3 Dead Men In A Drainage Ditch

I called Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson right after Kool Kat and I left Josie's the night before...I told them I wanted the book on Mikey Traine Jr.

When I arrived at the sub-basement that housed Morris Investigations...My guys didn't disappoint...

My administrative staff was working away on PC's at their desk....Lockpick Johnson was sipping coffee, Peeping Tom and my five investigators gave me a full report..

"Mike Traine Junior...one of three children...The other two are girls born to Gangster Mike Traine...from three different women...He's the oldest...Senior as you well know is serving two life sentences ,no parole..

Junior attended Philadelphia Public schools...Got a B.A. in Business Administration from Howard University and an MBA from Temple University....

No Criminal Record whatsoever....

Until recently he was on the West Coast....Tried to get in the movie producing business....Had minimal success....Recently he acquired a huge Hardware store chain.. from a man...John Haney , who owned six around the area... He then acquired A House Painting Business from another local guy, Seth Culligan and just recently he acquired a construction business from a guy named Brannon...."said Peeping Tom.

"Rumor has it that he's got a package (Heroin) that he's been selling to the local drug crews and he launders the money through these businesses...It's all been done very quietly...."said Lockpick Johnson...

Sean Jackson , who had come with me had some chilling news..

"But Kev, here is the rub....Neither Haney, Culligan or Brannon has been seen or heard from since the sales...It's as if they dropped off the face of the Earth..." he said..

"Hmmm, now that sounds odd....He's got a meeting with my wife and Bonita today....Do me a favor...Call Robert Foxworth....I think I'll be at that meeting.." I said.

II-

 What I couldn't know...was as I headed for Sepia and Bonita's office....at the construction site where another housing development was being constructed...a gruesome discovery was being made...

 "Hey guys...glad you could make it.."said Coroner and Forensic Investigator, Dr. Hazel Baylor...

Several uniformed policemen had the entire area cordoned off from the public...CSI personell and police photographers were snapping photos...and work men were digging...

"What have you got Hazel?" asked Lt. Sissy Van Buren of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Philadelphia Police Department..

''We've found at least two bodies on this construction site.. An alert worker saw the unusual mounds in the ground and called my office....I called Detective Sam Smith...."said Hazel...

''Siss...I've been investigating the disapearence of two guys for a month now...John Haney, owner of a chain of Hardware stores and Seth Culligan, he owed a house painting business..Their families contacted missing persons...And I contacted you, because I feel they may be related." he said.

"Related How?" asked Sissy...

"Both men had lucrative little businesses....and both men vanished right after they sold their business to a playa named Mike Traine Jr." said Detective Smith...

''Mike Traine Jr...Why does that name ring a bell?" asked Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

"He's the son of Gangster, Mike Traine...Remember him? a few years ago he tried to take over a lot of the independent businesses around here...Protection?? And Kevin stuffed him in a washing machine before we sent him up for life on a murder rap.."laughed Detective Tyriq Pile...

 "I remember now.....So Junior is trying to follow his old man huh?" said Detective Jimmy Barlow..

 Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace looked at the first body.....She winced and used a hankerchief to cover her nose...

"Aye Mios Dios...Decomp has set in so bad on this one....He is not identifiable.." she said...

Detective Tony Hopkins went through his pockets...He does have a wallet....ad it's intact, credit cards,debit cards....no money....Here's a drivers license...His name is Seth Culligan..."said Detective Tony "Hop" Hopkins...

His partner and the wife of Detective Tyriq Pile went through the pockets of the second body...

"Ohhh myyyy, this one has a wallet too!" she said... "John Haney." she said...

Detective Angela Belton-Barlow... looked at the bodies further...

"Both have two gunshot wounds to the head......definitely murdered.." she said.

Hazel looked at Detective Sam Smith...

"Looks like your case is closed Sam....These are the two guys you were looking for.."said Hazel..

"Damn.....I was hoping they were in a hotel with a hooker.." he said slyly.....trying to make humor out of a bad situation...

"DR. BAYLOR....WE'VE FOUND ANOTHER BODY!!!" said another worker..

