Hour 72

 LAST NIGHT-


"Ouuu Frankie...That meal was exquisive and this wine has got me a little dizzy.." said Dr. Monique Talbert, my beautiful and sexy sister in law as she sat in Lourdes, a tony wine bar after going out to dinner with Lieutenant Frankie Cotton Jr.

"This was nice...I must admit..I did kind of miss you.."said Monique.

"It's only been two days Sugar Baby." said Lt. Cotton with a sly smile... Ever since they had made a wager on the sex of our elusive double murderer and now arsonist....They hadn't had sex....Lt. Cotton hadn't stopped by the M.E.'s office or by our Duplex and hadn't so much as called Monique..

Monica and I thought the whole thing was silly...We knew they both missed each others company...and that it was a battle of wills...In fact..Monica and I had a side wager as to who would give in first....She said her twin sister....I said Lt. Cotton.. We decided not to bet money or anything like that...It was just a  bet...with no stakes..

"I uh suppose  I should drive you home.." said Lt. Cotton..

Monique smiled...She knew he couldn't stay away from her for too long...She was good and horny after drinking that wind...She didn't care about any silly wager...He could have her tonight...

Lt. Cotton paid the bill and escorted Monique to his car....

He drove her to her front door.....He smiled..

"Wow!  Imagine that...Me..Married!  I'm going to be living there with you soon..." he mused...

"I'm glad you're so excited and enthusiastic about this...I was wondering for a minute..."said Monique..

"Oh I can't wait to be married to you..."said Lt. Cotton smiling..

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.."said Monique who leaned over to kiss him...Only to surprisingly see him move back..

"We got a deal...Not until Nate and Monica crack this case and the killer is revealed to be female...And if I'm wrong, we have to wait another day..." he said sternly...

Monique looked at him with a side eye...

"Are you serious?  You are really going to honor that?" she said...

"A deal is a deal." he said in all seriousness without batting an eye...

She leaned over and kissed his cheek...

"Okay...Good Night Frankie.."she said..."Thanks for Dinner and Drinks"she said and walked to her door..

She knew she was turning him on....He couldn't keep his eyes off of her the entire night...She had worn a new fragrance and had on a particularly short and tight mini skirt....and "stripper"heels...

Truth be told...Another minute and he would have been all over Monique...No woman he had ever known had captivated him sexually the way she had......Skin so soft, body so round , He literally went crazy every time she kissed him...But he was being strong...He was going to prove to her...That he had some self control..

Monique stood inside her house...She counted down from twenty...She was betting that he'd be ringing the bell before she finished counting...There was no knock or ring..She looked out the window..His car was gone...!!!

She was kind of disappointed..

Our house was quiet tonight...Even Monica and I were quiet...We were just sleeping, for once...

II-

 TODAY-

Detectives have always said that if a murder isn't solved in the first 48 Hours...it begins to go cold and gets harder to crack....Such was the case with this...A double murder and an arson...all related and all occurring during the first 48 Hours of this case...Monica and I between us had interviewed close to 70 people, Victims, Friends and associates ,Family...And all of them, though very happy Billy Wong and Mr. Pink were dead...none of them was our killer...They all alibied out....Our next person of interest was his estranged wife...Mrs.Jenny Tau -Wong. She lived in a tony loft , miles away from China Town..She worked as an accountant with a small firm in town...

Jenny Tau was the same age as Monica and I...She had been born and raised in Philadelphia and had gone to Public Schools..She had graduated from Temple University with a degree in Business Administration when she met a fine dressing and slick talking fellow Asian named Billy Wong...


Unlike her, Billy Wong had finished High School...but had not gone to college...He had helped his Father and Mother out in their dry cleaners and an uncle in his grocery store business..He had also, unknown to them began selling drugs..First Marijuana..then Heroin and Coke...He managed to stay under the radar and pile up a number of corners and profit...Enough that he was allowed to put together a team of his own and get points on packages he sold...

When he met young and pretty Jenny Tau...He had made enough money to wisely get out of the drug business and finance a business all his own..A very tony restaurant....Word on the street had it that the original owner owed him money in the illegal card and domino games he was already running and was "forced"to turn the title over to him by his pursuasive new associate...Mr. Pink....A brute who used to be an enforcer for another gangster who unfortunately fell behind in payments and was forced to give him up...

Jenny Tau, with her business savy helped Billy Wong's legitimate restaurant business grow and prosper...She knew nothing of his illegal games of chance held on the rooftop...Not at first...By the time she did..They were married....

Billy Wong made legitimate money on the one hand and illegal money through gambling, Loan Sharking, Protection, Extortion and Wire Fraud on the other hand...All done quietly....Well sort of...You didn't pay, You got busted up...You knew better than to talk...

We knew all of this by the time we paid her a visit...

"Hello Mrs. Wong..I'm Detective Monica Nellis and this is my partner, Detective Nate Nellis.." said Monica..

"We won't beat around the bush...You Know why we are here don't you?" I said.

Jenny Wong was an attractive ,petite woman with a ready smile..

