The Luxury Of Retrospect

The Press Gathered around the next morning as Lt. Tragg announced that the serial rapist he had been hunting for close to a month now was found and was dead!!!  A suicide and a hastily written suicide note at that....

"He fits the description that all 10 of the young ladies gave us...White ,Middle age, Blonde, even though he was wearing a stocking over his face...Stocky" said Lt. Tragg..

"That almost fits YOUR description Deputy Commissioner Jackson.." said one reporter...

The room was filled with laughter...

Deputy Commissioner Jackson didn't find the remark funny and he shot the reporter an icy stare...

"The suspect had a pair of panties , belonging to one of the young ladies in his apartment ,plus a stocking...He confessed in his suicide note...Ladies, you can sleep easy tonight..The Goldenstone Rapist is in dead!!I put so much pressure on him...Interviewing him tough for weeks that he couldn't take it..He broke under the pressure.." said Lt. Tragg., who had nicknamed him that because the rapes had all occurred ..around the Goldenstone Apartment complex...

"A Grateful city thanks Lt. Arthur Tragg for his dogged and relentless police work."said Deputy Commissioner Jackson...

"I guess this makes up for his other well publicized screw ups " said another reporter....

"HEYYYYY!" screamed Lt. Tragg..

"Come on guys...that aint fair, This guy just got a dangerous predator off the streets."said Deputy Commissioner Jackson...

II-

While at our new headquarters...Carlotta scoffed..

"Turn that television off, I can not stomach anymore of either of them...Bragging so much...He finally got lucky and actually closed a case.."said Carlotta..

"Yeah , and the guy is dead!" said Jimmy...

Tyriq spit his coffee out laughing....

"Hey Guys...Things aren't always how they seem...Especially with Lieutenant Tragg.." said Hop..

''At any rate...we need to get back to work on our cases....Carlotta and I found out something interesting yesterday..." said  Sirena..

'Sirena and I talked to some kids at the high school that we didn't originally interview...Apparently..Corlette's parents did not like James Pearl all that much...They despised him and were quite vocal about her dating him."said Carlotta..

"In fact , three days before they were supposed to go to the prom...Her parents put a stop to it..Told her she couldn't go...As a result , they both missed their Senior prom...His friends say that he seethed about it for months...Even after graduation..." said Sirena..

"So?" said Jimmy...

''So there is motive...Motive for him to want her parents dead.."said Sirena..

"But he has a stone cold alibi.." said Tyriq..

''Yes...They both do...FOR THE MURDERS THEY KNOW THEY ARE GOING TO BE ACCUSED OF!" said Carlotta.

"I'll be damned...That makes sense...It's the only thing about both of these cases that makes sense...These two psychopaths killed each other's family..." said Hop...

"And now the only thing to do is to prove it..."said Tyriq..

"That means you start all over from scratch ,only you switch suspects..." said Sharon...

III-

I was at The Medical Examiner's Office with Dr. Hazel Baylor, Sissy, Duke and Angie..

"So what is this now Hazel?" I asked..

"I wished Lieutenant Tragg hadn't run off so half cocked and gone on television before he talked with me...I tried to tell him last night that something wasn't right about this..." said Hazel as we looked at the body of Joe Carson, a building mechanic , who worked in the Goldenstone Apartment complex...He was an alcoholic and a registered sex offender...He had a record for statutory rape of a 17 year old girl that dated back 20 years...He hadn't been in any trouble in that long...and was thought to be a good worker...He was divorced...Had no next of kin...

"Hazel , you tell us what is bothering you."said Sissy..

as we stared at his lifeless body...

"He's left handed...the gunshot is on the right side...There are no prints on the gun..None at all..

the serial number is filed off and look at the gun grip.." said Hazel...

"If I didn't know better..I'd swear this was a throw down gun...The kind cops used to carry, allegedly.."said Angie, smiling..

"You never had a throw down gun Angie?" I joked..

"No...I was IA, remember?" said Angie..