 ''What? A Third Body?"said Carlotta...

 "WOW!"said Tyriq...

 "One more than we were expecting..."said Jimmy...

 "I was expecting two bodies...Three is major." said Sirena..

 "Looks like we got a major case here.." said Hop..

"It certainly does....Ohhhhhhhhhhhh hell!" said Sissy....

Lt. Tragg and a gaggle of reporters entered the crime scene..

"What have you got here? and Sissy ,what are you doing in my jurisdiction again?" said Lt. Tragg...

"I let you get away with that before Lt. Tragg, pushing me and my guys off of a case that I wound up taking over anyway...You're not going to do that to me this time....This is a triple and it may involve a major crime figure we are investigating, who I am not at liberty to divulge now...So that makes this my case..My jurisdiction..."

"Is that right?  Well the Deputy of Operations will have something to say about this.."said Lt. Tragg..

"I'm afraid not Lieutenant...This was my Missing Person's Investigation....I already called the Deputy of Operations..and specifically asked for Sissy and her team to assist me with this investigation...I'm the point man here and it's my call...They stay." said Sgt. Sam Smith...

"Might I remind you Sergeant Smith and Lieutenant Van Buren, that I have Seniority here over you both and it's my call.?" said Lt. Tragg...

"With All Due respect SIR!!!Call The Deputy of Operations...He'll fill you in....Until then...My Case...So take those reporters and get out of here..." said Sgt. Sam Smith..."SIR!" he added...

Duke was looking at the third body....He smiled , hearing Sam Smith give Lt. Tragg the business..

"This one is recent...Rigor is just setting in....How long you figure he's been here hon?" Duke asked his wife, Hazel...

 '"48- 72 hours..." said Hazel...

Tyriq examined the body....

"Two gunshot wounds to the back of the head ,like the other two...." he said..

Jimmy rifled his pockets....

"I found a wallet...His drivers license says he's Jackson Branner... He owns a construction company...He rehabs houses and apartments, lofts and condos....I know him...Local guy."said Jimmy...

"You say the other two sold their businesses to Mike Traine Jr. and then vanished shortly thereafter.?" asked Carlotta..

"Yeah, but I wasn't even looking for this guy.....I wonder if he too has a Mike Traine connection?" asked Detective Sam Smith...

"That's what I'd like to know..."said Deputy FBI Special Agent Sharon Hopkins, who arrived on the scene..

''What brings you here Sharon?" asked Sissy...

"It's not often I get a tip about a new playa...So when I get one...I take it seriously....I got a call from a blocked number saying that three local businessmen were murdered and I might find their bodies here..I see you got the same tip.."said Sharon..

"No, a worker found them...Two of them....Hazel and Sam called us.....They were part of his Missing Person's Investigation, which is now a triple murder..."said Sissy...

"Well my mysterious caller tells me that a Mike Traine Jr., who I've never heard of is getting a package from Upstate New York and distributing it here in the Tri-State Area.. and that he took over three businesses recently and killed the three owners and is looking to take over more."said Sharon..

"We don't know him at all...but we sent his father up for life on a murder rap a few years back..."said Duke..

"I think we ought to get to know him and real soon." said Sissy...

The body of Seth Culligan was carried out...

followed by the body of John Haney and

and finally the body of Jackson Branner....

Lt. Tragg was on the phone with the Deputy Of Operations...

''As the Senior Officer on the scene sir...I have the right to take control of this investigation and run it.."said Lt. Tragg.

"It's Sam Smith's case...He requested Lt. Sissy Van Buren and her team to assist with this case..."said The Deputy Of Operations...

"Well he should have requested me...I'm the Lieutenant of Homicide now!" said Lt. Tragg..

"Well he didn't...Now Art...I want you to leave them alone...This is a triple murder and I want it closed and closed right..It's Sam's case...He's running point...Lt. Sissy Van Buren and her team and the FBI are assisting..." said The Deputy of Operations..

"He needs all of that help?  I'd run this case by myself.."said Lt. Tragg..

