Tell Your Sister I said Hi

Talk about bringing the case to our front door...The killer had left a dead body at the front door of our Duplex...

We had dropped Wally and Kylie off at their home and was on our way home...Monica was asleep on my shoulder...When we got the call from Lieutenant Cotton...That a dead body was dropped at our front door...

Monica was furious when we arrived...Several policemen, CSI people and photographers as well as the media was camped out in front of our house...

I walked over to Lieutenant Cotton , who was kneeling down observing the body...

''What do we have Lou?" I asked.

"Hey Nate...Hell of a way to spend a weekend..."said the Lieutenant...'We were up, getting ready to go breakfast and we heard his body thump against the door. "he said.

''You alright Sis?"asked Monica..

''Come on Mo-Mo....I look at dead bodies for a living...I just don't expect them to be at my front door."she said smiling and hugging her twin sister...

Monica put on her latex gloves and kneeled down...

''From the smell of this guy...and the looks...He appears to be homeless.."said Monica..

I dug in his pockets....

"No ID, No wallet, no money...This was a random killing."I said.

"Not so random...look...it's a note..."TELL YOUR SISTER I SAID HI." ....He's telling you he knows where you live sis..."said Monique..

"I'll have a team watching this house around the clock...Don't you worry Mo-Mo...Monique."said Lt.Cotton..

"How long has he been dead Monique?" I asked..

"Judging by body temp...He's been dead about four or five hours..."said Monique...

"He's changing up....There is no way this man could have any connection to the others...This is a homeless man..."I said.

Monica took his fingerprint and put it on her tablet.....She waited a minute and smiled...

''Got a hit..The dead man's name is Calvin Quarles...He's 48...His listed address is a homeless shelter downtown...He's got numerous drug convictions and a couple of stays in County and one upstate."said Monica..

"Cause of death is a single gunshot wound to the head....Let's head to that homeless shelter Mo-Mo..I know you're tired ...but if we can get some guys on those cameras around that area..We may catch a break....You with me?" I asked..

Monica kissed me..

"Until the end of the world sweetie.." she said.. "Release the body sis" she said.

We watched as the body was loaded on the M.E.'s wagon...This serial killer had now taken four lives and was poised to take more..We had to stop him. He was toying with us...Toying with Monica...

II-

 Monica and I flew to the Homeless shelter.....

When we got there , We talked to the Priest...Father McKenzie...

"Father, Did you know Calvin?" asked Monica..

The Priest, a tall handsome man with sandy brown hair , who seemed maybe a year or two older than Monica and I smiled..

"Yes..I knew Calvin..He was quite a charactor...Didn't have an enemy in the world..He was a bit of a comedian,made everyone laugh...I don't know why anyone would kill him..."he said..

I was down the street at the Liquor store...and I got lucky....They had him on film buying a pint of gin and a man in white painter's pants with a goatee...was seen behind him....The same guy who showed up at the other scene... Not only that...We got a fingerprint off the door.......

I walked back down the street...

"Mo-Mo...I got a print and a visual of Calvin and his would be assailant.."I said.

"This is time stamped...This was around 9:00 pm, Friday Night....Right before they closed...Our guy died at four or five in the morning...Where was he in between then?" she asked..

I hadn't thought about that...

"I'll run this print....It's the same guy..I'm sure..."I said.

We ran the print...

"It's positive..It's Stephen Todd...."I said.

''Look at his photo and look at our guy in the painters pants...They don't look anything alike."said Monica.

"Maybe he's working with somebody...Somebody smarter..." I said.

"Obviously...I busted this guy ,believe me...He was no Rocket Scientist..."she said..

An officer ran up to us...The officer we had seen the day before at the Undersea Hotel....

"We did a trap and trace....We got a hit on that phone call...The last one..." he said...

Monica smiled..She looked at me...

"Something about that guy is familiar. It's almost as though I know him." she said.

"That was the guy from the second murder scene at the Undersea Hotel..."I said.

"He's pretty sharp...What's his name?" she asked.

''Officer Scully..Vincent Scully....You can recommend him to take the detectives test the next cycle...But right now..Call Lou and let's grab this guy..." I said.

Monica yawned... Poor thing..she was exhausted...I hugged her...

"I don't know him by that name...He seems like someone else I knew once...I can't put my finger on it."she said.

"You wanna go home and get some sleep bae?...I can take this."I said.

"I can't sleep without you...No come on...let's finish this..." she said.

III-

An hour later...Lt. Cotton arrived at the midtown address with sixteen officers...all with kevlar vests and shotguns.....

I took 8 officers...and headed for the back...Monica and The Lieutenant took the other eight and headed in the front..

It was then that Monica's phone vibrated...

She picked it up..

"Hello" she said.

''WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

''Sorry to disappoint you Stephen.."she said.

"YOU KNOW MY NAME?? WHAT??? HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?" he said.

By now...I was at the door..

''Open up the door Stephen ,it's all over.."I said.

"DAMN YOU!" he said..

Then we heard a loud shot!!!..

Lt. Cotton and I hit the door...

We crashed into the room and there laying on the floor was Stephen Todd...holding a pistol in his right hand....blood flowing from his left temple.....

"Mo-Mo...is that him?" I asked..

"That's him...and he's wearing white painters pants...."she said. She tugged at his goatee..It was phony....So was his sideburns...We found a make up kit..wigs, fake beard, goatee...photos of all of the victims except the homeless man....

''Bag and tag this gun....I'm certain this will be a match for the murder weapon.." She said..

I hugged her...

"It's over babes...We got him!!!..."I said.

"Think so?" she said dryly and walked away...She looked troubled and unconvinced...I wasn't reading her mind...just her body language...I knew my new wife pretty well now.

Monica smiled weakly...She picked up a cell phone off the floor...

"Bag it and tag it...Get prints from it..I'm sure they'll be Stephen Todd's...Give it to my sister when she gets here. "she said to one of the officers..

"I'm on it Detective Nellis." he said.

Monique ran up to the apartment and stepped in at just that moment...

''You two and your little murders are keeping a girl busy sis....Is this him?"she asked...

''It's him...We found enough incriminating stuff in here to wrap this up..Release the body "I said..

Then I looked at the body...the way it was lying on the floor and I tensed up....

I watched as officers bagged and tagged the gun and  Medical Examiners people removed the body...

I felt sick...

Monica walked over to me...For the first time tonight she smiled..

"You're thinking outside the box aren't you bae?  Talk to your wifey..."she said. I knew she had read my mind and knew the conclusion I had come to....but she wanted to hear me say it..

"Mo-Mo, I read Stephen Todd's file...He is left handed.."I said."That was his nickname..."Lefty" I said

"Uh Huh....."she nodded...

"So why is the gunshot wound on his right temple?" I asked...as we walked out and got in my flying car....

"Yes....Now you're getting it...This was all too neat...Too well put together.....Almost as if somebody brought us here..." she said.."You finally see what I've been saying all along.."she said.

"This aint over..."I said.

''Nope...Not by a long shot....This is somebody else...And this is why I always wanted you to be my partner...You think just like me..We are two pieces of the same coin...Somebody wants us to think  Stephen Todd was behind this whole thing..."she said and kissed me...

We boarded my flying car and took off...Once we were cruising speed and altitude ,I noticed something shocking...I turned and looked at Monica and said dryly..

"Mo-Mo, I hate to tell you this bae....But we are totally out of fuel!!!!. And my battery is dead!!!!" I said..

(CONCLUSION NEXT)