Girl With The Mermaid Tattoo

PHILADELPHIA, 2041

4:35 Am...Early morning....It's been hot lately...90-100 degree days...Out on the water...The day is young..just beginning...No one is stirring...Most are fast asleep...

A Hyper Sub sits by the port...Someone has just come from Octopus Gardens..The Undersea City...A modern dining and shopping emporium under sea that features undersea hotels.....The Hyper sub sits quietly....A beautiful woman is inside of it....She has a hole in her temple and dried blood slowly running down the side of her face...

She's dead! Very, Very dead!!!!!

The birds are starting to chirp....and the heat of the new day is starting to rise....Even on the cool waters,it's now 85 degrees and expected to rise....

In the horizon, the sun is rising...as is the heat......The woman's body slumps over....the blood ,still warm runs down the side of her face...and partially stains her blonde hair.....

II-

That rare Monday morning, when I was sitting alone in my Domicile, Eating Cereal and watching the news on my Tablet...

I'm Detective Nate Nellis, Homicide...

We didn't have a case as of yet...but the morning was young... I heard my bell ring and I heard two female voices..

"You know who it is..Don't turn on the monitor....Just let us in..We want you to be surprised." came the voice of my sister in law, Dr. Monique Talbert, Coroner/Forensic Investigator and if she wanted to be, hair dresser..She had been doing my wife's hair a good part of the morning...Taking away from our alone time, our "Freaky -Sneaky " time as our Lieutenant Frankie Cotton Jr. calls it.

"Close your eyes Nate....You're gonna love this."said Monique as she entered....

I closed my eyes...

"Okay...Open." said Monique...

Monica stood before me with not only a new hair do, but a sexy Black skirt that hugged her every curve and sexy boots....

"You like?? Don't answer....I can read your thoughts....You love it....Maybe a little too much."she said and laughed...

Yeah, my wife is a mutant....She has the ability to hear people's thoughts and feel emotions at times...

"Mo-Mo...You look...You look GREAT!" I said...

"See...I told you he'd love it....The dress too." laughed Monique...

"My sister has always been good with hair and fashion.." beamed Monica...

"And yet she chose to work with dead people...."I laughed....

"It pays more..She laughed...

"Stop staring so hard Nate...I know you like my new look...And No I'm not going to have sex with you this morning...I don't want to sweat this perm out and we have to go to work in a little while..."laughed Monica...who sent a telepathic message to my mind...

The other good thing about being married to her...Because we are so close....I can sometimes hear her thoughts and feel her emotions too...We can communicate without speaking...Monique can hear and feel her thoughts too..sometimes..


I pulled her to me and gave her a passionate kiss...


"Mmmmmmmmmmm...Ouuuuuu, that was nice baby...I don't want to get my lipstick smeared." said Monica as she took a wet cloth and wiped her lipstick off of my mouth..

Monica smiled and blushed...Looking at her twin sister...

"See what I go through? This man can't keep his hands off of me..." she joked...

"Girl hush up...You love it!" laughed Monique...

"I do...but I don't want him to just take me for granted...A girl has to hold back some.." she joked..

"Come on guys...Let's go to work...."I said, smiling  as we all piled into my flying car....

Today was warm....close to 90 degrees....The very type of day , Monica and I should have taken off ...gone to the beach....

III-

 We weren't at work a good five minutes before we got the call... A blonde woman was found in a hyper sub out near the pier....

"This looks like the same Hyper sub we rented when we went to Octopus Gardens." I said as I walked up to the boat...The body was still inside..I instructed a Marine Officer to open the hatch....

"I remember now..That Mass Murder on the Aqua Bus case we had...You let me driveeee.." said Monica..

''And you did a wonderful job sweetness."I said and leaned in to kiss her...but she moved away..

"Uh Uhhh...No kissing out here at the crime scene...We can do that later." said Monica...She looked at me....

"I promise...I'll give you all you can handle...Later..It's a lot of people out here."she said pointing to the CSI people snapping photos...The news reporters and uniformed cops around the pier...

Monique examined the body....

"Gunshot wound to the temple....That's the cause of death....."she said..."From Lividity and Body temp or lack there of...I'd wager she died around 4:00 am this morning...about six hours ago..."she said.

"You think she was shot topside or killed in Octopus Gardens and brought here..?" I asked.

"Can't say for sure..."said Monique...

"Here...On her leg....I've seen this before..."said Monica..

It was a tattoo of a Mermaid on her leg...

"Another case?" I asked...

Monique looked at her sister...

"No Mo-Mo..Not that?" she said.

