A Friday Night.......Or in this case....Early Saturday Morning...6:00 AM to be exact.....A strange time to be getting a call...Even stranger for us....
Myself, Detective Nate Nellis-Homicide and my wife and partner-
Detective Monica Talbert-Nellis -Homicide..
Since we had an extended "vacation"in Luna City on the Moon, We agreed to work the night shift of Homicide...
It gave us a lot of time to sleep during the day and unlike this morning..surprisingly enough...It's been pretty quiet during the Night shift...Mo -Mo and I have spent most nights just talking or surfing the internet and filing , refiling and organizing other detectives closed files...
It kind of felt good to actually get a call..The two of us hadn't worked a case in close to two weeks....
Sometimes...Death did take a holiday....
but not tonight...
Not at this cheap Motel....
"Looks like whoever this guy was with....Showed him a good time.." I said... Three uniformed officers laughed...
All four legs were broken off the bed and the headboard was split in half.......
The Dead man, lie on the floor near the bathroom, a .22 slug in his back and another .22 slug in his head.. in a pool of blood....
He was clad only in a dress shirt....no socks, no boxer shorts....They were on the floor in a corner near the door...
My wife, Monica felt the body....
"He hasn't been dead that long....I'm not my sister, but this body is still warm..." she said...
She found a wallet in his trousers....
"It's empty.......but his drivers license is here and his work ID too...His name is Bert Cracker, He's a night auditor AT THIS MOTEL!" she said.
"Wow...Really?" I said.
"You're enjoying this a little too much partner....A man is dead here don't forget." said Monica laughing...
A bra was lying on the floor....
I picked it up...
"Hmmmm....looks like his guest left something....She left in a hurry..." I said.
Monica addressed two of the uniformed officers...
"Nobody heard anything Detective....No gunshots anyway...." said one..
Another came into the room with a man.......
"This guy says he heard them...He was next door..." said the officer...
"I'm Detective Monica Nellis...This is my partner..Detective Nate Nellis..." she said.
"I heard em..They came in around 7:30.....I had had a hard day you know...I was trying to get some sleep....Whoever was in that room next door to me was goin at it like two cats in heat....All night long.. You should have heard it....It was unbelievable...Non-stop....The bed was squeaking...their headboard was slamming so hard against my wall the plaster was coming off...My lights were blinking on and off...and both of them just cooing and moaning...I tell you they sounded like two cats in heat...TWO CATS IN HEAT!! I TELL YOU!!! I called in two people from adjoining rooms to listen to it...They just laughed.. Non stop...just incredible.."
"So you said they came in the room at around 7:30 pm right?" I asked.
"I came in about 7:30 pm...They came in the room a little afterwords... I'll never stay at this hotel again in my life..The walls are too damn thin... They finally simmered down around a quarter to four and I was able to get some sleep...Just a little...All night long they were carrying on...Like two cats in heat I tell you...From the time they got in the bed...which was just minutes after they got in the room until around three o'clock they were going at it....Non-stop....The bed was squeaking...their headboard was slamming so
hard against my wall the plaster was coming off...My lights were
blinking on and off...and both of them just cooing and moaning...I tell
you they sounded like two cats in heat...TWO CATS IN HEAT!! I TELL YOU!!! " he grumbled...
"Yeah, Okay...I get it....I get it...Did they sound like they were uh maybe newlyweds??" I asked..
Both Monica and the man looked at me like I was crazy...
The man said..
"Look at this joint....This isn't a place you take your wife....This is a place you take a pro or your side girl....You take somebody here you don't want to be seen with....by anybody you know.." He said.
"And you were here alone?" asked Monica.
"It's cheap....I just wanted to get some sleep...I had been out drinking all night...At the bar down the street." he said.
"What's your name sir?" I asked..
"Jenkins...Henry Jenkins...My friends call me Hank." he said.
"Thank you....give your phone number and email address to one of the officers over there...If we have anymore questions we'll call you.." I said.
