A Case Before Christmas

ONE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

My wife Sepia and our daughter, Kimberly were happy....I had put the Christmas Tree up...and little Kimberly was very excited....


She knew Christmas was coming...


There was a lot of cooking going on...Sepia had a Ham cooking and a Turkey....Candied Yams, Collard Greens, Potato Salad...and Fried Chicken was also being cooked...

I sat back and smiled...


Presents were in the basement...We could hide them there now because our baby was afraid for some reason to go in the basement...In her youth, she could sense that something big was about to happen...


I cracked open a bottle of wine...Wine that had been delivered to me in a case...A gift from a former ,but satisfied client...

Sepia smiled...


"Don't get drunk...After all this cooking..I thought you might like to do a little cooking elsewhere." she said and smiled slightly...

"I'll never be that drunk." I said.


We were planning a short road trip up to the Women's prison with some of the food, to see Sepia's mother at the Women's Prison...She wanted to see her grand-daughter and she wanted some home made food...


It was just going to be a day trip....


A lot of our friends were on nice vacations...


Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Donnie Ray and Beverly had left for New Orleans, Donnie Ray's hometown ,where they would be spending the holiday...Nelson, Josie Boyd, her boyfriend, Paris , Kayla and her boyfriend, Ray had joined them.

ADA Keith Wallace and his wife Carlotta had gone to Puerto Rico to spend the holidays with her family...

Everybody else was here in the city...

 "Babes.. I have to go out and get my nails done...Watch Kimberly for me.." said Sepia as she finished up cooking..

"Sure "I said.


We stood under the mistletoe and kissed for a few minutes..

"Mmmmmm..." I moaned and allowed my hands to go up her dress...

 "Kevin, the baby could be wandering around here..." said Sepia as she gently slipped out of my embrace...

"Somebody's at the door.." I said.


I opened it , only to see my buddy Kool Kat...

"Hey Buddy....Ummmmmmmmmmmmm, it smells good in here.." laughed the Big Man..

"Walter, I hope you remembered to bring the Ox Tails." said Sepia..

"Relax Bad Girl...I got em right here.. Me and Chris Thompson was at the butcher's this morning." he said tossing her the package...

"I'm going to put these on tomorrow....Mabel and Corabeth was supposed to come by here with pies." she said.

Dinner was at our house this Christmas...Mabel and 88, Clerow and Corrie, Victoria and her husband, Deacon Larry Weatherford, Anita and Chance Howard, who'd recently gotten married, Gus, B-Flat and Honey Brown ,Sean and Sheila Jackson and Kool Kat and Chelsea were our guests this year....Oh yes and Robert and Bonita Foxworth....We were planning on having a big shin dig ...Nothing I liked better than a house full of people on Christmas Day for dinner.. All of my original friends who moved into this neighborhood with me..

I had been planning to play cards tonight with Chess, Chris Thompson, Donald Smooth, Kool Kat, Ralph Mole and Roscoe Wallace...Our usual pre-Christmas crap game..


My daughter ran into the big man's arms...

"There's my baby girl." he laughed , falling to the floor and hugging and kissing the laughing Kimberly...


I smiled, marveling at this big dangerous man ,whose glare had scared the crap out of some of the toughest men on the street, This big dangerous man who was putty in the hands of my baby girl..

I could only marvel...

Sepia smiled..


"I'll only be gone a little while...Can I trust you two not to get into anything while the baby is here??.. No shootouts... No rough stuff." Sepia joked.

Kool Kat looked at me..


"Is Bad Girl serious?" he laughed.

"I think she is." I laughed.


The doorbell rang again...


"Who is this?  Our bell has been ringing a lot this morning." I said.


I opened the door...There was a man standing there who I did not know..and yet I felt I did..He was well dressed....A little older than me...Light brown skinned..He carried himself in a somewhat haughty manner..

"Hello...I'm an Attorney....Elwood Barnes...and you're Kevin Morris, Private Investigator and CEO of Morris Communications....I'm quite impressed." he said.


II-

"I know who you are...You're Olivia's ex-husband....I sold her her Duplex...where her law firm is now.."said Sepia..

"Yesss..And you sold the house we lived in as a married couple too...I remember you." he said and smiled..

"My wife is a realtor.."I said.

He looked her up and down and smiled..

"Your wife?   Ohhh and this is your daughter? You are a very lucky man Mr. Morris." he said.

"So uhh what can I do for you?" I asked.

"Is there somewhere we can talk in private? What I require , requires the utmost of discretion." he said.

"It's all good Kev..I'm bouncing....Call me if you need me." said Kool Kat.

