Mackey's Back In Town

The Betsy Ross Bridge is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from the City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, during the American Bicentennial Year, it was originally planned to be named as the "Delair Bridge", after a paralleling vertical lift bridge owned by Pennsylvania Railroad (which is now used by Conrail and New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line), but was instead later named for Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and reputed creator of the first American flag in 1776, making it the first automotive bridge named for a woman in America^.

Today ,not too far from the Betsy Ross Bridge was the scene of a rather gruesome murder...

The murder victim's body was actually at the underpass on Richmond Street, nicknamed the Evel Knieval ramp, looking toward the Betsy Ross Bridge. This ramp serves the stub of Route 90 that exists between the bridge and the Evel Knievel ramp....

The body was of a black male, about 39 or forty....his throat had been slit from ear to ear...and there were a series of cuts in his back and torso area...any one that could have been fatal...

 It was a very bloody scene...The kind that I, Assistant District Attorney, Keith Wallace was a customed to seeing in my line of work....

I prosecute Homicides...and other major crimes...

Today ,I was riding with Lt. Sissy Van Buren, the sexy Lieutenant of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Philadelphia Police Department-

 and Detective Edwin "Duke "Baylor...her at times,right hand man...

We arrived at the grisly scene early in the morning...I hadn't had time for breakfast....I did however have a tumbler of coffee with me as did Sissy and Duke..

It was a brisk , Winter Morning..It was 45 degrees...A cold day but average for this time of year..and the body was already ripe...

When I arrived...I saw my wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and her partners, Detective Tyriq Pile and Detective Jimmy Barlow ,along with Forensics Specialist, Dr.Hazel Hunter-Baylor...They all had on surgical masks...

 "Hi Honey Bunny" said Carlotta ,who gave me a nice wet,sloppy kiss upon seeing me...

 "Hey Boss Lady, Duke...We got a ripe one here..." said Detective Tyriq Pile who took her to the body....Crime Scene photographers were snapping photos galore and C.S.I. people were collecting anything that might be evidence..

 "His name is Lonnie Denton....He's a major,major drug figure...A Middle manager you might say...His wallet and Drivers License were in his pockets...He doesn't look like he was robbed." said Jimmy.

 "From the looks of it...He's been in here for about 24 hours...Multiple stab wounds...despite his throat being slit..he was stabbed in a number of areas that are all fatal...The killer knew what he or she was doing." said Dr.Hazel Hunter-Baylor...Duke's wife and our Forensics Investigator..

Duke put on latex gloves and examined the body.....His Buddy and closest friend, Detective Tyriq Pile looked at him...

"It's him isn't it Duke?" he asked..

Duke grimaced..


"Yeah...same precision cuts...same M.O." he said..

"Is this related to your five last week?" asked my wife Carlotta...

"Yeah Top....Somebody screwed up bad and if my guess is right...There will be some more deaths.." said Duke..

"Yeah Duke, you were telling me about that.....You've seen this work before haven't you?" asked Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow.

"Yes we have Jimmy...Before you,Carlotta or Sirena and Hop  were detectives..When Duke and Rico were young detectives....It looks like the handy work of a mob hitman named Maclean Heath..."said Lt. Sissy Van Buren...

"Maclean Heath?? Really?" said Carlotta..

"You've heard of him Top?" asked Tyriq.

"I've heard of him....I thought he was an urban myth....Maclean Heath...Mack The Knife..."said Jimmy..

"When I was a patrolman and later on when I became a detective...I used to hear the old guys talk about him..They called him the gentleman killer...They said he had enough bodies on him to fill a chinese cemetary...I thought they were pulling my leg..."said Carlotta..

"No..they weren't pulling your leg...He's real....He works clean...Never leaves prints or DNA..or loose ends...He gets an assignment and he carries it out and then, he's gone...Just like that.."said Sissy...

"This guy sounds like a smooth operator."I said... I looked around...

"No cameras here and probably no witnesses....You're going to have to take this guy's life apart and find out where he went ,who he met with...."I mused...

"Duke, if this has to do with Carol Redding's Port case of last week..Then we may already be on to something.The important thing is to find out who he's working for." said Sissy...

"Task Force time eh Boss Lady?" asked Carlotta...

Sissy sighed..

"Yeah..I was really enjoying quiet ,normal days...We need to pack our bags and head to our safe house...Duke, Rico grab some guys...Plain Clothes only from Vice and Narcotics...only guys you've worked with before and can trust and tell em to pack a bag and head to our safe house...Chica, Jimmy ,take this guy's life apart...find out who he was meeting with, who he was talking to and where he went during his last 48 hours.."said Sissy..

