...Why didn't he shoot from the roof?" asked Jimmy..
"It wouldn't have allowed him to have any cover...This was perfect...He was unseen..."said Sissy...
"But Boss Lady...It's night time...Who would have seen him?" asked Carlotta.
"Weather and News Copters...Low flying planes...Any number of people...No..He was in just the right spot..."said Sissy...
Tyriq found a shell casing...
"Look..it matches....Bag this and tag it."he told a young uniformed police officer...
Carlotta found some pills...
"Look..." she said..
"I know what those are...They're anti -anxiety pills...I'm amazed this was sold over the counter....I'm going to find out where this was purchased...Might get lucky."said Jimmy.
"This building was empty..."I said.
"I'm going to have CSI dust for prints...maybe our boy got sloppy.."said Tyriq..
''Who was our victim?" I asked..
"Here name was Janice...Janice Bristol...28..She had just got engaged....She was an attorney..."said Sissy.
"Jimmy and I will go and talk to her fiance and next of kin tomorrow.."said Carlotta...
"Let me see your phone Top...Maybe I can track that number...I'm going to put on team on the Street cams, ATM cams and Traffic cams...We might pull up something."said Tyriq..
"Damn...I knew it was too quiet." said Sissy,managing a half smile.
I put my arm around Carlotta...
"Tomorrow is another day babes." I said.
''He said something about he had to do it..because of what she did to him...Maybe this is a jilted lover."said Carlotta...
"Let's go through this girl's life like a fine tooth comb."said Sissy...
We all got in our cars and headed home....
Janice Bristol's body was gone...on it's way to the medical examiner's office....Her blood was still on the pavement...