"I'm taking sugar plum with me...." said Sepia, who gathered up little Kimberly's things...dressed her in her snow suit ,put her coat on and kissed me as she left...


"I'll be back in a few baby" she said...

Elwood looked around...

"You have a beautiful home....and a gorgeous little wife and daughter....You are a most fortunate man ,Mr. Morris." he again said.

I poured myself a glass of wine...I offered and he also took a glass of wine...

"I asked around and I found that you're the best P.I. money can buy...I heard you did some work for my ex-wife before she married her current investigator and you have done some work for her cousin,Kayla...All that to say you come highly recommended..Mister Morris." said Elwood.

"That being said...What is it that you need me for?" I asked.

"I am the chief counsel for the Cyclops Insurance Company...You may have heard of it." he said.

''Quite familiar...I know Bonnie Shay, an Investigator , who works there and her husband...Ronald Shay,

an Attorney who works there too. We are good friends.." I said.

"Yes...She is very good...I'm her boss...Her husband's boss too...But this is so sensitive a matter...That I can't have them involved because they work for the company. Besides ,they went to the islands for the Christmas Holiday...They aren't even in town and that is good.. Maybe you can have this little problem cleaned up before they return." he said.

"Oh My...this sounds serious..." I said.

"It's Crucial..." he said and pulled out a photo of young man...


"I need you to find this man...He worked for us for awhile...He's an Attorney on staff...He fancied himself as a Loan and Gift Officer , but he wasn't much of either..." he said.


"His name is Stephen Harkey....and why I need to find him and find him quick is because he leveraged a 12 million dollar loan from a bank against Cyclops Insurance stock and made a huge investment in these properties.." he said and showed me a photo of some very nice homes...

"Hmmmmm.." I said.

"The investment went bust..." said Elwood. "This is what the properties actually looked like..We got hosed." said Elwood.

"Sounds like Fraud...Sounds like you got took!" I said.

"He forged my name....on these papers...It's very important that he's found and quick and this is kept quiet..." said Elwood..

"Okay...but why not just go to the police?" I asked.

"There is a lot more to it....He came to me...with this idea about a month ago...I told him to get lost...That we were not in the real estate business...He offered me a commission when this thing started making money...I told him again, no....Next thing I know...He went on and did it...Involving the police in this would bring out too much...Very sensitive information that goes a little beyond the scope of this investigation.."Said Elwood..

"How did you find out?" I asked.. This all sounded very cloak and dagger to me...Too Cloak and dagger.

He hesitated...


"His uh wife told me.." he said.

"My next question is why did she tell you?" I asked.

He got very fidgety....I decided not to press him...

"Never mind...I don't need to know that...Give me some background on this guy....Someplace to start." I said.


He suddenly looked very relieved..

"He's from Canada...That's where he was born....This is his last known address, but he cleared out of there a few weeks ago...This was his smartphone number and provided...but it's been disconnected.. He'd just dropped out of sight...Here ,I have some credit card information.....You might want to check the activity..." said Elwood.

"You know ,he and his wife could be out of town...They could be in Europe by now..They've had a week's head start.." I said.

"I have reason to believe he's still in Philly."said Elwood.

"What about the wife?" I asked.

"She's still here...I know that for a fact." he said.

''Okay...I'll get on it..."I said.

"Thank You..." he said and passed me an envelope filled with fifties and twenties...


"As I said.. I just need to know where he is laying his head...And I need the utmost of discretion." said Elwood.

"You have my word." I said and shook his hand...


He stood up..

"I expect to hear from you shortly..." said Elwood.

"Okay." I said.


With Christmas just a week away and our road trip to the prison a few days from now..I sure hoped I could wrap this up quick..It didn't seem too heavy.. More like the type of work I usually did for Attorneys.


III-

Sepia and Kimberly returned a few hours later....


"I suppose you have a new case huh?" asked Sepia.

"Yeah, I do...Something simple...He wants me to locate someone..." I said.

"I don't know what it is...but I don't like him...Olivia told me he cheated on her their entire marriage, even when she was pregnant...He was the cause of her having two miscarriages....I remember how snooty he was ...Never was my cup of tea." said Sepia.

I passed her an envelope...She counted the crisp hundreds and fifties. She looked at me and smiled sheepishly...I pulled out a fifty and passed it to her..She stuffed it in her bra.She put the rest of the money in the wall safe...

"On the other hand!!......" she laughed..

 "What's not to like right?" I laughed...

''Exactly!" she said.

She kissed me softly....

"Thanks for the fifty baby!...." she said softly....

Nothing Like A Case Before Christmas!

(TO BE CONTINUED , at 3;00 pm, TODAY!!!!!!!)