Strike Two

Olivia and I stood outside our duplex/office....

"What is taking Nelson and Beverly so long?" asked Olivia , who was ready to leave..

I smiled...

"You have to ask?" I said...

 "Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu Husband, we have to go...They're waiting on us.."cooed Beverly...

"I know....I just can't let you go.."said Nelson..

He and Beverly were kissing passionately.....in the stairwell..

"Yall two gone get left..." came the voice of Alfreda, Our new office manager and Beverly's mother..

She was mildly amused...She went through this with her boyfriend, ADA Rockland Cambridge...and she understood that her daughter ,her newly married daughter was blissfully happy...

 "Ohhh, Here we come!" said Beverly, obviously embarrassed...

"Hey Ms. Jay.."said Nelson...

Alfreda smiled..

"Gimmee Some of that.." she said and Nelson squeezed her tight and kissed her on the cheek...

She giggled...As Beverly and Nelson ran to the car....

''Sorry we are late Auntay.."said Beverly,who was out of breath..

"It was my fault.." said Nelson....

Josie smiled...She was already in the front seat...

Olivia smiled..

"Ohhhh knock it off....It's not like you two can't kiss in the car..." she joked and hugged them both...

Alfreda gave us all a tumbler of hot coffee.....

"You guys drive carefully ." she said....

"We will.And thank you Alfreda!" I said..

"And Alfreda....You can close up at noon...Just put our out of office message on...We've all got our tablets with us..We'll be checking emails."said Olivia...as she sat next to me...

Josie sat next to Olivia in the front as I started the car up..

Beverly and Nelson sat in the back seat....Of course they kissed a little more..

I looked at them...

"I'd better make sure the AC is working, it's going to be steamy in here..."I joked..

Then I whispered to Olivia...

"I'm going to kiss you like that tomorrow morning.."

 Olivia blushed like crazy...

"Oh cut it out.." she said..

 "Ummmmmmmmm Hmmmmmm...yall nasty!" joked Alfreda....

Olivia and Alfreda laughed that conspiratorial laugh that women laugh amongst themselves.......

We took off. We were headed for Stanga State Prison to see the imprisoned Ray Benson......

Alfreda waved and went back inside....

Angela Benson stood on the corner and smiled...

"You're almost out baby...Almost out...And Lieutenant  Tragg, you bastard..after today, you'll be out too!"she said and then got in her car and took off in the opposite direction.

II-

We headed upstate to the maximum security state prison called Stanga...

Beverly and Nelson were soon fast asleep in each other's arms...

And Josie was fast asleep on Olivia's shoulder...

Olivia looked at her and smiled..

"At least she doesn't snore.." she said and giggled..

I laughed out loud and kept driving...

It was early morning and the drive was good....I made good time and arrived at the gates of the prison in no time..

Stanga State Prison was huge...It was a city within itself...It housed some of the State's most notorious prisoners....It had a swimming pool, a golf course, a tennis court and a nice track...It was very clean...Kept that way by the inmates... and ultra modern.

Ray Benson, a white male, about my age walked into the day room.....He was wearing a blue prison shirt and a black t-shirt under it...He was clean shaven....He could've used a haircut.....but otherwise he looked okay....He was wearing Prison Institution Blue Jeans and white sneakers...No socks..

He looked surprised upon seeing us...four Black people standing on the other side of the glass...He knew we were attorneys...Olivia, Beverly and Nelson had briefcases...

Olivia broke the ice...

"Let me help you catch your tongue...I'm Olivia Bennett Alexander...I'm an Attorney. and this is my niece, Attorney Beverly West and her husband, Attorney Nelson East..." she said..

 "Hi Ray"said Beverly, smiling pleasently...

"Hey Ray" said Nelson...

"This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander....He's my investigator....and this is our Para-legal who will be assisting us, Josie Boyd.." she said.

"What's up man?" I said..

"Hi Ray." said Josie..

He sat back and took it all in...

"Whoa....Ang told me she had got an attorney to look into my case....Wow...She didn't tell me she got a team....Three Attorneys, An Investigator and a ...a ...what? Para legal huh..,Wow! If I had had this my first time out..I might not be here...I had a guy...Danny White...He was a public defender...He had just got a job offer at a big firm and his mind wasn't really into my case...He was trying to get out of there...I understood..He was in what he considered a dead end job and he finally found a way out..and I guess he did the best he could...He didn't have an investigator or another attorney to help him....In all fairness ,he tried...He asked for another attorney and an investigator and the city didn't have it in their budget...So he had to do everything himself and the D.A.'s office didn't help him at all..I guess they wouldn't. He was frustrated....He did what he could, but I got convicted...He did get the charges dropped from First Degree Murder to second degree and I got spared a death sentence or life no parole...He got me 10-life...I had a parole hearing last year....But the Judge who sentenced me showed up at the hearing and said he felt like I wasn't in here long enough to be reformed..So that didn't happen." said Ray...

"You Know that the ADA who prosecuted you is dead?" I said..