"Okay...Shame the guy got rolled, but...they were making too much noise.." he said as he walked away..
"Know what I think partner?" said Monica.
"What?" I asked.
"He had a prostitute in here with him and after they got finished...She shot him and stole all of the money out of his wallet.." said Monica..
"Pretty much...and I'm bettin she works the local bars in this area.....She may even be on the street cam...and traffic cams...."I said.
"Pretty routine case partner...Not the kind of case we usually like..." said Monica...
"Yeah, we should close this one fast." I said.
Neither of us knew it then...but this was not hardly going to be a routine case.....Not at all...It was the beginning of what would be one of our more memorable cases..
II-
We removed the body....
"I feel so lonely with my sister not being here....We are going to have to go to the morgue in the morning..To get an official cause of death...." said Monica..
"The CSI people said they have found hundreds of fingerprints....and I'm sure they'll get DNA off of this bra..." I said.
"That bed alone is saturated with semen and bodily fluids..."said Monica.
A uniformed officer walked in with another man...The Night manager...
"Detectives....I'm the night manager...I uh knew Bert Cracker..." he said.
"You did?" asked Monica..
"Yeah, he's the uh Night Auditor...He comes once a month and does the books...And uh he uh ..." he said.
''Spends the night with a little benefit...One of the working girls from the bar down the street right?" said Monica , who had scanned his mind...
The man was shocked...He hadn't planned to say that....
"Yeah." he said smiling sheepishly...
"The woman he was with last night...What was her name?" I asked..
The man looked squeamish.....
"What was her name?" I asked..
"Can I uh tell you in your ear?"
"What was her name?" I asked..
"Pussy!" he said.
Monica laughed....
The man looked like he could go through the floor...
"Am I going to jail?" he asked..
"For what? For Soliticiting a prostitute? You should...but we are murder police..Not Vice..We don't care about that....What is the girl's real name?" asked Monica.
"I only know her as Polly....I don't know her real name.....I swear Detective....I swear..This has never happened before..Never.... Pussy is a new girl...She just started working the strip...And her customers never complained before..If she did this...Something went wrong...." he said.
"Doesn't look like it did to me.." I said ,holding the bra..
and then peering at the bed..
"Looks like to me...They had a good time..." I said.
Monica smiled..
"Did Mr. Cracker carry a lot of cash?" asked Monica.
"Yeah ,he did...I always told Bert he shouldn't mess with those girls and carry all that cash...He wisely let me lock his credit cards in the safe...but he had close to $750.00 on him alone...I had a few drinks with him that night...at the bar down the street.." said the man...
"That's where you met uh Polly...?" asked Monica.
"Yeah...he bought her a couple of drinks...Then had a lap dance and then gave her $200.00 for a night in this room....Like he always did...There never was a problem with the other girls..I don't know why or how this happened..Can I go now?" he asked..
"Yeah....just don't leave town..."I said and snickered...
Monica smiled..
"Come on Partner..." she said..
We got in my flying car and took off...
Yes...this was one of the easy ones.... We didn't know it then, but we couldn't have been more wrong..
III-
A few hours later I brought Monica some coffee at the squad room...I had some files with me..
"What you got bae?" she asked..
"I did a check of that hotel's books....Apparently....They were uh close to being out of business a few times and it looks like Mr. Cracker cooked the books...Hid money, moved things around..." I said.
"And as a reward...He was given a young lady for the night.." said Monica..
"Exactly..."I said.
"Disgusting...I just did a check on our victim....He's married and been married for 30 years...Has two daughters and a son....I didn't want to upset his wife....So I didn't tell her the exact details of his death...Just that he was robbed and shot in his hotel room...but when I told her what hotel it was...It was almost like she knew just what had transpired.." said Monica.
"I hacked into the camera inside of the bar....I have a photo of our possible perp.."I said.