"Can we release the body?" asked Hazel..

 ''Yes release the body...I'm primary on this one." said Carlotta.

II-

ONE WEEK AGO!

DEA Regional Special Agent in Charge, Carol Redding and four DEA agents armed with shotguns drove up to one of the peers at Penns Landing...

A police officer walked up to her...

"You Agent Redding of the DEA?" he asked..

"Yes,I am.."said Carol...

"Come this way."he said and he led her down the pier to where three men were on their knees with their hands up and two members of the Philadelphia Marine Police had glocks drawn on them...

Lt. Tragg walked over to her..

"Carol Redding...You look good doll...I remember when you were Detective Sgt. Redding....How are the Federallis treatin you." he asked.

''Very well Art..What is this about?" she asked.

"It's about Heroin...That's what it's about....Lots of Heroin ...Follow me...You guys got this right? "he said to his two men..

"We got em boss..." said one of the Marine Police..

Lt. Tragg, the police officer who greeted Carol, Carol and four DEA agents walked a few feet and boarded a small boat....On it was enough street ready heroin to juice, Philadelphia, Camden and Wilmington for the rest of the winter...

Carol Redding's eyes got as large as saucers...

"OH MY GOD!!!!" she said.

"We kept seeing this boat periodically come through here and stop at one of the warehouses down the way ever so often...and then pull off...Lots of boats come through here...But not like this one...After two in the morning...Same boat..all the time...So we stopped it and searched it..and this is what we found.."said Lt. Tragg...

"Myyy lord...You just hit the motherlode....Who are those guys?" asked Carol...

"They wouldn't talk...I imagine if you run their prints through the system, which I already did..You'll find that they're from New York City and they all got sheets on them..."said Lt. Tragg...

"Excellent Work Lieutenant...Let me take em off your hands.."said Carol Redding..

"Sure...You owe me a solid for this one."said Lt. Tragg..

"I do indeed."said Carol Redding..

But a walk back to where the five men were led to a gruesome scene....The two police officers and the three suspects all had their throats slashed from ear to ear and multiple stab wounds...blood was every where...

"What the HELL??" gasped Lt. Tragg, looking at the five dead men and all the blood...

"OH MY GOD!" said DEA SAC Carol Redding....

Within the next hour...Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor and his partner, Detective Angela Belton-Barlow were examining the crime scene...

"My god...so much blood.."said Angie, who put on latex booties and latex gloves and waded through the blood with Hazel and turned over and examined the bodies...

 "Oh my goodness...These guys were slaughtered, like live stock." said Hazel...Her husband, Detective Duke Baylor walked over and looked at the cuts on the men..

"Geez louise...I thought that guy was dead." he said to himself...but Lt. Tragg had heard him...

"Yeah Duke...So did I....The old master is back in town and if he is...that means, This was somebody's screw up....and these aren't the only bodies that are gonna fall.."said Lt. Tragg..

Duke momentarily forgot his dislike for Lt. Tragg and agreed with him..

"You're right about that...You guys stumbled on to a crap load of H. huh?" he asked..

"Yeah, Off of that boat..we caught three of em cold....I had my guys watching them...I called the DEA and while me and another of my guys were showing Carol and her people the boatload of Heroin...These guys were slaughtered..."said Lt. Tragg..

"You guys didn't hear a thing?" asked Duke..

"Not a thing..Maclean Heath is the best in the business...Didn't leave a shoe print.We are looking at the pier cameras...We might turn up something.."said Lt. Tragg..

"We've stumbled on something big here Duke..." said Carol...

"I'll say.."said Duke...

III-

 TONIGHT!

 "I was looking forward to some alone time with my husband and then Boss Lady called and sent a directive that we have to go into task force mode." said Detective Sirena Pile...

 "Yeah, me and Sharon were going to take a few days off and go away....It has been so quiet recently..I knew it was too good to be true." said her partner, Detective Tony Hopkins..as he pulled their car to a halt and got out...

"Detectives" said a uniformed officer... "Right this way." he said.

Sirena and Hop followed him to an alley in this South Philly neighborhood where a Black man, about 45 years old, well dressed..was lying in a pool of blood...His throat had been cut from ear to ear and his torso contained several cuts ,all that could be fatal...

Sissy and I pulled up just then...

Upon seeing us..Hop said to Sirena...

"Uh oh..The Boss Lady and Keith are here...This is big.."

"Yupper."said Sirena , who already had on latex gloves and was examining the body with Hazel..

"Same M.O. as Carlotta,Tyriq and Jimmy's victim this morning...Throat slashed from ear to ear and multiple stab wounds.." said Hazel...