"Yes and lose your pants.....Sorry,I couldn't resist that....The FBI did give you back your pants didn't they?/ and your gun???  You know I went to the President's council on Law Enforcement in D.C.Last Week  and everybody was asking me...Didn't one of your Lieutenants lose his pants and his gun to a suspect?? They laughed about that all weekend...Arthur...Leave them alone...Let them handle this case...That's an order! Goodbye!"

Lt. Tragg put his phone in his coat pocket...He stomped his foot in anger and headed to his car without saying anything...He pulled off at top speed...

Detective Sam Smith smirked...

"Guess somebody pissed in his cornflakes.."

Sissy and Duke cracked up laughing...


III-

Meanwhile, my wife Sepia was enjoying a tumbler of coffee in the new offices of THE UNITY GROUP....The Real Estate group tht represented the Merging of Her and Bonita and Clerow and Owen Todd...They sold homes and rented apartments, lofts and condos...They also now rented storage space...They had a staff of about 49 people and a new office in yet another building that Chris and Chess owned...

Sepia was surprised to see Mike Traine Junior walk in..She was expecting Bonita or Clerow or Owen Todd..

"You're early." she said..

He smiled that toothy grin of his..

"I'm an on time kind of guy Ms. Sepia.." he said.

"That's Mrs. Morris....I told you I'm married..." she said.

He sat down, completely ignoring what she had said..

"Look....I wanna be your partner...I checked you guys out...You got a nice operation going here..I have a proposal." he said..

"What about our business with Jackson Branner?" she asked.

''If we become partners....that won't even be of your concern.." he said..

"I have partners...Three to be exact..."said Sepia..

"What's her name, uh Bonita? I like her...but those other two guys...get rid of them...." he said tersely...

"You are something...One of them is my cousin's husband...." said Sepia..

"I don't care, get rid of them..." he said.

"No!  And We aren't interested in being your partner..." said Sepia..

"You heard her." said Bonita , who walked in with Clerow and Owen Todd...

''Wellll look who it is...Mike Traine Jr.. You know, you're becoming a pest..." I said.

He looked at me with red hot anger..

" What are you doing here?" he asked..

"Can't I come see MY WIFE when I want to?" I said..

He stared at Clerow, who had his hand inside his coat pocket...His .38 smokeless ready..He then looked at Owen Todd, who also had his hands in his pockets.....

Just then Robert Foxworth and Bonnie Shay walked in..

 "I'm Attorney Robert Foxworth......Bonita's husband....You had a contract that you wanted them to sign...Let me see that.." he said.

"I'm Bonnie Shay....I'm also an Attorney and Insurance Investigator from Cyclops Insurance...We had Branner's Housing Development insured...I'd like to see that contract also.." she said.

He looked at me with red hot anger..

"You brought all of these people?" he said.

"Sure Did... I wanted to make sure you didn't try to take advantage of my wife and her partners here..Being they are on the board of directors of my company..."I said...

"This contract offers them a lot less than what Jackson Branner was going to offer."said Robert Foxworth...My advice is not to take this contract...pull out...I'll call Jackson Branner myself." he said..

"I agree "said Bonnie Shay..

"And as far as being your partner...."said Sepia..She took the papers and ripped them up..."There is your answer....These are my partners..."she said.

He stood up and stomped his foot angrily....

''Don't go away mad Mikey...Just go away.." I said.

But before he could go anywhere...  Lt. Sissy Van Buren and her detectives walked in....Along with another friend of mine, Detective Sam Smith of Missing Persons..

"You must be Mike Traine Jr... I've heard so much about you......I knew your father."said Sissy...

"I didn't know him...but I certainly want to know you." said Detective Sam Smith... This made Deputy FBI SAC ,Sharon Hopkins giggle..

She was cute when she giggled...Hop was a lucky man!

"We need you to come with us and answer some questions..."said Carlotta.

"Questions about what?" he asked.

"Your business partners...Jackson Branner for one...You bought his construction company from under him." said Tyriq..

''Sam Haney for another , You bought his Hardware Store chain business."said Jimmy...

''And Seth Culligan, you bought his house painting business.." said Duke.

