Sequel

ONE MONTH LATER-

Olivia and Beverly were in court......Today was the opening arguments for defendent, Ronald Harvey...convicted last year and given two life sentences for  a double murder and rape of two young women...29 year old Danisha Powell and her girlfriend, 23 year old Shonda Wells...His fiance and the mother of his child now one year old came to us....Well actually..She came to us through the Innocence Project...Which our good friend, Larry North was running...The case came across his desk and he had Attorney Sylvia Glenn immediately call Olivia..

 Sylvia Glenn had had a baby girl...Just weeks before....a 7 pounder named Chloe.....Chloe Glenn. Larry North was now a father...There was no news of any coming engagement...

Apparently there was a lot of discrepancies in the case.. and it bore looking at....Especially the fact that the prosecuting attorney was fired last year for coming to court high during another case...and there was talk that there was DNA evidence that went missing that might have cleared Ronald Howard... A 29 year old African-American father of a one year old girl.

Beverly and I spent a day before the trial trying to locate it...but the Police did not have it...In fact, a lot of the evidence belonging to that case had mysteriously vanished...

Now I had the unenviable job of doing the investigation myself ..A year old case...and building a credible defense...

To make matters worse...The case detective on this was now dead...Killed in an unrelated shootout earlier this year....I couldn't ask him anything.

I felt like a cop again...

II-

The next day ,I took Beverly with me... We went back to the apartment complex where the murders had occurred..The Police had provided me with crime scene photos...Both girls were stabbed to death in the bedroom of one of them..Shonda Wells..

The murder weapon had their dried blood on it...and some other blood that didn't belong to either of them and whose DNA did not match Ronald Howard's..

"Funny! That was never mentioned in the original trial transcript  D.R.  I'm going over the Public Defender's notes..There is no mention of this...So I'm assuming, he didn't know this." said Beverly..

"We've got to retest Ronald Howard's DNA and see if there is any tox evidence from the bodies still around.."I said.

Later on that day,Olivia and I talked to at least 20 people..Family members and close friends who knew both girls..

Ronald Howard and Danisha Powell had a stormy three year relationship that ended with a pregnancy that was aborted...Despite that...The two of them still hooked up from time to time for a booty call, according to several close associates..

When Ronald Howard met his fiance, that all changed and there was some bitterness between the two..but according to Danisha Powell's mother and older sister...The two of them had recently mended fences and were friends again...

In the days leading up to the double murder and rape...Ronald was seen partying in Josies with both women...We found credit card receipts that shows he bought both multiple drinks...

At the time of the murder...Ronald Howard's fiance said that he was with her all night in their apartment....

In the original trial..The Prosecutor asked her if she had ever gone to sleep..

She said that they had made love and that afterwords both had gone to sleep.. It was then ,said the prosecutor that he had gotten up and slipped out and killed the girls..

The Public Defender argued vehemently that there was no proof of this...but was over ruled...

"Unbelievable..."said Olivia...

I did some digging...

"Ladies...guess who the Judge was in that case?" I asked.

''Who?" they asked in unison.

"Milton Merlins...the same Milton Merlins who had you jailed Beverly for wearing the Black Lives Matter button and who jailed you for contempt of court Livy."I said.

''Well I'll be..He's not a judge now....He's just an Attorney like the rest of us..I'm going to subpeona him...He's going to testify....This ought to be interesting." said Olivia..

"I can't wait to see his fat face, when he has to answer our questions.He won't be so high and mighty now!"said Beverly...

"If you think that is interesting...Check this out...Guess who the original prosecutor was...?" I said.

"Oh My God...I'm almost afraid to ask...Not someone we know...Keith Wallace?" asked Olivia.

"No..."I said.

"Couldn't have been Soloman Foster...Not ADA Nina Rios?" asked Beverly..

"No,none of them.. it was former ADA Ethan Proud..."

"Name ring a bell?" I asked..

