All God's Children Need Shoes

Olivia,Beverly,Nelson and I stood outside a coffee shop a few days later sipping tumblers of coffee and talking...Townsfolk greeted us with smiles...They all knew who we were and why we were there..

''Detective McDonald is late.. " I said as I looked at my watch....

"He'll be here sweetie."said Olivia ,who smiled and kissed me on the cheek...

''Auntay has got you spoiled..She's always on time...It's disgusting..."joked her niece, Beverly..

"My husband was always punctual." laughed Olivia who kissed me softly again...

''You know...he can be a little later if we can uh keep this up."I said ,looking at Olivia salaciously..

''Tonight baby"whispered Olivia...Continuing to kiss me.

"God D.R. Yall been married nearly two years and you still sprung!"Laughed Beverly...

"I don't know...I'm kind of sprung over you."said Nelson ,who kissed Beverly's neck...

"I know...You've always been sprung over me.."laughed Beverly...

If we were in a good mood..It was because the trial had been going our way...Olivia and Bev had punched a number of holes in the state's theory that Richard Graves was the killer of Morris Graber,the Lobsterman....

They interviewed several people who worked with him..Who said that he was still working as a lobsterman up until the very day he vanished and was still drawing a paycheck...They knew about his lotto winnings and they testified that his estranged wife had been around the pier and his rooming house even more in the days leading up to his disapearence...

We got lucky and got a photo someone had accidentally taken with their smart phone of her leaving his rooming house at 10:00 pm on the night he was last seen...contradicting her story that she left in between 8:00 and 9:00 pm. and validating Richard Graves's story that he heard a loud argument in their room and a loud thump..then nothing...

Detective McDonald and some people went to pick Helen Graber and Basil Jackson up only to find that both had fled..

He had called me last night and told me that he had good news for me and to meet him this morning outside the coffee shop..

"Heads up Donnie Ray....Here he comes."said Nelson....

Detective Clint McDonald drove up and got out of his car.....He tipped his hat....

"Good morning...So at last I meet you two lovely ladies outside of court.."he said to Olivia and Beverly, who smiled..

He turned to me....I passed him a tumbler of coffee and a bottle of Jameson's Irish Whiskey.

He smiled at Olivia and Beverly again...

''Your husband has been bribing me since yall got here...It's the only reason I've given him the time of day."he said and laughed..

"He does have a certain charm about him." said Olivia...laughing...

"He bribes me with Butter Scotch Krimpets." joked Beverly....

''I come with good news...State Police caught those two clowns trying to cross the border....I thought you might want to be on hand for their interrogation....Might end your trial.." he said..

 "Bev and I have to be in court in a few minutes."said Olivia...

"Yeah...I'd love to see this.."said Beverly...

"Well your husband and Mr. East can come...This ought to be interesting..." he said..

"What are we waiting for?" I said smiling....

"Nice meeting you ladies."he said and tipped his hat.

II-

 Helen Graber sat alone in the interrogation room....She was yawning, which meant she had been asleep.

It was a Homicide Detective's myth that when a defendant fell asleep in the interrogation room they were usually guilty...There was no scientific merit to this theory ,but in nine out of ten cases...I had seen as a homicide detective...I saw it to be true...

"You know, you're a lucky man Donnie Ray...."said Detective McDonald..

''Sir?" I said.

"Your wife? She loves you...It's all over her face...I've been married and divorced twice..I live with a gal now..I don't know how serious it is yet....But I can see in your wife's face that she loves you...That's good...Don't ever take that for granted."he said.

"I don't!!!..Believe me I don't..I pinch myself everyday at my good fortune."I said.

''She your first wife?" he asked.

"Yeah...My only...I met her right around the time I was getting ready to leave the force..She was leaving the private sector to start her own firm...I uh got my P.I.'s license and she gave me a job...and soon after..we got married."I said.

"Good Story.....Almost like a fairy tale...You got a good woman...Smart...a lawyer....Hold on to her like gold Donnie Ray." he said.

"I will."I said.

Nelson was coming down the hallway with a cigarette and a tumbler of coffee...What Helen had asked for...

"We ready?" he said..

''We are ready...Let's go." he said.

The three of us walked in the small room...Nelson sat at the opposite end of the table and looked through some legal briefs...I sat on the side of her Silent...Detective McDonald walked in and stood ,towering menacingly over Helen ,who didn't seem the least bit intimidated...

She took a drag of her cigarette and sipped her tumbler of coffee...She laughed...

"You guys again huh? The Detective...the Private Investigator and the Lawyer....You guys would make a good trio for a TV show....I'd watch."she laughed and took another drag of her cigarette..

"You've been an unlucky girl Helen."said Detective McDonald...

"Have I?" she laughed.

"Well yeah....Your husband caught you in bed with the butcher and he left you...right after he hit the lotto for almost 100K..Ouch, that's gotta sting...Then you get fired as a bartender, for uh missin too many days and you all of a sudden realize you have a husband with  a fat roll....So you start visiting him again and sleeping with him too..Trying to get him to come home...Only husband refuses....But you're not going to give up...You keep at it...Husband aint goin for it, you kill him and your boyfriend cuts him up and discards him into the bay....Aint that how it went Helen?" he asked..

