The Lives Of Judges

Nelson and Beverly were in the stairwell of our building kissing so passionately the next morning that I got excited just watching them...

I cleared my throat....

Beverly smiled sheepishly...

"Oh, you guys are ready to go huh?" she said..

"OH Hi Donnie Ray." laughed Nelson sheepishly..

I smiled..

"Hey Man...What's goin on?" I said..

"I uh wasn't here last night...but uh Bev told me you guys are going to Bayside Heights for a case today,so I uh decided to uh see her before she left.." he said, smiling sheepishly...

"Hey man, you aint got to explain anything to me...It's all good.."I said, laughing...

"Where's Auntay?" asked Beverly...

"I'm right here freshie...You wanna come with us Nelson?" asked Olivia...

"Well uh...I'm not in court today...I just finished a trial last week."said Nelson..

"I called Robert Foxworth, your boss...He said it was okay." said Olivia ,smiling..

"You did? Gee Thanks..."said Nelson..."I might as well go along...Somebody has to watch Donnie Ray's back...You remember what happened the last time we went?" said Nelson...

Beverly laughed-"Sure do..He got knocked out by that cop and had that wild dream...We don't want that happening again.." she said..

"No we don't." said Olivia , who let herself into our office, went to the kitchen, wet a paper towel and wiped Beverly's lipstick off of Nelson's face and his jacket...She smiled at him...

"Thank you for loving my niece so much and making her happy." she said..

"Thank you for introducing her to me so many years ago." said Nelson...

"Okay guys...Let's ride." I said...

I tossed the keys to Olivia...She was driving and I was sitting in the front seat with her...

"Let's go guys." she said.

Beverly and Nelson sat in the backseat....

We pulled off....A light rain began...I wondered if this was an Omen..

II-

Daniel Demming was tall, dark , handsome and well dressed....He looked dignified ,even in handcuffs...

His hair was just starting to grey and he had an electric smile and personality...This wasn't lost on the black female bailiffs who brought him into the courtroom for his araingment...on first degree murder charges..

He perked up when he saw Olivia and Beverly, Nelson and me walk into the courtroom...

"Oh My God..Olivia Bennett, Beverly...How are you both? " he exclaimed and hugged them both....

''We are fine Daniel...It's Olivia Bennett-Alexander now..I'm re-married..This is my husband,Donnie Ray Alexander....He's our in house investigator." said Olivia..

He shook my hand firmly...

"You got a great gal there Donnie Ray..."he said.

"I know sir.." I said..

"It's Danny...There are no sirs around here." he said laughing...

He turned his attention to Beverly...

"And this is your partner now huh?  You are looking good Bev.." he said.

"Thank You Danny...I am doing okay.....This is my boyfriend, Attorney Nelson East..he's going to be observing the case with us...

Nelson shook his hand...

"I remember you...You interned with Midge once.." he said.

"Y-Yes I did.."said Nelson nervously...

"I didn't know you interned with Midge...So did Auntay and me...and my cousin Kayla..."said Beverly.

''Yeah...I interned with her...It was before I knew you or your aunt."said Beverly..

"Well first thing we have to do is see if we can get you out of here."said Olivia..

"Yes ,please..." he said.

III-

Nelson and I sat and watched as the opening arguments were heard... Judge Midge Demming was found in her bedroom, unresponsive by one of her interns, Attorney Lisa Woods...She had just finished eating the dinner her husband had prepared for her...It had been laced with a huge amount of Arsenic...and huge amounts had been found in her system the past few days...leading up to her death....

Making him look even more guilty was the fact that he had taken out a huge three million dollar life insurance policy on her just months before..

And even worse...When he was notified about her death...He was in a Hotel with another young intern......

"Liv, as bad as it looks...I didn't kill my wife..We had an open marriage...She did her thing and I did mine..We were swingers...and we have been for years...It was a well kept secret.." he said..

He said-"I didn't take out any insurance policy on her." he said.

When he was shown the papers he said.

"That looks like my signature, but I never signed this...It was forged...Come on..I've tried cases like this...This sounds like something you'd see on the ID channel or Forensic Files.. I didn't do this."he said.

 Olivia argued the preliminary case as though she was arguing the actual trial...

And Beverly did an almost picture perfect imitation of her aunt......

They both argued that Mr. Demming had no criminal record, was a pillar of the community and was not a flight risk...

The Judge set bail at fifty thousand dollars......

Daniel Demming flinched , as would I...with a bail that high, but then I remembered..You only had to pay ten percent of that....He whispered in Olivia's ear..She made a phone call and within the hour..His bail was paid and he was released... A trial date was set for next month...

