The Candy Man

Several Weeks Later-

Olivia, Beverly, Nelson and I found ourselves sitting in a tony Bistro having breakfast one morning...

"Donnie Ray ...Lover.. Beverly and I have lived in Philadelphia all of our lives and you have only been here the few years you and I have been together...Yet you know all of the great Bistros and eateries...Places we never heard of?" asked Olivia, smiling and softly rubbing my arms...

''Among other things.. I'm a foodie...When I'm not playing music or investigating cases for you and Shortcake...I'm checking out all of the great food places and I must say....I am surprised and impressed...Philly has some great food places "I said.

"I told you Bev.. Donnie Ray is a foodie." said Nelson as he chewed his bagel with Cream Cheese..

"I see.. I see.. I'm going to talk to him about where to take you for your birthday...."laughed Beverly...

We had gotten Mr. McCann's sentence overturned and gotten him released from an unjust four year prison nightmare for the 1977 murder of little Molly Brown....The State of Pennsylvania declined to refile charges against him in light of the evidence of his innocence we presented....and yet still, the murder of Molly Brown bothered me...It burned me inside....I needed to know who killed this little girl..39 years ago...

In the past few weeks...Olivia had taken on and closed two cases....Another pesky class action suit against a pharmecutical company and a workman's compensation case...And Beverly...No slacker herself..

had successfully challenged a voter identification case in the case of a 103 year old woman, who wasn't allowed to vote because she didn't have a photo ID...Beverly challenged the county's ruling and got the law struck down and got the woman a photo ID on top of that...We were all proud of her...

The girl's dockets were clear...With their cases done, I went back to work on the Molly Brown murder on my spare time.... I had located the original detective in the Molly Brown case...He was meeting us here this morning for breakfast....

Retired Detective Derrick Jackson was brown skinned, dressed dapper like most homicide detectives and had a cool demeanor about him....He wore a cool cap and reminded me a little bit of Wesley Snipes...

He smiled as he approached us...

"Hello..Hello..Hello...Donnie Ray right?" he said as he sat down with us..

"That's me....This is my wife...Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her niece, Attorney Beverly West and her boyfriend, Attorney Nelson East..."I said.

He surveyed the table...He smiled slyly as he looked at Olivia and Beverly...

"Nice.. I've heard of your wife and niece....I've seen them on television several times...I understand you used to be on the job yourself huh Donnie Ray?" he said..

"I was a Homicide Detective in New Orleans...."I said.

"My next question would be...Why would you quit the force in the Big Easy with that beautiful warm weather and move to cold ,cold Philadelphia...but looking at your wife....I perfectly understand... and the pay is probably better and you're in less danger..."he said and smiled..

I laughed and shook my head...He was right on all counts...The money was good and I was in less danger...but Olivia...Being with Olivia everyday was worth more than the money.....

He looked at Olivia and Beverly...

"If she's your niece...I'm guessing your big brother or your sister is much older than you right?" he said.

"Ouuuu, I don't have to explain....You ARE a good detective..."laughed Olivia..

"Thank you for figuring that out...and it's her brother...I'm her brother's daughter.."said Beverly.

"Uh Huh."he said and picked up a bagel and spread some cream cheese on it..

II-

"Molly Brown has haunted me for years....At the time I retired..It was one of two cases I never closed."said Derrick Jackson...

''We were able to clear John McCann."said Beverly...

"I cleared him as a suspect years ago...He was 40 miles away ,working as a security guard at the time of the murder...Unfortunately...by 2012, the housing project he was working in had been torn down and his supervisor had died...I felt so bad when I read that he had been arrested and convicted on that weak crap...I tried to talk to that jackass Detective, Dominick Evans who made the case..but he didn't want to hear anything I had to say...I told him to look at the witness statements and the description of the killer..It didn't look anything like McCann..He wasn't interested..He treated me like an old relic.."said Detective Jackson..

''What about the Prosecutor?"asked Olivia..

He smiled..