She laughed...

"Nice story Clint...You got a talent...Maybe you should start a blog or write for a television show.."she said...

He smiled..He looked at Nelson ,who pulled a photo out of his briefcase...

"It's a time dated photograph taken from an ATM camera down the street from your husband's rooming house...It says 10:35 pm....You took out $125.00...and here is one of your boyfriend...Basil Jackson, taken the same night or morning....1:45am at the same ATM...He took out $40.00."said Nelson.

She didn't flinch...

"So what? No crime using an ATM machine..

"You told us you had left your husband's rooming house at 9:00 pm and never returned...We have eyewitnesses that saw you when you arrived and heard the fierce argument you two had in his rooming house and both say it was long after 9:00 am." I said.

''Again!!!So what? Doesn't mean I killed him..."she said.

Detective McDonald knocked on the window...A female deputy brought an iron skillet into the room and placed it on the table...it was in a plastic bag...

Upon seeing that....For the first time...Helen flinched...

"This means you did...You should have discarded this in a dumpster further away or in the bay with your husband's body parts....We recanvassed the area...It's got your fingerprints on it as well as your husband's blood and DNA..." said Detective McDonald...

"I'm not saying a damn thing else....I want a lawyer.."she snarled...

''And you'll need one."I said...

"You think your wife would uh-be interested in defending me?" she asked in jest...

"Fat chance."I said...

Nelson and Detective McDonald laughed their heads off as an officer handcuffed Helen and read her her rights...

This was almost like De ja vu-

The three of us walked in the small room where Basil Jackson sat...he was the tough guy I had punched in the stomach in the bar a few days before..Nelson sat at the opposite end of the table and looked through some legal briefs...I sat on the side of him silent...Detective McDonald walked in and stood ,towering menacingly over Basil ,who like his girlfriend didn't seem the least bit intimidated...

He took a drag of his cigarette and sipped his tumbler of coffee..he laughed...

"You guys again huh? The Detective...the gumshoe and the shyster....You guys would make a good trio for a TV show....I'd watch."he laughed and took another drag of his cigarette..

 "It's all over Basil...Helen gave you up....She told us that you cut her husband's body up and scattered it in the bay...She called you a stupid ass for not weighing the body parts down, for not cleaning the room with bleach like she instructed you and not tossing the skillet she brained her husband with in the bay too...Man.....she is pissed with you."laughed Detective McDonald...

"It's her own fault!!!....I didn't want to be involved at all...She called me up ,got me out of bed hollering and screamin about she accidentally killed Morris...I asked her what the hell she was doin over there in the first place...Dumb broad...I shoulda never got involved with her.."he said and stood up and stomped his foot in anger and kicked over the trash can...

"No Basil, you sure shouldn't have!"said Detective McDonald.

Detective McDonald handcuffed him ,read him his rights and watched as two deputy's led him out...

He shook my hand....

"Nice job Donnie Ray, Nelson....Much obliged....Of course..it would have been more sensational if the killer had of been Graves..."he laughed..

"Yeah...it would have."I said.

III-

 Olivia's brother, Jimmy was there to snap photos of Detective McDonald as he and deputies led Helen Graber and Basil Robinson in handcuffs to the local courthouse where Helen Graber was formally charged with second degree murder and Basil Jackson was charged with abuse of a corpse and accessory to murder....

The townspeople seemed a little disappointed that the real killers turned out to be locals and not the FBI top ten wanted fugitive who had been captured in their midst..

Olivia and Beverly stood on the courthouse steps chatting with the young female ADA who kept gushing and telling them both what a pleasure it was to try a case against them in court...

Nelson and I stood by,smiling...Jimmy's wife Malinda stood with us...watching the whole media circus..

 "Wow,look at this...This is the biggest thing that's hit this town in years.."mused Nelson...

 "Yeah...Once again...Richard Graves is the luckiest man in the world...Once again Olivia and Beverly have gotten him out of a murder charge..."I said.

"My husband got the story of a lifetime...HBO called him this morning...They want to do a documentary on both of Richard Graves's murder trials...And since he's Livy's brother and Beverly's father...They want him to be a part of it too..I don't know if Livy is going to like this..."she laughed...

I smiled and pulled Olivia over to me and kissed her passionately...

She giggled like a shy school girl...A court official tapped her on the shoulder...

"Ms. Olivia...There is a teleconference call for you and Ms. Beverly...It's from Philadelphia." he said.

She looked at me..

"Sorry Donnie Ray..I have to take this..."she said..

Then she looked at me seductively and ran her index finger across my lips..

"Will you take a rain check?" she asked..

"Of course.."I said smiling...

IV-

 It was ADA Nina Rios!

"Nina...I guess you heard the news huh?" laughed Olivia..

"Danggg Nina...You got the court on speed dial or something?" laughed Beverly...