 He hugged Olivia and Beverly as we left the courtroom....

"You girls are better than I thought...Midge would be so proud of the way you handled this.." he said..

"I have to ask...You said you guys were swingers...And you had an open marriage?" said Beverly...

He grimaced...

"Not always...Not at first....but after the last miscarriage, we almost broke up...We decided we needed to spark up our marriage...So we hosted uh , discreet and uh adult parties at our home...With only our most trusted friends...A person would put their car keys in a hat and uh, whoever got whoever's keys..went home with that person's spouse...

We uh did this for a few years, but Midge tired of it and so did I...We just stopped..We haven't done that in five years....I admit with some shame that I uh did have a lover....A young intern who kind of caught my attention...Wendy Melvin..We had only been seeing each other for a short while..A few weeks..." he said.

I looked at my wife, Olivia...She was hearing this and getting sick...Hard to imagine someone you have idolized all of your professional life , being involved in something like this..She didn't say anything...but I could see it in her face...

"I'll need that young lady's address and phone number..."I said.

''She has nothing to do with this.."he said.

"Maybe not..But I need to talk to her...I'm sure the case detective has already talked to her." I said.

''She's engaged to be married...I-I-I really don't want to put that part of her life in jeopardy.."he said.

"I'll be discreet and professional...I used to be a Homicide Detective...I know how this works.."I said.

"You worked with Lt. Sissy Van Buren?" he asked.

"No..I'm from New Orleans...I know Lt. Van Buren though..."I said.

"In order for me to defend you...I have to know everything.. You can't hold anything back from me...We'll need the phone number and address on your current intern also...Lisa Woods..." said Olivia.

"Okay...Tomorrow ,My assistant will give you everything you need."he said.

Today had been a really simple day...We had been at an arraignment  and had gotten him out on bail...

I quietly slipped outside and placed a small GPS tracker on his car...It was sneaky I know..but I needed to know everywhere this guy went...This was as much to protect him as our case..

IV-

The four of us packed up and drove back to Philadelphia....It was still raining..I dropped Nelson off at his apartment and I dropped the girls off at the Law Library, so they could prep for the on coming case...

I went home and did some digging into the Demmings financials...Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Bank Accounts, Off Shore accounts ..the works... I was busy most of the afternoon....

I picked the girls up a few hours later and drove them home...

Olivia's phone rang just as we were getting out of the car.....

"I have to take this...It's Daniel." she said..

I pulled Beverly to the side while Demming and Olivia continued to talk on the phone..

"Feel like doing some fishing Shortcake?" I asked..

''When?"she asked.

"In a few minutes...I know you planned to see Nelson tonight.."I said.

"It can wait..."she said smiling..."What's Up? I know you D.R.  You found something..."she said.

"While you guys were at the library...I was going through the Demmings financials..Mrs. Demming had a pocket account ,seperate from Mr. Demming."I said.

"So? Lots of couples have seperate accounts..."said Beverly...

"Mrs. Demming has a loft here in Philadelphia..I wonder if her husband knows about it...He says they stopped swinging and that only he was having an extra-marital fling...You saw that big house they live in...Why would she need a loft?" I asked.

"Maybe it's theirs."said Beverly...

"It's in her name..." I said and it's been there for five years...Right around the time she stopped swinging.."I said.

Beverly smiled a wickedly devilish smile...

"We need to check this out..D.R." she said.

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

"Ummmm, what was that for? "she asked smiling..

"Shortcake and I are going fishing....Then I whispered in her ear....Be naked when I come back." I said and squeezed her buttocks...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu , Stop it, Donnie Ray.." she laughed shyly...

Beverly and I drove to the loft..

 It was beautiful.....Even though the Demmings were both quite well to do....The morgtage on a place like this had to equal the morgtage on their home...

''WOW! I know they both have dough...but how did Midge swing this by herself?" asked Beverly...

"There's a light on inside..Maybe the person inside could tell us.."I said.

We rang the doorbell...A young man came to the door in only his boxers....Upon seeing Beverly, his eyes got as wide as saucers and he smiled. She smiled too..

"BEV?? Beverly West??" he said..

"Troy? Troy Lincoln?/What are you doing here?" she asked..

"I uh live here...but uh I uh won't be living here much longer..." he said.

"Oh?" she asked..

"You remember uh Judge Midge Demming right?  We both interned for her ,straight out of law school remember? " he asked..

"Yeah..."said Beverly...

"Well..She's dead...I heard her husband offed her...Maybe he heard about me and her and found out about this spot finally." he said..

"You and Her?  You were having an affair with Midge Demming?" I asked.

