Janelle Stevens sat in the "Fishbowl", the nickname detectives gave to the interrogation room...
"How long you gonna keep me in here ? Huh Five Oh? I already told you...I wasn't there..I don't know nothin..." she said... "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she said in frustration..
She dozed off....
We convinced Lt. Tragg to pick her up based on the fingerprints and DNA he found in her apartment...It was identical to Fingerprints and DNA found in Robin Tolliver's home...It would be..It was the same woman...
We also had footage of Robin/Janelle entering and leaving the apartment before and after the murder...
She left with an unidentified man holding her hand and ushering her into a car...The Street cam didn't get a good look at his face or the car's license plate...
This was evidence that even Lt. Tragg couldn't ignore...Somewhere inside this man was a good policeman....I had convinced myself of this..
Lt. Tragg was outside staring at her...He turned to me...
"You used to be a detective once...What does it mean when a perp falls asleep in the interrogation room?" he asked me..
"That they're guilty.."I said..
Lt. Tragg smiled...and nodded....
"Oh that's just an old wives tale...That just means the person got bored or tired...There is no scientific basis to that!"said Olivia..
Lt. Tragg smiled...
''Spoken like a true mouth piece (Lawyer) "he laughed...
"Here comes Nelson." said Beverly....
Nelson came in with an officer...
"Ms. Stevens...I just paid your bail...Mr. Stomp didn't think it would be appropriate for him to appear here at police headquarters..." said Nelson... The Transformation was incredible...
"Nelson?? It's me...Robin Tolliver!!! What am I doing here?? How did I get here??...Why did you call me Ms. Stevens??" came the voice of Robin Tolliver...
She looked at her clothes....
She covered herself as best she could...
"Oh My God.!!!! What do I have on? I'm not wearing a bra!!! Where did these clothes come from...Where are my glasses?"she asked.
"Mrs..Mrs. Tolliver??" asked Nelson...Even he was taken aback!!!
"Yes....Please get me out of here Nelson...Where is Ms. Olivia..?? Ms. Beverly??" she asked, crying profusely...
"Is this for real?? Is she putting on an act??" asked Lt. Tragg...
"I'm afraid it's not an act....She has Dis associative Personality Disorder...."said Olivia.
"What?" asked Lt. Tragg...
"Split Personality.....She's Robin Tolliver now....but Janelle Stevens is just as real..."said Beverly...
I passed him papers...Psych exams done on her several years ago....
"How did you get these?" asked Lt. Tragg...
"Not important...but read em.....That explains it all.." I said...
''So she committed the murder and took a powder...or rather her other personality committed the murder right?? Boyyyy Liv ,you are really going out on a limb here.."said Lt. Tragg, laughing.
"I don't think she killed her husband in any state she was in...but I think she knows who did and during the trial I'm going to ask for indulgence and prove that..."said Olivia...
"Are you serious? You are aren't you Liv? You're gonna need a lot of indulgence!" he said,shaking his head...
"Very Serious..."said Beverly....
"If they're right and the killer is who we suspect...You'll have an even bigger fish Lieutenant." I said.
''At any rate...You owe me big time Liv for even going along with this scam....That's why I let your boyfriend bail her out Beverly.."said Lt. Tragg..
"Duly Noted Lieutenant!" said Beverly....
Nelson put her in his car and drove her to her home and let her out...
It was a nice row house..Not flashy, Just quaint...Much like Robin Tolliver....
"Oh Thank you so much Mr. East....I have to get in and put some clothes on...Oh My God...How did I go out in the street with no bra on and in this sluttish dress?" she said as she went inside her house...
II-
We were all sitting around the conference room table when Nelson arrived ...
"WOWWWWWW! That was sure creepy....It was like she was an entirely different person.." he said..
''She is...Her body has two very distinct personalities...Both are just as real as the other..."said Beverly...
"But it's something, watching the transformation...wasn't it?" sad Olivia..
"Thanks for going along with it....I was hoping she'd stay here long enough to change back into Robin....Now let's hope she stays that way until the hearing tomorrow."I said.
"What about her boyfriend? Johnny Stomp?? He's going to be looking for her..and me??" said Nelson..
"He doesn't know where she lives as Robin Tolliver....and you'll be here with me..."said Beverly,smiling...
"Safest place in the world..."I laughed..
Nelson eyed Beverly ,
who was smiling sweetly at him......
He smiled... "I suppose so." he said.
I whispered in Olivia's ear.....
"You know...I uh could use some uh Indulgence from you..."
"I always Indulge you...Don't I?" said Olivia , who then proceeded to give me the slowest, softest kiss ever!
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm, yes lawd....Yes indeed..." I moaned....
"Let's close up shop and go upstairs and uh indulge each other.." she said salaciously..."
"Ummmm, No argument from me...Mrs. Alexander..." I said.. III-
The Hearing began for Louis Young, charged with 2nd Degree Murder...
There was no jury yet...Just a Judge , a Republican and conservative judge named Ronald Flynn for a Judge...
A no nonsense Judge ,...He just wanted the basic facts of the case..This was the second time in as many weeks he was sitting in on a case that featured Olivia and Beverly...I didn't get the feeling he was a fan of theirs, but I did feel as though he respected both of them.
The defendant, Louis Young ,The ADA,Vince Costanza and Louis's two lawyers, Olivia and Beverly...