"Oh My God!! Zoey's fiance!  Him??" asked Olivia.

"The same...He was fired shortly after that case... Apparently he had substance abuse problems...He was allegedly high during this trial and another trial and in another trial..Ironically another rape case..
He was accused of outright lying and with holding evidence from the defense." I said.

"Oh God...Zoey is engaged to him?" said Olivia..Thinking about her former Divorce Lawyer..

"People fall in love for various reasons Auntay and sometimes...the people we fall in love with show a different face."said Beverly..

We both looked at Beverly....

''What?" she said.

"Nothing...That's just so ...so enlightening coming from you." said Olivia ,laughing and hugging her niece and kissing her cheek...

"It's true Auntay..."she said..

"I know baby...and I'm glad you understand that.." said Olivia who kissed Beverly's cheek again.

"You know Olivia...I uh ruh understand things like that too!" I said and arched my eyebrow...

Beverly cracked up laughing....

''D.R. You are so obvious..You just want a kiss from Auntay..." she said.

"I know..He's not fooling anyone."laughed Olivia ,who gave me a soft kiss in the lips...

"MMMM...Mwua...Happy now?" she asked.

"Abundantly.." I said.

"You're so silly." laughed Olivia....



III-

Back at home and the office...Beverly and Olivia pored over trial transcripts as well as law books..

Watching the two of them work was a truly a work of art...Olivia told me she had worked with other attorneys before on a case...but none was as efficient as her niece.....

"I know I sound bias saying this..but everyday ,she surprises me with her maturity and her competance...And we work so well together...We never get in each other's way..She used to be a little sponge,soaking up everything I could teach her...Now ..She stands on her own and is very good."she said.

Because as a public defender ,she often didn't have the resources to hire a good investigator...Beverly learned how to investigate a case herself..When she went out with me..She was very helpful and insightful.

I let the two of them work, while I went out to get food...

While I was out getting lunch for the girls...I ran into Attorney, Nelson East...Beverly's boyfriend..He rode with me...

''Hey , you'll uh never guess who I saw today at the Ruth Maternity Clinic.." he said as we rode back..

"No, I suppose I can't guess...but a better question is...Uh What were you doing at the Maternity Clinic?You and Shortcake got something you might want to share with us?" I asked.

"No...NOOOOOOOOOO...Though we have had some close calls..but no..Uh,I was there with a client..I saw Liv's friend, Zoey Easter

, the attorney coming out..In a wheel chair...You know what that means..right?"said Nelson...

"Interesting..That means she had a procedure...(Abortion) She was pregnant!" I said.

''She's engaged isn't she?" asked Nelson..

"Yeah....Now I'm wondering if she was aborting her fiance's baby or someone elses?" I mused.

''Someone Else? Who?"asked Nelson.

''Last month when Liv and I rented that room...Zoey was down the hall from us...She acted really strange and said she had to catch a train back to New York City..A red eye...Yet she had no luggage ,no briefcase....What woman and what Attorney do you know comes to town on business with no briefcase and no luggage?  Plus she didn't check out, which Liv and I thought was strange."I said.

''Whoa...Maybe her and uh Ethan Proud were doing the nasty...."laughed Nelson...

"You would think...only it wasn't him...I went back and checked...Ethan Proud was at his condo,fast asleep...and Zoey Easter wasn't booked in our hotel at all..Some guy named Dakota Jones was....And that's who was in that room she came out of."I said.

"Oh My God..Dakota Jones? What rock did he come from under and what was an Attorney of her stature doing with him in a hotel room?" asked Nelson..

"I take it..you know him..He's a local Drug Dealer...with quite an arrest record!"I said.

''Bev,your wife, Olivia and I have all represented him when we were Public Defenders..Back then he was slinging on the corner for my Uncle..Fathead Newton..He was younger..He's older now and he's moved up in the game..He sells to Athletes, Rappers...Singers...those type of people..He keeps a lower profile..but he's still in the drug game..He's a boss now.."said Nelson..

