Deconstructing Kelly

Monica and I stood in the Spaceport where flights took off for the Moon and Luna City showing Kelly Young's photo to one of the cashiers...

''Yeah, she was here...She purchased one round trip ticket to the moon for two weeks from now."said the cashier..

"One round trip ticket? For one person?" asked my wife, Monica..

"Yeah..I thought it was strange too...considering she had a wedding band on...and her husband was standing right there with her." said the cashier..

"Her husband?..I don't think so..."I said pulling out my tablet...

"Her husband was locked up on this day...At County..."I said and showed her a photo of Kelly Young's husband..

"That's not him..That's not the man that was with her...but she was here with a man..."said the cashier...

I showed her a photo of Corey Baker...

"Perhaps this was the man who was with her..."I said.

"No..it wasn't him..I'm certain of it. This man was taller and  thinner than this guy in the photo." she said.

"Could you describe that man to a police sketch artist?" I asked..

She shrugged her shoulders...

"Yeah...I suppose I could." she said.

"What are you getting at partner?"asked Monica.

''At this point..her husband is in jail...She has promised to come down that morning with bail money...but we know from her credit card history and debit card history that she didn't come down...Instead she was here booking a trip to Luna City for two weeks from now....Whoever this other man is..he might be able to shed some light on that. It wasn't Corey Baker, so who was it?"I asked.

Monica smiled and kissed me in the lips in front of the cashier...

She blushed..

"You two sure yall should be doing that? I mean, yall partners and all..." she said.

Monica showed her our matching wedding bands..

"He's my husband...my brilliant husband."she said with pride..

The cashier smiled..

"WOW...They let yall do that? Be partners and be married...cool.." she said.

"They don't play it up....but they don't stop it...They say it improves morale.."said Monica..

"Well from the look on your husband's face...it definitely improves his morale.."she laughed and Monica laughed that conspiratorial laugh that females laugh with each other.

"How long yall been married?" she asked..

"A few months..."said Monica..

"That's what's up!" said the cashier.

II-

"Yeah, she was here , I did her hair...I definitely remember her,She tipped well...."said the hair dresser..

"Yes...When we found her, I noticed that she had a brand new do...Shame it was nearly sweated out."said Monica, who showed the stylist the gruesome murder scene photos of Kelly Young and Corey Baker..

"Was she by herself when she came in here?" I asked..

"No, as a matter of fact she wasn't...Some dude was with her..."said the stylist...

I showed her a photo of Corey Baker..

"Uh Uhhh,wasn't him....Some tall thin dude...He was acting real thirsty...I could tell she was slightly annoyed with him..She told him that he didn't have to wait, that she could catch the Trolley or the bus from here....but he insisted on waiting...I don't know many dudes that want to be up under a bunch of gossiping women in a hair salon....But he had a smartphone...He read something the entire time...She was in here for like four hours..."said the stylist...

Another Stylist, an older woman said-

"Yeah, She had on a beautiful wedding band and this guy, her ride didn't have a ring on his finger...So I figured he was either a friend giving her a ride or she and he were uh boppin around if you know what I mean?" she added...

"Can both of you girls describe this man to a police sketch artist?" I asked..

"I can try."said one...

"Yeah..I'll give it a shot...but there wasn't nothin out of the ordinary about the guy..He was a pretty basic dude.." said the other...

 I looked at Monica..

''See Mo-Mo..Once again this other guy is in the picture....This third man...Who is he?" I asked..

"I see your point...but it doesn't mean anything..He could have been giving her a ride...Doesn't mean he had anything to do with this."said Monica..

"True, but I need to know who he was and why he was with her so much...It's beginning to look like Corey wasn't the only guy in her life.."I said.

"You have a point." said Monica..

III-

 Our next stop was a car garage...

We showed a photo of her...a racy photo...

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS LAWDDDD!! I remember her."said the mechanic...She needed a new rim and a tire for her car....We supplied it..but this guy that was with her..He was real arrogant...He insisted on putting the rim on her tire and putting it on her car himself...He had tools in his car...So against hers and my protests...He did the job himself...He beat me out of an installation charge..He was a real pain in the ass...Even she thought so...I could tell...I was glad for both of them to be gone...to tell you the truth."said the mechanic..

Again I showed him a photo of Corey Baker...

"Nah, it wasn't him...I've never seen that guy before in my life....but the guy that was with her..He'd been in here...With her before...Last week when she brought her car in...He wanted to pay but she wouldn't let him...I think he was sweet on her..." said the mechanic...

"I'm going to need you to come down to headquarters and give a sketch artist a description."said Monica..

"Okay..I can do that.." he said.

"Do you know this guy? His name or anything like that?" I asked.

"Nah...but she refferred to him as "Ice"...He was a bit of a hothead...but she appeared to have a calming effect on him...She totally controlled him..." said the man.

I looked at Monica..

"You startin to see a pattern here Mo-Mo...On a day she was supposed to be driving down to county to bail her husband out-"I said..