"That guy? I think you know about him...He was the most corrupt guy that ever practiced law...He just wanted a conviction...He knew that Evans entire case was weak...The fact that you got his conviction overturned and with very little resistance is proof of that...If you want to run wild with this..You should have your client sue the state...for wrongful conviction...I tried to testify in McCann's behalf...but they wouldn't let me anywhere near the trial..."he said.

''Where is the original prosecutor in the case?" asked Nelson.

"He's Dead!!!...Suicide.....Whatever conscience he had must have gotten to him..  No telling how many innocent men he sent to prison." said Detective Jackson...

"Tell us how you really feel?" laughed Olivia.

"You said you cleared McCann...Did you have any other suspects?" I asked.

''As a matter of fact, I did.. and nobody wanted to touch him....Did you ever talk to Darla Hinton? The other little girl who was with Molly Brown when she vanished.. She's still around...She'd probably be in her mid to late 40's by now." he said.

"Yes... we did...She gave a description of the man she said offered them piggy back rides.. He didn't look anything like John McCann." said Beverly...

Olivia pulled out a picture.. A copy of the description 7 year old Darla Hinton gave the Police Sketch Artist....It was of a thinner man...with sandy hair...A man who may have been white....or a real light skinned black man...

"This guy....yeah.. His name is Everett Stitch....He was the driver for a well to do family that lived a block away...He bought candy for the neighborhood children, specifically for the little girls all the time and gave them piggy back rides...Seemingly a harmless fellow until you looked into his background.. "said Detective Jackson..

"Oh .."I said.

"He was bullied as a child...Graduated from High School, Did a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps and was discharged for "psychological reasons.."They never let me see his complete file...He lived with his mother ,who was a house keeper for a well to do family in the neighborhood and drove another family around...It was the only job he ever had..He bought candy,like I said for all of the little girls in the neighborhood and there was at least two complaints of him touching a little girl inappropriately...Both were dropped...He was my main suspect...but because of who he worked for and their influence...It was like hands off of him...I interviewed him one time...His lawyer, a guy named Joseph Crawford wouldn't let me get a DNA sample from him.....or make a comparison unless I could charge him...Little Darla Hinton either couldn't or wouldn't identify him...I had to cut him loose.." said Detective Jackson...

 "Did you say his attorney was Joseph Crawford?" asked Olivia..

"Yeah...He's a judge now...I couldn't stand him.....Between him that rotten Prosecutor and that jackass detective who re-opened a dead case and still got it wrong...You can understand why I don't go anywhere near the Philadelphia Police Department or the court system here in town..."said Detective Jackson..

"What did you do after you left the force?" I asked..

"I got married....I've been married for 30 years now..got two sons...One 28 and one 27...I got a P.I.'s license and did just what you're doing...Worked for a Law firm...None of the attorneys I worked for were as pretty as your wife and niece."he laughed..."Now I'm a consultant with a securities and investigative service."he said.

"I testified against two cops who committed a triple murder during Katrina and the 22 guys who covered it up...The Feds made a big case...Of course you know ,after that ..I was a pariah on the force?" I said.

"Of course..." he said agreeing with me.."But you did the right thing...Cops like that give all cops a bad name."he said.

I looked at Olivia...

"She saved my life..."I said and hugged Olivia..

''We saved each other's life.." she said.

"True Love huh?  How Sweet!....Everett Stitch is still around...His mother died...My guess is that he still lives in the same house..Maybe you can get more from him than I can...As for Crawford...He's a big time Judge now..He won't talk to you." he said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm guessing he might." laughed Beverly...

III-

"You're the last person I expected to see here."said Judge Joseph Crawford..Who offered Olivia a drink, which she declined...

''Lawd Today, you are saying a taste in that white skirt...with matching panty hose and those heels...Those are stripper heels..." he said.

"Thank you Joseph..How nice of you to notice..."said Olivia.

"I notice everything about you Liv...Why don't you uh kick those heels off...Make yourself comfortable.."he said..

"This is strictly business Joseph...A professional courtesy....One Attorney to another."said Olivia..