Duke howled with laughter...

"Not only that...This typewritten letter found with him!!Where was the typewriter?...Cops didn't find one in his quarters...and the lack of powder burns...I'd say he was shot from a distance, not up close like a regular suicide...This is a homicide..."said Hazel...

Duke hugged Hazel and kissed her on the cheek...

"Look at my baby...talkin like a detective..." he said..

Sissy looked at me....

"Once again...Tragg jumped the gun..." she said..

''And the most important thing..." said Hazel...We have blood and DNA taken from your double murder, Duke and Angie...HE IS NOT A MATCH!!!  The semen we found in the rape kits of the ten young ladies is not a match to his DNA either...This is not the rapist or your double murderer..."said Hazel..

"Somebody killed this man to make him look like the rapist , to close the case and make the trail go cold..."said Duke..

"Whoever it is has now added a third murder to their resume, along with ten rapes.." said Angie..

"You guys are still looking for your double murderer right? Continue...Good to know whoever it is..It's the same guy as the rapist.."I said.

"Hazel, If I or my detectives releases this information it will look like we are messing with another detective's case...You have to go to Cantrell and the Deputy of Operations with this..The  Commissioner even." said Sissy..

"I will." she said..

"Lt. Tragg is going to have a fit..." I said..

IV-

We brought Corlette Jensen in first...We took her to the federal Holding Cell upstairs from us..

Sharon stood outside and looked in...

 while Sirena and Hop interviewed her..

Sirena stared at her, saying nothing, ruffling through files , While Hop paced up and down the room...

Finally Corlette spoke..

''Who are you guys? Where is the other three detectives? The Puerto Rican girl, The Black dude and the cute white guy?" she asked..

"They aren't your concern right now...We are..." said Sirena..

"Look , you need to talk to them...They checked my alibi...I'm solid..." she said..

Hop showed her two pieces of paper..

"These are life insurance policies...One for you and one for your boyfriend James Pearl Jr.  You both get 250 large upon the deaths of your parents...Only problem is they are forged.."said Hop..

She looked shocked..

"You're drawn" she said..

Sharon smiled.. she had gotten copies of the life insurance policies and copies of handwriting samples of both Mr. and Mrs. Pearl and Mr. and Mrs. Jenson...An FBI handwriting specialist determined that both policies were forgeries..

"Not only are they forged..but YOU forged both of them...Don't lie..an FBI handwriting specialist took samples of your parents and James parents handwriting and compared them..He took a sample of yours too...You forged both of the signatures on both sets..."said Hop...

"You have an alibi for the killings of your parents...but you were missing a whole hour or so, when Jimmy's mother and father got shot to death...Your girlfriends told us you were missing that long...Now look at these glossies , taken from Street cam footage...Not the street cam that your boyfriend disabled..but the one in the back of the house...The one you both forgot about...That's you, using the spare key he gave you to enter through the back of the house.."said Sirena..

Hop produced the weapon...A .38 smokeless with a home made silencer....

''We got a search warrant..We found this in your house...Your boyfriend Jimmy made this...huh?" said Hop.

''We got you girl...We got you cold." said Sirena..

Downstairs..in our interrogation room...Carlotta sat silent, leafing through some files...

Tyriq stood in a corner staring balefully....

While Jimmy sat next to James Pearl staring...

James Pearl smiled..

"Whatever this is..You got nothin...I aint sayin nothin without my lawyer...Got it?" he said.

"You don't have to say anything....Let me talk.." said Jimmy...who showed him copies of the life insurance forms...

"You and your boo were expecting a huge payday..250 large each...I mean your parents were tragically killed right..?" said Jimmy..

"You guys know I didn't do that...I was in jail.." he said.

"You were in jail while your parents were being killed, but hours before that, you were at Corlette's parents house, killing her parents and her little brother.."said Carlotta..

He laughed..

"You're crazy.." he said..