"It's the same work...It's the exact same tattoo...I'd know it anywhere..." she said.

"You'd know what anywhere? Oh and nice hair do..."said Lt. Cotton ,who walked up and observed the body...He placed a Gardenia on Monique's Dress and kissed her softly in the lips...

"MMMMMMMMM..How is my sugar baby?" he asked lustfully...

Monique giggled and blushed...

I examined the arm of the young lady....

"This is good work...and it looks like recent work....You've seen this before huh?" I said to Monica..

Monique looked at her sister...

''When she was 12." she remarked.

"12? Oh Yeah?" I asked..

"Nate...you ever wonder why I am a Homicide cop? Why I appear to be drawn to death?" asked Monica..

"Because Homicide are the elite of detectives.....The best...and the pay is a tad higher...I never thought of you as uh drawn to death....Your sister, yeah...but you no." I said.

"When I was 12 years old...I saw a dead body for the first time!!...I was horrified...I ran home and got my daddy!" said Monica..

"You do know of course that our daddy is retired Homicide Detective Ray Talbert!" said Monique...

"Living Legend...Trained me himself..Long before I met his two foxy daughters..." said Lt. Cotton...

"Of course I've heard of him...A great Homicide Detective..."I said.

"I ran behind my daddy and my sister and we were the first on the scene..."said Monique...

"So it was your first time too...Seeing a dead body?" I said.

"Yeah...I never forgot it...She had blond hair...she was young and attractive ,just like this girl...and she had that same tattoo...That mermaid tattoo..she was so still...she looked like a doll..."said Monique..

I stared at the dead girl's arm again...The Mermaid tattoo was beautiful.

"My daddy had to explain what death was to us that day...We had never seen a dead human being up to that point...Our mother was livid..she didn't want us seeing that , but Daddy said..We'd seen it already and we might as well know what he does for a living.."said Monica...  "Soon I saw cops and guys taking photographs and dusting the girl's car for prints...and even then...I think I knew what I wanted to be...A Detective like my daddy....Oh I tried to be a lawyer...I went into the Military...but ultimately...I knew I was going to be a cop...A Detective....A Homicide Detective....I knew it that day."said Monica.

''So did your daddy catch the killer?" I asked.

"No...It's the only one of his cases he never closed....He went to every tattoo shop in Philadelphia, trying to find out who did the work...They never found any prints.....They found DNA...The girl had recently had sex...but the DNA was not in the system..Not ours and not in Interpols...or the Feds...The Traffic cam and the street cam showed the car with the girl being driven to the spot...and a tall shadowy figure in a trenchcoat and with a wig getting out and leaving...."said Monica..

"Who was the girl?" I asked.

''She was a hooker named Sandy...Sandy Slocum...He interviewed all of her known johns...He talked to her family and some of the other girls and nobody knew anything....The case went cold...I asked my daddy about it every day...Until he had moved on to other cases...but I never forgot that case or that tattoo..Case drove him crazy....every now and then he'd go back to it..Re interview some people...Re canvass the crime scene, I even went with him one time...but it never went anywhere..For awhile we would talk about it..go over and over every particular...but the case just went cold."said Monica.

"Wooowwww!You can't possibly think this case here has anything to do with that old case?? I mean except for the tattoo...what other simularities do you have?" I asked.

"I hope it doesn't...but that tattoo is the exact same and in the same place....What's her name? Our Vic?" asked Monica..

"Hell....It's Sandy.....Uh Sandra Logan....But she's not a prostitute, She's a Dive Instructor..She teaches a diving and swim class here during the week.." I said..."She's 29 and here is her address...I found it in her purse..."I said.

"Robbery?" asked Lt. Cotton.

"No..She's got almost $2000.00 in cash on her and three credit cards and one debit card and a gas card."I said.

"That's a lot of cash to be carrying around....My daddy's victim;s name was Sandy also...and when we found her she had a purse full of cash!" said Monica.

''Dive and Swim Instructor...She must not have been in the water recently...Look at her nails..They've been recently polished...The water would have washed them off." I said.

"You're right....Boy Mo-Mo...Your husband is really knowledgable of  women and their habits." laughed
Monique...

"Among other things..." laughed Monica...

"Okay...Release the body.." I said.

We watched as the body was removed from the Hyper -Sub and carted to the M.E.'s wagon... I watched as my wife stared at that tattoo...

It haunted her...

III-

I passed Monica a tumbler of coffee...She placed the tumbler on the desk and pulled me to her..She kissed me passionately for a few minutes...

''What was that for?" I asked smiling..