''Was it professional for you to record a private conversation between old lovers and play it to the board of ethics?  I was given a stern warning and told not to contact you again..."he said.

"We are not Old Lovers...We slept together one time...One time...I never saw you again after that..You need to get over this delusion you have...What you asked me to consider was very unprofessional and just plain wrong."said Olivia..

"But you're here now...In my condo..."said the Judge...

"Okay...I'll leave."said Olivia..

"No..No..No...I didn't contact you....Heh , heh, heh...You contacted meeeee...Ho ..Ho..Hoooooo.."he laughed..

''And I'm out of line...I think I'll go."said Olivia..

"No need for you to go...Sit down...Sit down...It's water under the bridge....I don't care....I'm just glad you're here.."he said.

"Judge Crawford...This is purely professional...I'm not here for any monkey business..."said Olivia...

"Then let's get down to business..."he said and sat next to her.....Olivia moved away...

"Let's not.!!.I want to talk about an old client of yours...Everett Stitch..."she said as he eased up on her..

"What about him?Ummmmmmmmmmmmmph..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..Ummmmmm..You smell so good.."he moaned... He leaned in and tried to kiss Olivia, but she got up and moved away...

"Joseph, stop it!!!...I didn't come here for that."said Olivia...

''Still a tease huh?" he laughed as he stood up...His pants standing out like a circus tent..

"Oh My god!!!...Joseph...Calm down...Nothing like that is going to jump off here!!!..What do you know about Everett Stitch...??" asked Olivia..

"He..He was a pervert...I represented him as a favor for this Judge and his wife who were both collegues of mine..He drove for them and his mother was their neighbor..Years ago...I was a young attorney...You were probably a little girl, but you aint little now..Lawdddddddddd!!"he said and hugged Olivia softly...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he moaned.. He was shaking....

Olivia eased out of his embrace...

"Do you have his file ? Could I perhaps glance at it..??" she asked.

"Now you know that violates attorney -client priviledge....Who is being unprofessional now? "he said..

"You're right and I was wrong to ask....I'm wrong to even be here...Thank you for even indulging me Joseph...I won't bother you again..I was wayyy out of line."said Olivia..

"That's alright sugar....Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeet ,since we gettin out of line ,LET'S GET WAYY OUT OF LINE!!  How about a kiss and maybe ,Maybe I turn my head and you just uh happen to glance at it?"he said.

"Calm down Joseph....Calm down....I'm going now..I don't want to see it that bad..." said Olivia..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Don't leave me like this...You awoke the dragon baby...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..Ohhhhhhhhhhhh ho ho hoooooooooooooo!"he moaned...

 "That's what I was afraid of." said Olivia, opening the door and running for all she was worth down to the street....

Olivia let herself out and rushed to the car in the street below..Where her niece Beverly was waiting....The motor was still running...

"Five more minutes and I was coming up Auntay.." said Beverly...

"That was close...I think he came on himself again..."said Olivia..

"Ewwwwwwwww.....Donnie Ray didn't want you to come over here...I assured him that I'd be with you...He'd hit the ceiling if he knew you went in by yourself.."said Beverly...

"It was the only way...." said Olivia..

"So what now?" asked Beverly..

''We wait!"said Olivia.

"You really think he'll let you see that case file?? It is a violation of Attorney -Client privilege..Kind of sorta."said Beverly...

"Honeyyyyyyyyyyy,With this dress and these pantyhose and these stilletto heels that I can't wait to get out of...That man will do anything for me..You wait and see."said Olivia.

IV-

A few days later a mysterious package came for Olivia...It didn't have a return address and there was no post mark on it...

"Liv, this came for you...There is no return address..."said Josie..

"Thanks Baby.."said Olivia, who opened it...She looked at Beverly and winked...

"Auntay,I want to be like you when I grow up." said Beverly....

"You already are like me..." said Olivia ,smiling as she opened the package....

Inside was photo copies of Everett Stitches police interview, his military file ,his home address,his work record and his home phone number..

Olivia passed it to me..

"This is what you wanted.."she said.