The Judge,Ronald Flynn who had heard Olivia and Beverly argue a case in his courtroom before was no more in awe of the two of them this time than he was before..Last time it was a young girl accusing a television personality of rape...This was much more serious...a Murder trial.
He tended to favor the ADA , Vince Costanza, who he knew personally more this time...
They both listened in disbelief as Olivia and Beverly spun their story of Claude Tolliver , who did not know that his wife had dis associative personality disorder and whose wife at first thought he was cheating on her and who grew to believe she was cheating on him...
The ADA in fact laughed as they spun their story....
They had a noted Psychologist explain what Dis-Associative Personality disorder was... They explained that his sister, Robin Tolliver had another personality...That of Janelle Stevens....Both personalities just as real as the other and had rented the apartment without the husband knowing..
They showed cancelled checks and credit card receipts.... They argued that a jealous and suspicious husband went to the apartment to find out who was living there and ran into the jealous boyfriend of her alter ego,Janelle Stevens ,who gunned him down ,thinking he was having an affair with his girl..
Robin Tolliver testified that even though that looked like her handwriting...She never signed those checks and certainly wouldn't pay for Ms. Stevens to live in an apartment...She remarked that she neither liked nor approved of her..
"That is preposterous...Mrs. Alexander, Ms. West...I've heard about you two and your courtroom theatrics..but this has to take the cake....Mr. Young is simply an over protective Brother who killed his wife's cheating husband..." he said..
Just then Robin Tolliver blurted out..or rather Janelle Stevens...
"I tried to tell em your honor... Her damn husband had us mixed up ,grabbing me by the arms, tellin me to come with him...I said "nigga get yo hands offa me...I was in my slip...My boyfriend...he has a bad temper...He came in and before I could explain.."she said...Then she got quiet....
"WHAT?" said the Judge Flynn..."Is this for real?" he asked no one in particular..
We watched as it seemed the temperature around her was changing...She was wearing Robin's clothes, but her voice sounded different, her facial expressions looked different and everything.
Just then, Johnny Stomp, who had heard the whole thing and witnessed the eerie transformation ,stood up...
"Your Honor....I shot Claude Tolliver.....It was a mistake...I thought he was assaulting my girlfriend...She told me he was some girl named Robin's husband and that he had mistaken her for him...I-I-I had no idea that...That Janelle and..and Robin is the...same woman...Oh lordd..."he said and broke down crying...
Robin sat quietly....Then she said...
"This is Robin's fault...If she could control her damn man this woulda never happened...I hate that bitch....She gone now...She gone...Janelle is in full effect.." she said and laughed maniacally...
Louis Young broke down into tears.....
Judge Flynn shook his head...He looked exasperated...
"In light of this revelation...The court is dropping all charges against Mr. Young..." he said..
ADA Vince Costanza shook his head...
"Your Honor...The people have no objections..." He looked at Olivia and Beverly and said..."I feel like I lost against you two, even though technically I didn't...We never went to trial..."he said
The Marshalls handcuffed Johnny Stomp and took him into custody...
Olivia smiled, but didn't say anything to ADA Vince Costanza...
"Wow! This was something..."was all I could muster up to say..
"Wasn't it though? I'm gonna have nightmares for a few nights thinking about her transformations.."said Beverly...
Olivia and I and Beverly high fived each other...We had won another one... In a sense...but in winning, we had lost Robin Tolliver..
Her personality was gone...She was totally Janelle Stevens now! And I don't think Robin was coming back anytime soon..
"Hope you bitches is happy...Best man I ever had...He was hell in the bed too and now he's gone for life... FOR LIFE!!!Thanks to you and that damn Robin...."said Janelle as she walked out of court....
Louis sighed...
"Thank yall for getting me off...Tell Greta I said Thank you and that I'll pay her back."he said.
"I'm sure she's happy that you're free and acquitted of any wrong doing.." I said, shaking his hand..
''What about your sister?" asked Beverly...
"I'm going to get her the help she has been needing...She's gonna be alright...I can't thank you two enough..."he said as he headed for the door...
I looked at my girls..
"Wow...we keep winning em....Huh?" I said.
"Since you been with us...We have a near perfect record...Not one loss...Donnie Ray..."said Olivia..
"And we've had some fun cases....You're our MVP..." said Beverly....
I smiled... This was one of our more interesting cases....Though I wouldn't call it fun!
Judge Flynn looked at us, he smirked and shook his head and walked away....ADA Costanza shook his head, grabbed his briefcase and walked out...
Oh Well! I thought!
EPILOUGE:
Johnny Stomp was convicted of Manslaughter and sentenced to 5-15 years in State Prison...That was far less than what he deserved...Considering his other crimes..Selling Heroin..and such....
Louis got his sister some real psychological help and Robin came back....She began to understand that Janelle was a part of her and she made her peace with Janelle as such.. Janelle still comes back at times..but as crazy as it sounds...The two are friends now and deal with each other...As crazy as that sounds..
Olivia, Beverly, Nelson ,Josie and I all celebrated at the Brewery, later on that night.....
There were Liquors for the ladies....
"Wow...another case down! I'm Happy...."said Olivia..
"Me too! I'll sleep good tonight..."said Beverly....
"I'm happy for Louis and I hope he gets his sister the help she's been needing.." said Josie...
Micro Brews for Nelson and I...
"That was some case...I've heard of split personality, but I always thought it was stuff for television" said Nelson...
"Same here...This will definitely go down as one of my most fascinating cases...Detective or Private Investigator.."I said..