"Sure do...Somebody capped my estranged husband and his bodyguard and you think I did it...Sorry to disappoint you...But it wasn't me....But whoever did it...I will personally pay their legal fees..They did the city of Philadelphia a huge favor."she said without a hint of regret..

"Welllll, tell us how you really feel?" said Monica..

"You two are married aren't you?" she said.

"The last names gave it away huh?" I joked..

"The matching wedding bands did it and the fact that you keep sneaking a look at your wife's boobies..I'm guessing you two just got married.." she said.

"No grass grows under your feet."I said...Surprised at the banter between us....

"Yes..We are newlyweds...I had to marry him...He uh wouldn't leave me alone..."joked Monica, who hugged me.

"You two seem happy...That's nice...Billy and I were happy when I first met him...He seemed like a guy who was going places..Who wanted to get ahead...I was fresh out of college...I wanted to help him...and I did..We worked well together...After we had been married a year...I noticed two seperate account books...One was legitimate ,the other had extra money...Money I didn't know the origin of....Soon I found out...Floating crap games....That's what he told me...A little gambling..Harmless..Then  I witnessed Mr. Pink administering a brutal beating to someone who owed Billy money...and I found out about the other stuff...That all of the local shopkeepers paid Billy "protection money, that he ran illegal floating crap games where if you didn't or couldn't pay up, you got the snot beat out of you by Pink..That he had juice on the streets..."she said non-chalantly..

"The juice....protection,extortion,wire rooms..."said Monica..

"Yeah and I didn't like it...I told him I didn't sign on for that...He had the entire neighborhood gripped in fear....And he said you guys couldn't touch him...Soon he became somebody I didn't know anymore...We became distant....I was pregnant twice and twice I miscarried..He seemed to lose interest in me soon after...There were other women...lots of crap...I left him three years ago...but he wouldn't divorce me and he terrorized every lawyer I tried to hire..Him and Mr. Pink...So when I heard he and Pink was murdered the other day, my prayers were answered...but I didn't kill either one of them...and I can prove it." she said.

"How is that?" asked Monica.

"I was in New York....Visiting my sister.....She told me....She saw it on the digital news pod cast....Check my credit and debit cards...Here is my sister's phone number..Call her." said Jenny..

Monica whispered to me..

"She's telling the truth...but check her alibi out anyway."

I walked out to my car and picked up my Laptop....

It took me less than 15 minutes to check her credit and debit cards......I made a call to her sister who confirmed she was in deed in New York City on the day the murders and the arson occurred...

I then checked her phone number for anybody she may have called.. There were no suspicious calls..

I walked back in and said to Monica..

"She checks out.."

Monica looked at  Jenny....

"When was the last time you talked to Billy?"

"A week ago...He asked me to come back to him for the 100th time and for the 100th time I told him no way.....He said he was going to give up the gangster stuff ,all of it...Turn it over to Mr. Pink...He just wanted to be with me...I almost believed him..Then I heard about the beating they put on Beans..."she said.

"Beans?" I asked.

"Thomas "Beans" Bowls...He's a gambler...Travels to all of the games..Cards, Dominoes..He's pretty good, pretty well known...He owed my husband, 25 Large and he couldn't pay...He gave him his car...and a worthless watch...Mr. Pink broke his jaw, his knees and his ribs...That was six weeks ago..He just got out of the hospital...You should go talk to him...." she said.

"Thank you Jenny.....I suppose as his wife, you get some money from the club...since he can't collect"said Monica.

"I do...but I don't care about his blood money...I'm just glad him and Pink are out of my life..Now I can move on...."she said.

"You got an address for this Beans person?" asked Monica...

"Try any major Strip joint...You'll find him there....Probably just looking...He plays Chess with the old men out in the park sometimes...Speed Chess...You might find him there."she laughed...

I laughed myself..

"I can imagine."I said.

III-

As we headed to find "Beans..."I said to Monica.

"I'm glad she wasn't the killer...I liked her..She was funny."I said.

"I liked her too...I'm glad she wasn't the killer either...but you know what this means don't you?"said Monica..

"What?" I asked.

"She was our only female suspect...Which means...Our Killer may well be a male.."said Monica..

"Poor Lieutenant Cotton.."I said and we both laughed..

Not so...At this very moment in an empty room in the M.E.'s office..Lt. Cotton and Monique were in the throws of passion...He had her skirt up, her panties down around her ankles...His trousers and boxers down and was thrusting away inside of her sexy body...

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawdddddddddddddd.." he moaned.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Oh my goodness Frankie...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."she moaned..holding on for dear life...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph.."he moaned...He couldn't believe how good she felt...

"Oh My god this is sooo good.."he cried out..He was sweating and on the verge of exploding...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Frankie..Don't you ever not call me for that long again..."she moaned..

"Never baby...Never......Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawdddddddddddddd.."he moaned..

He had just stopped by the M.E.'s office as he usually did to talk...She was wearing another new dress that was short, tight and acentuated all of her curves and a nice bright fragrance that was driving him crazy...