I looked at it...I couldn't believe we actually had this in our possession...There was nothing here we could use in court..but it was great stuff to know and it gave me an insight into  just who I might be looking at..This was evidence that as a Homicide Detective, would have never crossed my desk...

"Wow..He gave it to you and you didn't have to do anything!! Amazing !!" I said..

"I beg your pardon...That was a pretty expensive dress I was wearing and my pantyhose was on point and those stilletto heels I had on had that man literally on his knees...You would have told me your life story if I had asked you.The way I was looking that day.." she said and winked..

Beverly laughed and high fived her aunt...

"You would have Donnie Ray..." she said and laughed...

"Yeah..I guess I would have.."I said smiling.I didn't like the fact of that horny goat ogling my wife...But it did bring results....

"I suggest you wipe this clean of any prints and re mail this back to him as soon as possible."I said.

"But of course...I had planned to do that anyway.." said Olivia ,who nibbled on my ear..... "Ummmmm and stop acting like you want to be jealous...you know this turned you on a little bit."she whispered in my ear...

She was right.

V-

I walked up to the creepy home and knocked on the door...

I heard a grown man shusshing somebody...

Everett Stitch came to the door...He was reed thin, about my height and with a reddish brown complexion...

His clothes looked dirty as if he had been working all day...

"Can I help you?" he said.

He was trying to block my view...but I could see a little girl in his living room, eating a Hershey bar and watching television...She looked about seven or eight...

"Is this a bad time? I'm an investigator....My name is Donnie Ray Alexander...This is my card..I work for Attorneys Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West..." I said.

"What do you want with me?" he asked..

"Well we recently looked into the Molly Brown slaying...The 1977 slaying..We represented a man falsely accused of abducting,raping and killing the little girl and after he was freed, we started looking at other suspects...Your name came up..You were interviewed by the police and-" I said before he cut me off..

"That-That-That was 39 years ago....Water under the bridge...I have to go.." he said and preceded to slam the door in my face...I put my foot in the door and kept it from slamming..

"Now wait a minute Mr. Stitch...I just have a few questions to ask you.."I said.

The little girl got up and walked to the door...

"I want to go home now Mr. Candy man..." she said.

"No..No..we haven't finished playing..Eat some more candy." he said.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo...I ate enough candy...I wanna go home.."she said.

"Nooo go sit down..I'll be right there."he said.

"Is that your daughter?" I asked.

"Uh No..."he said.

"Your niece?" I asked.

"What's it to you? She's a friend..Now goodbye Mister..Mister whatever your name is..I have nothing to say.."he said.

"I wanna go home Mr. Candy man...I don't want to play that game anymore.."said the little girl...

"SHUT UP AND GO SIT DOWN!" he yelled and slapped the little girl..He pushed me away and slammed the door..

"GO AWAY!!!" he screamed...

I immediately called the police...

A police car drove up and I pointed to the house...

He must have seen the police arriving...We heard a single gunshot!  Then a scream!!!!

Two policemen kicked the door off the hinges...The little girl was standing in the living room crying her eyes out...

One of the policemen picked the child up and took her outside...She was unharmed...

In the bathroom lie ,Everret Stitch, 67 years old....Dead of one gunshot wound to the head...

In his bedroom was several sets of panties...Little girl's panties and photos of several little girls..naked..

The little girl was a neighborhood girl ,reported missing for a few hours...Her mother was so relieved to finally have found her...Stitch had spirited her away from the supermarket with promises of candy..I wondered how many times he had done this before and to how many little girls?

This freak was a pedophile..

I was certain the murder of Little Molly Brown had been solved.

Olivia and Bev sat outside in Bev's car....

 ''You okay Donnie Ray?" she asked.

"Yes and No....I'll never understand people like him...."I said.

"Me neither...Let's go home guys." said Beverly...

I hugged both Olivia and Beverly....

"That's a real good idea ladies.."I said.


EPILOUGE-

Olivia, Beverly, Josie,Nelson,Detective Jackson and I sat around the office a few days later...

"They took DNA from Everett Stitch's body Donnie Ray..Hazel says it was a match for the DNA from the seminal fluids found in the little girl's panties!!!!.."said Olivia..