"Actually Bev...I did!!! Once again..you two have done a great job...You got your client out of yet another murder rap.....I've got more good news for you and your client.."she said..

"Good News? From You Nina??" asked Olivia laughing...

"Awww mami..I thought we were girls?  Anyway...The District Attorney's office has dropped charges against Mr. Graves for the time being...After a careful review of his case...We don't have enough evidence to go forward with a murder trial at this time...But tell Mr. Graves not to get too happy...He will be indicted again with a quickness on the day we find new evidence linking him to the murder of his wife.."she said.

''What about the federal charges..Interstate flight?" asked Beverly...

"They've been dropped too...Mr. Graves is a free man....FOR NOW!"she said..

Olivia and Beverly leaped into the air and high fived each other and collectively said "YAYYYYYYYYYY!"

ADA Nina Rios smiled wryly...

"Thought you two would like that....Hurry up back home...We have to go shoe shopping and there is a new man in my life...I have to tell you about him..."she said...

"Ouuu girl...We can't wait!" said Olivia and Beverly...

V-

 Richard Graves stood outside our hotel smiling...It was the first time in months that he wasn't under indictment for murder or a fugitive on the run.....He hugged Olivia and Beverly...

 "I so love you two girls...I knew if anybody could free me ,you two could...Christmas is coming up..Check your bank accounts....There will be a nice addition to them from me...and by the time you guys get back to Philly there will be a pair of shoes for each of you that's to die for.." he laughed...

 ''There is not many men ,who I would allow to buy shoes for me Richie...Not even my husband..but you know my tastes and my shoe size ,so what can I say?" she laughed.

"All God's Children Need Shoes."laughed Richard Graves.

"Yessssssssssssss!"said Olivia.

"I feel the same way as my Auntay. Richie...So what are you going to do now? Where will you go?" asked Beverly...

"Why back to Philadelphia of course...That's my home....It will be nice to walk and breathe freely without the long arm of the law breathing down my back."he said.

"You do know that ADA Nina Rios is not done with you...She just doesn't have enough to make a case."I said.

"And she never will."he said..

Something about the way he said that sent a chill down my spine...but I let it go...

"My man...Let me talk to you about this deal HBO has on the table for a documentary..."said Jimmy West...

"There is nothing to talk about!!...You'll have to do it without me..I'm not interested in being further exploited by the media...You all said I was a serial killer...I've been cleared of two rush to judgement murders they tried to hang on me..You all still think I killed my wife...I will not be a part of it.. I owe your sister and your daughter my life and my freedom....I OWE YOU, NOTHING!" he said tersely....

Jimmy looked at Olivia..

"Sorry Big Brother....He's my client and I have to respect his wishes...I can't discuss his case if he doesn't want me to..Attorney-Client priveledge."she said.

His wife Malinda looked at Nelson and rubbed his shoulders..

"Your future father in law.."she said..

Nelson and Malinda cracked up laughing...

EPILOUGE-

Helen Graber was convicted of Manslaughter and sentenced to 10- 25 years....Basil Jackson was convicted of Abuse of a corpse...and Accessory after the fact to a homicide....He was sentenced to 10-15 years.

I imagined that neither would do more than 10 years and that they both would be getting out around the same time...Maybe they'd buy each other a drink!

Richard Graves returned to Philadelphia (as did Olivia, Beverly, Nelson and I.)A free man, not under indictment for anything....

So far he has managed to keep himself out of trouble.. His wife, remains missing!

''Donnie Ray,look at the stilletto heels Richie sent me."laughed Olivia..

"And Look at mine!!" gushed Beverly as she showed off her heels....

"Ouuu Mrs. A. , Bev...Those shoes are fierce." said Josie.

Both women looked stunning....but it wasn't their shoes I was looking at...

''Well...I'm stunned..How is Richie doing?" I asked..

"He's fine I suppose...He hasn't managed to get himself in any additional trouble...but with him you never know." Laughed Olivia...

"Nina Rios was so envious when she saw the shoes Richie got for us...She said that it's a shame she's trying to put him in jail...She would try to get a pair of shoes out of him too."laughed Bev...

"Now that's funny....How is Jimmy doing? I know he was disappointed that the HBO documentary fell through..."I said.

"Yeah he was...but he got a nice commission for the story he did covering the case in general and the trial from that magazine and he got hired on as a full time staff member now...So he's happy about that.....He and Malinda are in Ireland right now, Where she's filming that independent film she was talking about."said Olivia...

"Nice...and with our dockets clear...I suppose we need to do our Christmas shopping and talk about who we are inviting ." I said.

''Well of course Soloman, Celeste and my god baby...Josie and Paris ,Our friends,Regina Wesley and Roy Cole from New York who just got married,Kayla and her fella,Ryan St. James and Sylvia Glenn should be in from San Francisco.."laughed  Olivia...

"Hopefully she leaves Larry North in San Francisco.."said Beverly....

"I know right?" laughed Josie as she and Beverly high fived each other....

"Ouu that's not nice Bev." laughed Olivia...

We all enjoyed a good hearty laugh about that!

Richard Graves's wife remains missing!