Murder More Than Likely

"Wow...If I wasn't already married and in a house.. I could go for an apartment in here..."said Detective Jimmy Barlow , standing outside a tony Apartment complex, looking at the body of a young woman...

He pulled the blouse up and studied the body with a magnifying glass...

"She's been tasered..." he said..

His partner, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace  also checked the body...It was a woman, about 27 years old...Blonde, shapely, attractive...

"There is semen everywhere...her panties, her torso... Her blouse...She was definitely sexually assaulted.." she said..

Dr. Hazel Baylor looked at the body further....

"Her neck really got a working over...She was strangled..." she observed..

"Then this makes number three.."said Detective Tyriq Pile....

His wife, Detective Sirena Pile and her partner, Detective Tony Hopkins..

Had found the first two bodies a few weeks before... Both women fit a profile...Young successful, blonde, shapely....

Both women were Attorneys...Divorce Attorneys...They were busy looking through their case files to see if they had anybody in common...

"Who is our victim?" asked Carlotta...

''She's not a lawyer....She's a Therapist....Her name is Dr. Monica Breland...She practices in the city...Doesn't live anywhere near here.." said Jimmy...

"My wife's victims weren't found anywhere near where they lived either..."said Tyriq...

Just then...Sirena and Hop drove up....

"Hey guys...Thanks for the call Lotta..." said Sirena..

"I thought this might be a link to your two cases..."said Carlotta..

Hop observed the body...

"Hmmmmmm, tasered....semen everywhere..."said Hop...

"You run the DNA through decks?" asked Jimmy.

''Yup. City, State ,Federal,  Interpol..I'm waiting for them to get a hit...They're taking forever over there...They say they're backed up with case overload."said Sirena...

"I'll call Keith, He can get them to speed up your requests...This is Priority! You guys find any Fingerprints?  On the skin?" asked Tyriq...

"Not a thing Rico...And so far...we have cross referenced the two victims...attorneys...We've found six clients they had in common...We cleared all of them.....Who is this woman?" asked Hop...

''She's a Therapist..."said Carlotta..

I drove up just then with Lt. Sissy Van Buren...

I'm Assistant District Attorney, Keith Wallace...I investigate Homicides and Major Crimes..

Lt. Sissy Van Buren is the boss of these detectives...She heads the Criminal Investigation Division of the Philadelphia Police Department...They investigate major crimes..

"This is number three Siss." said Hazel...

Sissy and I observed the body.....She had been strangled...and tasered...

Like the other two ,she had been dropped far away from where she lived...

 ''Somebody get some men and question everybody in this complex and the local bars....Even if she lived far from here...She might have frequented this area...Maybe we'll get lucky.."said Sissy..

 "I'll put a team on it.." said Carlotta...

"I'll gather some guys and search the sewers and trash cans around here for latex gloves of any type.."said Tyriq..

' 'Come on Hop....Let's get some guys and check the street and traffic cams...maybe something was picked up."said Jimmy

"Yeah,come on.." said Hop..

Sirena took a deep breath....

"Listen , hear that?" said Sirena..

"Hear what?" asked Sissy.

"Nothing!!No reporters...No Lt. Tragg demanding to see the crime scene, barging in....This is three in a row...It sure feels good.." she said..

''Sure does.."said Sissy..."Maybe he's on vacation.."laughed Sissy...

 Carlotta and I were behind the Apartment complex out of the sight of anybody, kissing passionately...

 "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm papi...I missed you sooo much..." she moaned...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl.....I feel like taking your clothes off right back here and...."I said in between kisses..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm don't say it....I feel like taking them off tooo.." she cooed...

"I've got to get back to work papi..."said Carlotta ,smiling...

I reluctantly let her out of my embrace...

"I know...I'm uh going to stand back here a few minutes...Calm myself down..." I said..

I watched as the body was "bagged and tagged" as they say and wheeled off..





II-

Detectives Angela Belton-Barlow and Edwin "Duke " Baylor were at the sight of another murder in another part of town....

 "He was shot with a glock nine...Two times to the head...killed instantly...."said Angie...

"This place was wiped down with bleach....and uh....if you look over there on the floor...There is the glock nine...."said Duke, using a pencil to lift the weapon without touching it and place it in a plastic bag, which he handed a uniform officer...

"It's still smoking..." he said..

"His name is Arthur Jackson...." said Angie Belton...

''Who is he?"asked Duke..

"Local businessman..."said Angie...

Duke's wife , Dr. Hazel Baylor showed up...