 "Meaning Stitch was more than likely the killer of Little Molly Brown."said Beverly...

"That freak should've gone to jail 20 years ago." I said.

"He would have if the brass had of let me do my job....I"m just glad he's off the streets and won't hurt anybody else ..Good work Donnie Ray and all of you...For making Justice work."said Detective Jackson.

"Nasty Buzzard....unfortunately, he escaped real justice...and a poor innocent man did four years for his crime."said Josie..

"He didn't escape justice...He's being judged by a higher court..."said Nelson....

Just then the phone rang...Olivia answered it...

"Hello." she said.

''Did you get my little package?" asked Judge Joseph Crawford..

"We did!!!..Thank you so much...It's en route back to you..."said Olivia..

"You didn't have to do that...I have the original.I see Mr. Stitch was indeed the likely killer of that girl...I'm sorry for the part I played in representing him and not letting the police do their jobs...Maybe if I had stepped aside..Justice could have prevailed and we wouldn't have had an innocent man going to jail for four years for something he didn't do."said Judge Joseph Crawford.

"You were his attorney, you were doing your job...Don't beat yourself up over it..Everything turned out alright.."said Olivia..

"I'm glad I was able to help..." he said.

"Thank you again."said Olivia..There was an uneven pause and an uncomfortable silence....

"So uh any chance uh,I'll be getting a reward from you??" he asked..

"I said thank you. ..What more do you want?"said Olivia dryly..Regretting even asking that question and knowing where the conversation was headed...

"You know what I want baby!!!....A secret meeting..perhaps one day next week...You and me...One hour in a hotel room or more." he said..

"That's not going to happen..EVER!"said Olivia.

"Well uh what color panties are you presently wearing?" he asked.

"Goodbye Joseph!!!. Thank you again.."said Olivia ,who hung up,shaking her head....

We had all been talking and none of us had paid attention to the conversation, except Beverly...

"That was Judge Crawford wasn't it?" asked Beverly...

"How'd you guess?"asked Olivia..

"I figured he might call ,wanting a favor for him letting us see that case file."laughed Beverly...

"He did...You know what he wanted?...To see me in a hotel room sometime next week.. I told him that wasn't going to ever happen then he wanted to know what color panties I was wearing today!. That's why I mailed his case file back to him...So I'm not beholden to him in any way...Turns out we didn't need it anyway.. since Stitch killed himself." laughed Olivia..

"You might have to block his number on this phone too Auntay! You know he won't stop calling and talking nasty to you." laughed Beverly...

"I know....He'll want panty updates." said Olivia...

''I know....What a freak."said Beverly laughing hysterically!

"Hey let's stop talking about this case...It's literally over...Let's all go grab some drinks.."I said.

"Works for me"said Detective Jackson...

We all laughed and got up and headed for Josies...

I pulled Olivia to me ,before she left the office...

Bev, Nelson, Josie and Detective Jackson are going in her car.. We can catch up.. Ummmm,  how bout a panty update and permission to enter?" I said and kissed her softly....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!  You heard my conversation with the judge?" she asked, laughing...

"No, but I'm no fool,  I can just about imagine what it was about....He has a one track mind when it comes to all things you! I heard you and Beverly talking after words.."I said continuing to kiss her neck, earlobes and sweet lips....

"And that turned you on?" she asked..

"Nah....I'm just always kind of turned on by you,  regardless.. "I said. ...running my hands up her sundress and rubbing her legs and feeling her nice round hips...

''We have to go....The others will wonder why we are late." said Olivia.

"Let em wonder." I said and kissed her softly for a few minutes....

"I'm hungry Donnie Rayyyyyyyyyyyyy....I need food." said Olivia..

"Alright...okay..Let's go. One more kiss"I said smiling...

"Ummmmmmmmmmm,You have a one track mind  too Donnie Ray...You and a lot of other men.." she laughed as we continued kissing...

I smiled...

"I do at that." I said....and we headed out the front door to Olivia's car..