"Looks like Macky's Back in town alright."I said.

"Yes and quite busy." said Sissy,observing the body...

"You know who our killer is Boss Lady?" asked Sirena..

"I have an idea...Nothing I can prove..."said Sissy...

"You ever hear of Maclean Heath?" I asked.

"Mack The Knife?? I thought that was an urban legend?" said Hop.

"When I was a patrolman and later on when I became a detective...I used to hear the old guys talk about him..They called him the gentleman killer...They said he had enough bodies on him to fill a chinese cemetary...I thought they were pulling my bra straps...you know ,just joshing."said Sirena.

 "No he's real...A snazzy dresser, real charming guy....never leaves prints ,DNA or murder weapons around...as deadly as they come...He's who you call when you really need someone gone."said Sissy..

"Our dead guy is Alvin Mayfield...A major player...He supplies West Philly,Southwest Philly,Manyunk,Roxborough and the main line with Heroin,Coke and Meth...or he did..I'll call Narcotics...Maybe they know if somebody was trying to make a move on him..." said Hop..

''Already in the works...His number two, Lonnie Denton was found this morning by Carlotta,Tyriq and Jimmy.."I said as they drove up...

 ''Wow....Can we join your party Sirena?" asked my wife, Carlotta..

"Sure...The more the merrier."laughed Sirena.

 "I'm always going to join your party." said her husband Tyriq salaciously.....kissing her neck..

''Rico stoppppp, you're making me blush." she laughed..

Jimmy looked at the body....

"Him,I know...I busted him when I was in Narcotics...That's Alvin "Superfly" Mayfield..."he said.

"Yeah...his wallet tells us that....His car keys too.."said Hop...

Carlotta spied his car on the corner.. A White Lexus with "SuperFly" monogramed on the side in silver font.

She felt it...

"It's still warm...He hadn't been here long" ,she said...

 "Hmmm, money in the glove compartment.."said Tyriq...

 "A cell phone, but every number has been scrubbed from it.."said Jimmy..

 "Damn....nothin.."said Hop..

"Not nothin...We can still draw something from that phone....Have this car processed for prints..anything..Maybe the old master has slipped up."said Sissy.

"We'll put a team on the Traffic, ATM cams and Street cams ,plus any business cam in this area..it may yield a few clues."said Sirena..

"At least you have cameras to look at ...We have nothin...our vic was found near the Betsy Ross Bridge ,near an underpass.."said Carlotta..

"Damn girl..."laughed Sirena...

"I know right?" said Carlotta.

"Can we release the body?" asked Hazel..

"Yeah, release the body...I gotta go home and pack."said Hop..

"Your wifey did that for you...She's already at the safe house."said Sissy..

"Come on guys...Let's get out of here.."I said.....As we all left...

IV-

Our safehouse was an apartment complex that the government had bought.....Upstairs were very nice apartments...Three floors worth...Downstairs was a command and control room for Sissy and Sharon Hopkins of the FBI...a law library where I could work and a make shift morgue and lab for Hazel...

We also had a kitchen..and a dining /chill out area...

Duke, Angie, Sharon and Sissy's husband, Eddie C. were already there when we all got back.

"Hey,Hey hey...The gangs all here....I made some Chilli, enough for everybody and Eddie bought Tortilla Chips and Beer." said Duke..

"We've been waiting for you guys.." said Angie..

Eddie C. kissed his wife, Sissy and helped her take her heels off...

"Heyy babes.." he said.

"Hey there." she said..

"I'm gonna say this, then we aren't going to talk about the case anymore until tomorrow when Carol stops by to  brief us...I have good intel that says...A new player is in town...and he's got a hot package that all the playas want...That package got stepped on when Tragg and his men took that boat and those workers...It was a major screw up on somebody's part.."said Sharon...

"Namely Alvin Superfly Mayfield and Lonnie Denton..The guys on the street who are selling the package.."said Angie..

"Superfly is dead...That was my victim tonight."said Sirena..

"And so is Denton...that was our victim this morning.."said Tyriq..

Duke laughed..

"Damn, Mackey doesn't play does he?" he said.

"He sure doesn't....I was in New York briefly and the FBI guys used to talk about him with awe...How it was damn near impossible to put a tag on him."laughed Sharon...

I didn't know this Maclean Heath or "Mack the Knife" but I didn't like the way everybody talked about him with awe like he was some folk hero...If he was loose in my town ,I wanted him in cuffs and behind bars...I didn't care who he was working for..We'd get them eventually..I wanted Maclean Heath like I'd never wanted any criminal in my life and I was sure..I had the detectives to do it.

I welcomed the challenge.

TO BE CONTINUED-