"Yeah....I wonder what his connection is to all of this.?" I said.

''You told this to Liv and Bev?" asked Nelson..

"No..Not yet...It might be nothing..Zoey is a grown woman..If she stepped out on Ethan...For now, that's between him and her..but we have to subpeona him." I said.

''Why?"asked Nelson..

"He was the Prosecutor in the original Ronald Howard Double Murder/Rape Case...There is evidence that he with held things from the defense.."I said.

''Wouldn't be the first time...Look up the Tisdale  Rape Case..He really screwed the pooch on that one..Nearly got disbarred...Got fired for out right lying and with holding evidence from the defense and get this...It's rumored he has a Heroin problem.."said Nelson...

We arrived at the office with the food..

"It's always great to talk to you Nelson." I said laughing..

Josie helped us carry the food inside.. Three Italian Hoagies for her Beverly and Olivia..

 and a Ham Hoagie for me, plus Potato Salad and Chips as well as Cokes for all of us...

Nelson had brought his own Italian Hoagie....

"I thought you girls could use a little nourishment..."I said.

"You are so thoughtful Donnie Ray."said Olivia ,who made sure she sat next to me...She leaned her head on my shoulders...

"Nelson, tell the girls who you saw today and where you saw them." I said.

"I saw Zoey Easter at the Ruth Maternity Center...I was there with a client of mine...I don't think she saw me
and if she did..She doesn't know or remember who I am...But it was definitely her and in a wheel chair."said Nelson.

"Oh My God...In a wheelchair? You know what that means!"said Olivia.

''She had a procedure...An Abortion..Maybe she's changed her mind....About Ethan Proud..." said Beverly..

 "I don't think she was getting rid of Ethan Proud's baby!" I said...

''What?  Who else's baby would it be?" asked Olivia.

''Yeah...That's her fiance." said Beverly.

''Liv,Last month when you and I rented that room...Zoey was down the hall from us...She acted really strange and said she had to catch a train back to New York City..A red eye...Yet she had no luggage ,no briefcase....We both thought her behavior was a little odd. You said yourself ,What woman and what Attorney do you know comes to town on business with no briefcase and no luggage?  Plus she didn't check out, which You and I thought was strange."I said.

"Yeah, I remember.."said Olivia..

"I went back and checked, a day later....Ethan Proud was at his condo,fast asleep...and Zoey Easter wasn't booked in our hotel at all..Some guy named Dakota Jones was....And that's who was in that room she came out of."I said.

 ''The Drug dealer??Dakota Jones??? Oh My God..What would she be doing in a hotel room with him??? Ewwwwww, Zoey has really dropped her standards! I represented him a half dozen times when I was a Public defender."said Beverly..

''So did I..You did too Nelson..He was small potatoes then..I understand he's not so small potatoes anymore."said Olivia..

''Sooo, you guys know this guy!" I said.

''Everybody knows him Donnie Ray....Everybody on the street knows he supplies the ballers and shot callers with Heroin, Coke and Oxi...Especially if you're a rapper or an athlete...Chances are, you've got him on speed dial."said Josie.

''So you guys know him..Well that is the guy, who's room she came out of...If she's still engaged to Attorney Proud...That is more than likely the guy's baby she got rid of today.."I said.

"Oh My God!!!...I can't imagine Zoey with him, with a guy like that.."said Olivia.

"Auntay, you think there is a connection between him and Ethan Proud and our case?" asked Beverly...

"I don't know...It could be...or it could not be...Zoey is a grown woman..Who she sleeps with and for what reason is not our affair...But I do need to know what he with held from evidence both in the rape case that got him fired and this case.."said Olivia.

"His testimony may be key in us getting a new trial or getting this conviction tossed out altogether..''I said.

"Look into the Tisdale Rape Trial.."said Nelson...

"You guys get some humdinger cases."said Josie..

''Don't We now?" said Beverly.

(TO BE CONTINUED)