"Hey Guys...Sorry I took so long to get here....Rico, Carlotta and your husband caught a murder across town....and it looks like it's connected to the two unsolved homicides that Sirena and Hop caught a few weeks ago..."she said..

Duke smiled at his wife and then kissed her softly...

"Catch your breath honey....This one is easy....He was shot to death...and it looks like we have his glock....His hot smoking glock!" said Duke..

''Suicide?"asked Hazel...

"That's what it looks like to me.." said Lt. Tragg, who walked in with Detective Justin Dunn..

"Yeah, me too..."said Detective Dunn..

Angie stared at them both...

"That's for a lab and the coroner here to decide..and at first glance....Suicide looks less likely...Murder more than likely." she said..

"Come on...you got his hot smoking gun...."said Detective Dunn..

"HOW DO YOU KNOW WE HAVE HIS HOT SMOKING GUN?" asked Duke....

"Duke, relax...I saw you pass it to the officer who bagged it and tagged it." said Justin Dunn...

''We don't know whose gun it is..."said Angie..

" Well this being simple homicide, and my jurisdiction....I'll take over the investigation.."said Lt. Tragg..

"I beg to differ Lieutenant....This is MY INVESTIGATION....I'm the primary..." said Angie...

"I thought you were IA Angie?" said Detective Dunn...

"I've been with CID for the past three years now Justin....."said Angie..

''Well I think the uh Lieutenant there kind of out ranks you Ang!"laughed Detective Dunn..

"But he doesn't out rank me!..."came the voice of Lt. Sissy Van Buren...  "It's her case and it stands.."said Sissy...

"Now wait a minute...I am the ranking Officer here..."protested Lieutenant Tragg....

"Only in Time with the badge...This is her case....and I am her immediate supervisor....that MAKES ME THE RANKING OFFICER ON THE SCENE!" said Sissy...

 Sissy and I had just walked up...

 ''Can I release the body?" asked Hazel..

''Yes." said Angie..

''Duke...Man , are you alright with this?" asked Justin, trying to smile..

''She's my partner...Why wouldn't I be alright with it Justin?" asked Duke..

"This is insubordination Sissy..."protested Lt. Tragg...

"It's in the Regs....File a complaint with the Deputy Of Operations...I'll be at the hearing...Angie, Duke, let's go.."said Sissy...

I smiled and shook my head...

"Come on Ang.."said Duke..

"I can't believe those two..."said Angie, who was more than mildly annoyed..

III-

 Back at our new headquarters....My wife, Carlotta, FBI Deputy Special Agent, Sharon Farrell and the other detectives sat in our kitchen, break area with Gary Lockwood...He used to be a Lieutenant on the Police Force, Now he was an investigator for the D.A.'s office.

 "Gary you are soooo funny....You seem so different now, so at peace..."laughed Carlotta..

"Yes...so less thirsty..."joked Sirena..

Sharon cracked up.

 "You guys aint right..." he said...

''So Lock...How is it over in the D.A.'s office...?" asked Tyriq..

"Not like this...A little less exciting...I mean I basically still do the same types of investigations...but I don't arrest people anymore...I basically go back over the original police investigation in most cases..which doesn't always make me the most friends...Lt. Tragg for instance...He used to like me..I don't get the impression that is the case now.."said Gary Lockwood..

"You're in good company...He HATES US!" said Jimmy, who had forgiven Gary for chasing after Angie to the point of harrassment when they both worked in Internal Affairs...He had apologized to Jimmy and the two men had made their peace..

"Yeah, he always try to jack our cases..."said Hop....

 Angie ,Duke and Sissy walked in  just then.....

 "WOW....A Country  not heard from...Hello Gary!"said Angie..

 ''What's Up Lock?" said Duke..

"Hi Gary!" said Sissy...

 "Hey man.." I said..

"Hey Ang, Duke, Sissy...Your guys tell me there may be another serial killer on the loose.."said Gary...

"Unfortunately.....Those are the scariest and hardest to solve."lamented Sissy..'What brings you here?" she asked..

Gary laid some files out on the table..

"Angie...You and Duke recently caught a case...a Arthur Jackson...." said Gary...

"Yeah...We got an anonymous call.."said Angie...

"That wasn't an anonymous call..THAT WAS ME!   I FOUND HIS BODY FIRST.....I called you guys ,because I didn't want Lt. Tragg and his bumbling ass anywhere near this case!" said Gary....

IV-

Meanwhile....Near a popular brewary and club...

An uber pulls up and whoever is driving pushes a dead body out and into the street and pulls off


(TO BE CONTINUED)