He had on a new tailored suit that was making her both warm and moist ..The sound of his voice was driving her crazy..before she knew it..She had grabbed him and gave him a slow sensuous kiss that sent him in orbit...He stared at her and she stared at him...

They had waited until the entire staff had left for lunch and had raced for the back room and locked the door and began making sweet love...

The staff was usually gone for at least two hours.......90 minutes had gone by and finally...Monique began having an intense orgasm....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she cooed and stiffened up....Shaking and holding on for dear life...

Lt. Cotton came like a gusher.........
Shaking and sweating....

They kissed for a few minutes....Then fixed their clothes and headed for their respective wash rooms and cleaned up...

"Frankie...I don't care what the sex is of Monica and Nate's killer..." said Monique..

"Me neither...I just want you...."he said..

"And I just want you.." she said and hugged him...

IV-

Thomas "Beans'' Bowls was a gambler...A  High Stakes Gambler who played in all of the hot floating crap games in the area...

When Monica and I found him, He was playing a game of chess with some old timers...

He was a tall ,nice looking man, a little heavy set....He still had what they call a halo...a brace holding his jaw together and he was walking with a limp..He carried a cane..He also had a brace around his ribs...

The handiwork of Mr. Pink...

"You winning Beans?" I asked..

He said nothing...Finally,when he was finished his round he turned and spoke to us...

"Cops huh?  What are you guys...Vice? OCB??" he asked.

"Neither....We are Homicide."said Monica..."I'm Detective Monica Nellis, and this is my partner,Detective Nate Nellis." she said.

He looked her up and down...I could tell he liked what he saw...

"Married huh?  To each other...Partners huh?  That's nice..."he said.

"You know why we are here Beans..." I said.

He frowned..

"No,I can't imagine.."he said..

"We know you were into Billy Wong for twenty five large and that Mr. Pink put a whooping on you that landed you in the hospital." said Monica.

He smiled ruefully..

"That rat bastard took my car as collateral..I may never walk right again...and it hurts everytime I breathe...Son of a bitch...I'm glad he's dead....When is his funeral?? I'm going to go and piss on his casket..Him and that fat bastard Mr. Pink..."he said.

Monica smiled..

"These have got to be the most unpopular murder victims we've ever investigated...Nobody has a good word to say for either of them." she said.

"I know right...Wowwwwwwwwww!" I said.

"Nobody is going to miss that half pint punk or his attack dog...If you ever catch who did em..I'm going to donate money to their defense fund.." he said.

"That's what his wife said." I laughed.

"He was still married?? Unbelievable...."said Beans...Who then looked at us..

"You KNOW I didn't kill em...I just got out of the hospital yesterday....Which is where I was when they got it....News that they got got was the only thing that made me feel better....And don't get no ideas that I hired a hit man...I'm a gambler...Not a gangster...And if I didn't have 25 large to pay him..I damn sure didn't have money to pay a hitter...and it would have had to be a high class hitter....The man terrorized the neighborhood..Few people would risk trying to take them out...Although I see somebody did...God Bless em." he snarled..

Monica had read his mind.....Though she didn't need to...I already knew that this guy had nothing to do with his murder..

"Beans...You know anybody who might have been trying to move in on him..Russians...Italians...Latins??" asked Monica.

"Nah....and if I did,I don't know that I would help you guys catch em....You don't know how elated everybody in the neighborhood is that they don't have to pay him any money..."said Beans..

"Actually...the more we investigate this case...The more we kinda do." I said.  "I have good news for you.....You can pick your car up at the police impound...He's dead...He no longer has a claim to it..And it's not part of our investigation...Come down tomorrow with identification and it's yours..."I said.

Monica passed him his watch....

"We found it in Mr. Pink's locker at the Century Bathhouse where he was killed...He won't be needing it..."she said smiling...

He smiled..

"Thanks....I'll tell you one thing...Whoever killed them..Had to be someone close to them...Someone that knew that Mr. Pink went to the Bathhouse on a certain day and rented the place out....And someone who knew when Billy would be alone and unprotected...If I was you...I check out Mr. Su..His Restaurant manager...He is the only one who knew his schedule like that..." he said..

"Thanks Beans..We will."I said.

As we walked off Monica said to me...

"We already talked to Su...I scanned his mind..He didn't even know they were dead until we told him and we know for a fact he was at the restaurant all day...It's not him...I checked his phone calls, his financials, his emails...everything...It's not him..."said Monica..

"Well it's got to be someone else...Someone else close."I said.

"Did we interview the cooks and the wait staff?" asked Monica..

"No,but that's where we have to look next and maybe talk to Su again...Maybe he knows something, Something he failed to mention or just overlooked.."I said.

"I'm going to call Kylie , see if her team has had any luck on those Business cams or ATM cams." said Monica.

"Wow baby, hour 72...It's been awhile since we've gone over 48 hours cracking a case..."I said.

"I know partner....Are we slipping?" she asked..

I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately.....

She smiled..

"See, we do that too much, that's why we haven't cracked this case.." she laughed...

"You wanna stop?" I asked..

"Not on your life."she laughed and kissed me again.....

(TO BE CONTINUED)