"She bought one round trip ticket to Luna City....She got her hair done and got her car out of the shop...and she was with this other man...Only she called out of work that day...Corey worked...and left at closing..."said Monica..

"So when did they hook up?   We have an entire two hours unaccounted for..Where was Kelly and who was she with? Who is this man?" I asked..

"You're right partner...He may or may not be the killer...but he can fill in the blanks of Kelly's last hours.."said Monica.

IV-

 Monica and I headed back to the precinct...  Her twin sister,Dr. Monique Talbert just happened to be there...She was talking to Detective Kylie White when we walked in together...

"There are the lovebirds...returning after a long day's investigation.."laughed Monique..

"Heyy guys.." we both said as we sat down...

"Something that may interest you."  said Monique..."We found a cigarette but near the crime scene...I took some DNA off of it...and the shell casings had a slight fingerprint smudge on it...Our lab guys are lifting it now...." she said.

"You had four people down here talking to the sketch artist....Look at all of their composites..."said Kylie...

"He's good....Now we have something to show a potential witness..."I said.

Lt. Cotton walked in just then....

"You guys still workin on that double huh?" he said.

''Yeah...We have either a potential witness or suspect Lou...We just stopped by here to check in...We've got one more stop to make...It's the last entry on her credit card....The last place she spent any money on the last day she was seen alive."said Monica.

"Where is that?" asked Lt. Cotton..

"It's Victoria's Secret...She bought a round trip ticket for one to Luna City, She got her hair done, She got her car out of the shop and she went to Victoria's Secret.."I said.

"This should be up your alley Nate...I'm sure you'll enjoy this trip."laughed Lt. Cotton..

Monica,Monique and Kylie all snickered and gave me the side eye...

"Awww guys knock it off.." I laughed..

V-

 Monica and I walked in Victoria's Secret...She looked at me and smiled..

''See anything you like? Tell me before we leave and I'll buy it!" she said...

My eyes got as wide as saucers....

"WHAT?? Are you serious??" I asked..

"My goodness Nate, you're like a little boy on Christmas....Yes...I'll buy something..You've been good  lately."she joked and laughed..

''Wow...How lucky am I?" I said..

''What is this...some boyhood fantasy of yours?" she laughed..

"You are my boyhood fantasy."I said.

Monica smiled one of her sweetest smiles...

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww....Stop Nate...you're making me blush.."she said and hugged me..

"Can I help you? Maybe I don't need to..." said the Cashier..

"Oh excuse us...I'm Detective Monica Nellis...and this is my partner...Detective Nate Nellis.."said Monica.

"You two uh..together? I mean..a couple?" asked the lady...

"Yes..we are married..." said Monica.

"Wow!!! Not often I see two detectives who are married and partners.....I've run into quite a few who were married to other people who were fooling around..."she said and smiled..

I showed the cashier a photo of Kelly Young...

"Oh yes...I read about her in the paper...She was found shot to death in the park....with some guy.." she said.

I showed her a photo of Corey Baker...

"That the guy she was shot to death with?" she asked..

"Yes.."I said.

"Hmmmm that's not the guy she was here with...It was another man.." she said.

Monica showed her the composite sketch...

"Yes, that's him...He was rather annoying...I could tell...A woman likes to be by herself when she's buying intimates...And I didn't get the impression she was buying for him....She asked him to just wait for her at the door several times ,but he insisted on being right up under her.."said the woman...

Monica smiled...

"I don't have that problem....Not all the time!"she said and gave me the side eye...

The woman smiled..

"You two are sooo cute....He's your husband though...That's different...He's going to see whatever you buy anyway...This guy was definitely not her husband..She had on a wedding band and he didn't...I got the impression he was either her boyfriend or someone that wanted to be , the way he was acting..She kept saying..."Ice...Ice...just wait at the door..I won't be long.."she said.

"You said she referred to him as Ice?" I said.

Monica's eyes opened wide...

"Where have we heard that name before?" she asked..

"When was the last time you saw your wife?" I asked Brian Young, Kelly Young's husband...

"Two days before she was reported missing... I got arrested...Failure to pay child support...I uh have a child from a previous relationship...I was in county until yesterday....My man "Ice" Brown picked me up...."he said.

We both looked at each other...

"THAT'S WHO BRIAN YOUNG SAID PICKED HIM UP...ICE BROWN....HIS MAIN MAN!!!" we both said in unison.

"Now why would his best friend be hanging around his wife like that? "I asked.

"Especially after she already had her car out of the shop...There was no need...Why did he wait until a day AFTER THE MURDERS, TO BAIL HIS FRIEND OUT...WHEN HE COULD HAVE BAILED HIM OUT THAT DAY..EVEN IF SHE WOULDN'T?" asked Monica...

"Hmmmm this Ice fella has a lot of explaining to do." I said.

"I'll say." said Monica.


(CONCLUSION NEXT)