"Who is this Bev?" he asked.

"He's my Uncle...He's also the investigator for me and my Auntay's firm...We are representing Daniel Demming.."said Beverly...

"Wowwwwwwwwwwwww....You and your Aunt Olivia...Got your own practice...And you're  a partner right?Cool..I always liked your aunt...So you say this is your uh uncle...You're married to Liv right?" he said.

"Yeah.Something like that..." I said..

"Niceeee..You guys got a family business...Hey I heard you and Nelson East are a couple...He's working for a firm down in Olde City...Got his own place...All of us old Public Defenders moved up huh?" he said.

"Yeah, how about that? Donnie Ray, Troy and I and Kayla were all in law school together and we all worked at the Public Defenders Office together."said Beverly..

"Well not your cousin Kayla..She got a nice cushy job at a big firm, right out of law school....Hey by the way ...is she married?" he asked..

"No.." said Beverly...

"She still in Philly?" he asked..

"Why?" asked Beverly sighing, but knowing why he was asking...

"Well, Midge is gone and I uh might want to hook up with her..." he said..

He was round faced, brown skinned with curly hair...Athletically built...Cute, but a dog, Beverly thought...

Beverly smiled.

''She has a boyfriend.." she said softly..

"Damn, most of the good ones do." he said.

''So, you and Midge Demming?"I asked..

He smiled..

''What are you, a cop?" he asked.

"I used to be a Homicide Detective." I said.

"It shows." he said and laughed.

''So, you and Midge Demming?"I asked again...He sighed.....

"I've been boning her since I clerked for her in law school....Then I interned for her , after I graduated and passed the bar , we continued seeing each other...and afterwords...She put me up in this loft....and helped me get on at the law firm I work at now..."he said.

"You don't think her husband knew about this?" I asked.

"Nah..They used to swing...but she stopped..She didn't like it...but she liked to bang..She was insatiable..Couldn't get enough....He wasn't providing enough of something...Some days I was so tired,I could barely stay awake at work..wooooooo..I'm gonna miss her.."he said.

''Did you pay rent on this place?  It must be sky high."I said.

"You would have thought that she would have asked me to, but she paid everything...Utilities, Cable ,My cell phone...I haven't paid a thing since I been here..and that's been three years...I don't think the guy that was here before me paid anything either...A guy named Terrence Decker...He works at the same firm I work at..." he said.

''Terrence Decker...Oh My goddd.."said Beverly...

"He worked at the Public Defender's Office too?" I asked.

"Noo..He's just an Attorney I know...I fixed him and Auntay up on a date after she got divorced from Elwood...They went out about three times...Nothing came of it...Then he was calling me, asking me to go out with him..Like I was going to date him after he had been with Auntay...He was a big dog...Ughhhhhhh..What is his connection to Midge?" asked Beverly..

"He tried a case in her court...She was impressed....He wound up living here when she first got the spot, but he messed up."said Troy..

"How was that?" I asked..

"He cheated...Not just cheated, but had the girl over here and got caught....She put him out.."said Troy..

"You never cheated ,did you?" I asked..

"Nah..Are you kidding?   I'm living here rent free..bill free and making six figures at a prestigious law firm and getting all the sex I want whenever she could sneak away...Why cheat?" he said..

"Bet you've paid off your school loans huh?" I laughed.

"Sure have and bought a car...I got enough money socked away to find a new apartment in a few days."he said.

"How nice for you!" I said with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's gonna be weird paying all of your bills now isn't it Troy?" asked Beverly..

"Yeah...but I knew this wasn't gonna last forever...So hell, I prepared for it... I just didn't know she was gonna get killed.." he said.

"So where were you the night she died?" I asked.

"Here? She had been feeling sick ,violently sick the last week or so and hadn't been around..She promised she'd be around as soon as she felt better..but she didn't.. I was right here man, you can ask and check my access card..Everytime I come in and leave..it registers...and there is a camera downstairs too." he said.

"I will..Thanks for your time.."I said.

"Nice seeing you again Troy...Good Luck to you."said Beverly smiling..

"Same here..Tell Nelson I said Hi...He's a lucky dude..Havin you for a girlfriend.."said Troy ,smiling salaciously at Beverly..

"I will" she said.

I drove Beverly to Nelson's apartment and then I headed home...

Olivia was sitting in the bedroom with only a raincoat on....and stilletto heels...

"Oh My God!" I said...

"Hurry up and get your clothes off Donnie Ray...This raincoat is getting a little warm.." she said.

"OH MY GOD!" I said Again...

Olivia cracked up laughing..


(TO BE CONTINUED)