''And here's where it gets cute....All three were found in a drainage ditch this morning with two gunshots a piece to the head.."said Sirena..

"You've got a lot of explaining to do..."said Hop..

Angie giggled

"I don't have to explain nothin...I did business with them...All sales were legitimate, you can check...and unless I'm being charged or you have a warrant...I aint going with you guys nowhere..to answer nothin....Next time you want to talk with me, bring a warrant and I'll bring my Attorney...Good day guys.." he said and angrily stormed out of my wife's office..

 Angie looked around the office and then said to Sepia..

"Nice Office you have here Sepia.."she said...  She had been the love of my life long ago, before she was a cop, before I had met Sepia... Sepia knew that and yet never felt intimidated by that...

"Thank you Angie...We just set up in here a few weeks ago..." she said.. Despite my history with Angie and how nervous I got when the two were in each other's company...She told me she liked Angie..

I looked at Sissy...

"He was trying to strong arm his way into my wife and friend's real estate company...and Just a day ago, he was trying to strong own the former owner of a property I just bought...Now we know what became of Mr. Branner...He was my wife's original partner n that development deal.."I said.

"This morning....a construction worker on that development found the bodies of Branner and two others he did business with.." said Sissy...

 I passed her a dosier...

"I was already starting to look into him....Here is the book on him and the three guys who vanished...I didn't know they were dead until now...I suspect Mr. Traine is going to be a problem..."I said.

"Yes...He is...but it's nice to know we have you on our side Kevin."said Carlotta...

"You do make life easier for us Kevin..."laughed Duke..

"I'll say.."said Tyriq...

 "I'll share whatever information I have on him with you Siss.."I said..

"Thanks Friend...Come on guys...Let's go...."said Sissy....

IV-

Sepia and I walked toward a restaurant in the shopping center...

'Honey Bunny, thank you for coming down and bringing Robert and Bonnie Shay...You think he'll leave us alone?" she asked.

"My guess is no...He took over a construction company, a house painting business and a hardware store chain....He needs a Real Estate Company....He wants to corner the market in this area...He also wanted that recording studio...It's prime real estate in an area he desperately wants...We are the only ones who pushed back...." I said.

Or Maybe we weren't ! I began to think....He bullied and muscled those three gentlemen into signing their lucrative business ventures over to him.... If it was all legitimate...Then Why did he kill them??
Something was fishy...Something needed more looking into...

V-

At an abandoned Ice house...An Angry Mike Traine Jr. screamed at his Lieutenants and another man who was tied to a chair..

The man tied to the chair was a bloody pulp...He had been beaten senseless by the two goons...His face was swollen to the point it wasn't recognizable...All of his fingers had been broken....

"I tell ya Mikey...I swear...After I whacked those dudes..I buried those bodies good...It was the perfect place...They were gonna pour cement that day...They would have built the new houses over top of them...They would have never been discovered..." he cried in pain and horror..

"And yet they were discovered...Cops and Feds all over my ass....You stupid fool...Why didn't you bury them in the woods or out of town?" screamed Mike Traine Jr.

"Man ask yourself...How did those cops find those bodies? How did they even know there were bodies? Somebody in your shop is runnin their mouth?" said the man...

Mike Traine Jr. produced a gun with a silencer....He put it in a plastic bag.....

"This is the gun you killed all three of those guys with aint it?" he snarled.

"Mikey please...How long we been knowin each other? I worked with your father...For God sakes please..!!!!" he begged in horror..

Mikey puled out another gun with a silencer...

"I aint sentimental.." he snarled and fired twice...Hitting the man in the temple and killing him.....

He looked at his two lieutenants....

"Take him somewhere and dump him...Where the cops can find him....make sure that gun is on him.Wash and bleach this place down real good." he said to one of the men...

"I'm on it boss!" he said.

He and his other lieutenant walked out...

"He was right about one thing...Somebody is running their mouth...and when I find out who...There is going to be hell to pay.! And as for Mr. Kevin Morris and his wife and all of their friends...I got something for them...They'll see!" he said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)