"No...you're sloppy...You jimmied the lock to get in...You left your thumb print and your palm print on the door..We found em and since you have a juvy record...We got your prints..."said Carlotta smiling..

''.We know your girlfriend forged both of these documents..WE KNOW THAT and can prove it.." said Jimmy...

Tyriq cooly dropped a .22 caliber on the table with a home-made silencer..

''We picked that up at your house...and yes..We had a warrant..We have your other gun upstairs...The one you gave your girlfriend...Nice job..Oh and Corlette! she's upstairs...she gave you up!"said Tyriq...

"I don't believe you.." said James....

"One of you two psychopaths is the Alpha dog...Was it you? Or was it her?" asked Carlotta..

"I aint sayin nothin.." he snarled...

"Doesn't matter , we got you cold papi." said Carlotta.

"OFFICER!" said Tyriq.

A Uniformed Police officer handcuffed James Pearl...read him his rights and formally charged him with three counts of first degree murder and conspiracy!!!!

Sirena and Hop walked downstairs with Corlette Jenson...She was in handcuffs...An Officer read her ,her rights...She was charged with two counts of First Degree murder...

Sharon smiled..

"Good Job Guys...Sissy will be so happy when she gets back here..You guys closed both cases..." she said..
*********************************************************************************

At the apartment complex where the rapes occurred...Angie reported to Sissy, Duke and I...

"I talked to all of the young ladies who were assaulted...That pair of panties that was found in Carson's apartment doesn't belong to any of them..This is starting to look more and more like a set up...

"Me and my guys have searched his apartment top to bottom and we can't find any typewriter...That suicide note was typed when the killer got here.." said Duke..

"Hazel took her findings to Cantrell

 and they both went to the Deputy Of Operations and The Commissioner."said Sissy...

"I just got off the phone with Carlotta..

They made arrests in both cases!!!...It was James Pearl and Corlette Jenson, they each killed the other one's parents..They had an alibi for the murder they knew they'd be suspected of..and the girl forged the life insurance forms...They have both murder weapons...We have five clearences.."said Keith Wallace..

"Outstanding...That's something Tragg can't hold over us when the you know what hits the fan..."said Sissy..

"I'll bet he's out celebrating right now.."laughed Duke..

"No doubt..But that's going to be a short celebration."laughed Angie..

V-

It was a beautiful night and Lieutenant Tragg was celebrating in his neighborhood watering hole ..

He had Assistant District Attorney Margaret Barnes with him..

''Drink Up Baby....we are celebrating tonight...I just brought in the biggest case of my career and for once ,Lt.Sissy Van Buren and her so called elite detectives can't rain on my parade.." he said as he quaffed down beers..

Assistant District Attorney Margaret Barnes just shook her head..

"I guess you didn't hear...Her detectives made arrests in both that horrific triple murder last week and that double , the same night..It was the two surviving kids..The daughter and the son, they each killed each other's parents..They forged Life Insurance papers...The y both would have gotten 250 large a piece.."said Margaret...

''Well Lahhh deee dah..Sissy knew she had to hurry up and crack those cases after I caught the serial rapist or the brass would have been breathing down her back, especially after they gave them their own building.." said Lt. Tragg..

"They do good work.,..They always bring in good cases...Cases that stick.." said Margaret...

"So what? They caught two punk kids...Big deal....I caught the serial rapist..."said Lt. Tragg...

"I know...A far more dangerous criminal."said Margaret, sighing...

He leaned in and kissed her.....She returned his passion, but she kept wondering, where was she going with this guy?

And meanwhile at another bar...

Deputy  Commissioner Jackson is quaffing down beers, sweating profusely and crying...He's already heard the news...That the dead man Lt. Tragg found was in fact a murder victim and that his DNA cleared him of any involvement in the murders and the rapes.....It was on the news.....

''DAMN IT SISSY!!!Why couldn't you just leave it alone?...The case is closed..Why couldn't you just leave it alone?"he said.

CONCLUSION NEXT