"This is "Polly" Real name , Pollyanna Hamilton , 28, born and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey...educated in Atlantic City public schools...Moved to Philadelphia a few months ago...Worked at three local hotels and motels as a maid...worked as an exotic dancer a three strip clubs, fired for stealing... Three arrests in Atlantic City for prostitution....and one here in Philadelphia...No convictions, no jail time.. Check this out...She was wanted by Atlantic City P.D for robbing one of her Johns at Gun point....That's an open warrant..." I said.
"I just got a report back from CSI....They seperated the prints in the room...After they eliminated...Bert Crackers prints...They have one Polly Hamilton's.... and the DNA found from the sweat secretions on that bra...are hers..." said Monica...
"We got an address for her?" I asked.
"Yupper." said Monica..
"Grab two uniforms....Let's pick her up and close this case fast....Then...uh maybe you and I can break the legs off of a bed or two..." I said looking at her salaciously....
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu that sounds nice partner...I think I'd like that..." said Monica..
IV-
We got into our flying car and headed to the address we had for Ms. Polly Hamilton...better known as "
Pussy"
When we got to her apartment....we found something odd....
"Hmmmm this is weird partner....Her bags are packed....and there is a ticket here for Aqua port...She was headed to Lemuria...Today!!! This is a one way ticket." said Monica..
''Maybe she's nearby....Eating breakfast...." I said.
"It's nearly noon and our shift is over...She shot and killed a man last night...This ticket is for the 8:30 ferry....She missed it and here is a one way ticket for a Transport Sub.." said Monica.
''What time is that for?" I asked.
"Ten a.m. She missed that too..."
"Maybe she changed her mind...."I said.
"Wait here ,in case she shows up...There is two uniformed officers watching this building...I'm taking one with me and going to the diner..." said Monica.
"Okay..." I said.
Monica and a uniform were gone for a half an hour...When she returned ,she was even more perplexed...
"Bae, I showed her photo to the people at the diner , down the Block...They said she was in at 6:30...She had Scrambled Eggs with cheese, Hash Browns and Sausage, Orange Juice and coffee..She told them she was in a rush...Had a cab to catch and would see them in a few weeks..She didn't say where she was going..." said Monica.
"Well she never came back here..." I said.
"They said she left at a little after 7:00 am." said Monica.
''So in between 7:00 when she ate breakfast and now...She never returned..She missed her ferry and her transport sub....Her tickets are here....as well as her luggage....Hmmmmmmmmm..."
Monica made some calls...
"I called Uber....and I emailed them a photo of our girl....One of the drivers picked her up from our motel at 4:30 this morning and brought her back here....and that was the last he saw of her...That was around 5:00 am.." said Monica..
"After she rolled and murdered our victim..." I said.
"Okay...She ordered these tickets on line and printed them....I found a laptop and a mini-printer in her luggage.. plus credit cards and a debit card...and $800.00 in cash underneath her clothes in this suitcase..probably the cash she rolled Mr. Cracker for.."said Monica..
"I found something even more interesting....A .22!! and a home-made silencer.....That explains why nobody heard any gun shots at that cheap motel" I said...passing the gun and silencer to a uniformed officer who placed them in a plastic bag and tagged it as evidence...
"Wanna bet that that is our murder weapon?" said Monica..
"Nice...We got this one all wrapped up.."I said smiling..
"It would be nice if we had our killer...Then it would really be all wrapped up." said Monica.
''We got enough partner...Murder weapon, stolen cash , prints and DNA...This one was practically gift wrapped for us...We'll put a BOLO out on her..She'll turn up sooner or later..Maybe she saw a cop around here when she was coming back from breakfast and got spooked...This was one of the easy ones...And we closed it...This case is down babes..." I said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right...Let's write this one up and call it a day...Day after tomorrow , we go back to our regular shift and rotation...."said Monica..
"Yeah.....Let's go home babe..." I said and hugged her...
This was one of the easy ones...
As we headed home...Both Monica and I had an uneasy feeling that this was just too easy....that there was something more to this...
We had closed cases just as simple as this was...Most murderers aren't criminal masterminds....but something about this was just a little off putting...
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