"I owed you that...from this morning...I told you I'd take care of you later.." said Monica...

I pulled her to me and kissed her a little more..

When we came up for air....I said..

"This isn't your dad's unsolved case...We are going to crack this case bae." I said.

"I sure hope so..." she said and hugged me tighter than she has in a long long time....Like she didn't want to let go...

IV-

 We began our investigation.....Sandra Logan, 29 had no next of kin...Both her father and her mother were deceased...Natural causes...She was raised by an aunt..also deceased...She was an Honor Roll student in the Philadelphia Public School System and sang in the All City choir and played the Violin and Piano in the All City Orchestra...She attended Lasalle University and graduated with a B.A. in Education...and then did six years in the U.S. Navy...

Her present job was as a Dive Instructor and Swim Instructor on the peer...

We went to her apartment...

She lived near the pier...In some very tony condos..

 ''Wow! This place is really nice....High level."I said.

''A little too nice for a Dive and Swim Instructor." said Monica..

 "Hmmm look...I found another smartphone and this one looks like it could be a knock off, a burner.."I said.

"It's a lot of men's phone numbers in this phone...Unlike the other one...That's all that's in here.." said Monica.

"Hmmm....Her other phone..the one we found on her had..her job...a couple of women friends...a couple of businesses..All that we've already checked out.."I said.

"And yet this one is full of males..."said Monica.

 "Clients? she did teach swimming and diving.."I said.

"Know ,what I think?   And this is just a hunch...Our girl was getting a second income...She had to be...Look at this place."said Monica.

"World's Oldest profession?" I asked..

"That would be my guess!"said Monica.

"And one of these men...might be her killer.."I said.

"If we are lucky...Yes." said Monica.

As we walked out into the street, A tall slender  white man, about six foot six and balding was standing on the curb...

 "Monica? Monica Talbert? Is that You?" said the tall man...

"Oh My God....Uncle Rick!!!!!" said Monica.

"Now I was baffled...Who was this man...This white man I had never seen or heard from that my wife was calling Uncle Rick?

"Mo-Mo...what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm a Homicide Detective....This is a crime scene...My Victim's condo...She was a swim and dive instructor." said Monica..

"Oh My God, You've followed in your dad's footsteps...Chip off the old block...."he laughed and hugged Monica..

"Oh pardon my rudeness...Nate...This is My Daddy's old partner in Homicide...Detective Rick Pardo...
They were together so much and over our house so much...Me and Monique called him Uncle Rick!"said Monica..

"How is Monique...She was in Med school last I heard....We all thought you were going to be a Lawyer Mo-Mo..."he said.

"I almost did...and I may go back to Law school one day...but I prefer to enforce the law right now.. "said Monica.."Monique is a Forensic Investigator and Coroner..We often work together."said Monica.

"Isn't that somethin? I know Ray must be proud....of both of you.....So this is your partner huh?" he said looking at Me..

"This is Detective Nate Nellis...and he's my partner in uh more ways than one...We just got married a few months ago...We would have invited you and Nellie, but we didn't have a current address for you."said Monica..

I shook his hand...

"Please to meet you sir." I said.

"There is no sir here...Rick..Call me Rick....Congratulations on the wedding..You got a great gal here...I Always thought Monique would get married first...Or did she?" he asked.

"No,she's single...but she's in a serious relationship......With our Lieutenant!" laughed Monica..

"You guys are keeping it close to the vest huh...Hahahahahaha....." he laughed.

"So how's Nellie?" asked Monica..

"We aren't together Mo-Mo..We split up some 10 years ago......Right before I left the force...I'm a P.I. now...I work for a lawyer downtown..Just uh happened to be in the neighborhood..  Well, good luck on your case...Tell Monique and your mom and your old man I said Hey.."he said and hugged her again and was off into the night...

"Your Uncle seemed nice."I said.

"He's got some deep psychic pain in him...I could feel it...and he was suppressing something..Something deep inside of him that made him feel bad...I couldn't quite get a read on him..but I could feel it."said Monica.

"You mean you couldn't feel something? You couldn't hear a thought?" I laughed..

''Everybody is not an open book like you Nate...I knew you were crazy about me within a minute of meeting you." she laughed.

"It's not like I tried to hide it...Does he know uh that you're a ...." I asked..

"That I'm a Mutant? No...I'm just Ray Talbert's precocious daughter...that's all..."said Monica.

"You forgot to add Sexy!"I said...

"Yeah...That too....Come on Silly,let's get out of here."said Monica.

We headed back across town...This case...all of a sudden seemed more interesting!

TO BE CONTINUED