"Yeah, I heard he drowned...."said Ray Benson dryly...

"And that Judge who sentenced you was found dead in a townhouse nobody knew he had...with some woman, not his wife....Both had heart attacks..."said Olivia..

"WHAT?   I knew he was dead...but I didn't know the details..." said Ray...

"And your Attorney, Danny White.....He was a personal friend of ours...See My Aunt and I used to be Public Defenders....He died last night" said Beverly...

Ray Benson looked totally shocked..

"WHATTTTT?? Last night?? WHAT IN HELL IS GOING ON IN PHILLY?" he asked..

"That's a good question...You or your case seems to be bad luck....All of the deaths seem to be uh accidents and at best suspicious...Danny White was electrocuted when he put his key in his door by faulty wiring or something....That's what police are saying...and the Judge and his mistress....Nobody can explain how they both had heart attacks..They were considerably young and in the prime of life...He had just passed a physical....Your ADA was an excellent swimmer, but he was found face down in the pool in his country club.."said Nelson...

"Damn....Beats the hell out of me....Co-incidence?? I couldn't tell you.." said Ray..

"I've come to believe that there are no such things as co-incidences, but tnone of that has anything to do with you...We have read your case files and the original trial transcripts...You tell us what happened...from your own mouth."I said..

"You sound like a cop....Like Lt. Tragg..who busted me.."said Ray..

 Olivia laughed...

"He's uh considerably better investigator than Lieutenant Tragg, but don't listen to me..I'm biased, being married to him, but you're right about one thing...He's an ex-cop...Ex Homicide detective.."said Olivia..

 "Don't insult Donnie Ray by comparing him with Lt. Tragg.." laughed Beverly..

Josie howled with laughter..

Ray smiled..

"I'm sorry my man...You feel about Tragg like I do huh?  Is he still alive?" asked Ray,laughing..

"He is..but somebody placed a bomb in his car the day before yesterday...It went off too soon...He missed getting blown to bits..He's fine though..."said Olivia..

"WOW!" said Ray..

III-

Ray sat back and told his story....

"I'm accused of murdering Kathleen Brennan.....I was an Engineer...A Design Engineer...She worked at my former employer...We had a brief affair before I met Ange and we got married...Then as fate would have it..We wound up working at the same firm...Some of what happened to me is Karma...I admit...I messed up...Kathleen and I messed around a bit..When she found out I was married...She broke it off...we remained cordial... We had dinner and drinks one night....I walked her to her apartment...I asked if I could come in...She refused...I should have left....I wrote her a letter expressing disapointment that we didn't sleep together and telling her how good she was looking that day at work....That was the last time I saw her alive...I swear...I left after that...I mean I was foul, I had just returned from my honeymoon...Of course she wasn't going to sleep with me..

The next morning, it appeared she had been beaten to death with a blunt wooden object...an object that was never found....and there was semen all over her sheets....and a used and loaded condom in the trash recepticle...

The neighbors told the police that they saw a green van parked outside her apartment...I don't own a green van or a green anything....They found a bandana at the site..with sweat on it....It wasn't mine...
They found a credit card belonging to her in the trash can at a jewelry store...A police officer said that the Jeweler could identify a Man and a Woman who had attempted to use the credit card...." said Ray..

"None of this is in Danny White's trial records or transcripts..."said Olivia..

"Eville Younger was known to withhold evidence from defense attorneys...I'm betting none of this was turned over to Danny at trial...I knew him, He was pretty thorough when he had the evidence he needed...He didn't have an investigator, no para-legal, plus he was pre-occupied with getting out of there...He never saw this other evidence..."said Beverly...

''And Lt. Tragg, doing his usual shoddy ,slip shod investigating didn't look for it either...or recanvass."I said angrilly....

"We supeona the evidence....Neither Younger ,Nor the judge is alive to oppose us...We win this case with DNA.."said Nelson...

''Exactly."said Olivia.

"Your wife had to be pissed off when she heard the details at trial.."said Josie..

"She was...but she forgave me and she was my biggest cheerleader....She wrote letters to the Mayor, The Police Commisioner, The Chief of Detectives, The D.A.'s office and the State Appellatte court...but nobody wanted to talk to her...She begged Danny White to take another look at my case...but he was no longer a Public Defender....He's some big shot corporate lawyer now.."said Ray..

"Was a Corporate lawyer...He's dead now!"said Beverly somberly, remembering her friend....

"Damn ,that's rough.....I always liked Danny...I perfectly understood him working in that hell hole Public Defenders Office and having a shot at getting out...He was so happy he had gotten an offer letter.."said Ray..

"He still had a responsibility to you...To give you an adequate defense.."I said sternly...

"I know , but it was like David facing Goliath...He didn't have a lot of help....He doesn't have the resources you guys have...You have a private practice...It's three Attorneys, a para legal and you, an investigator...And you don't look like you're rushed..He didn't have that...And plus the D.A.'s office willingly withheld evidence that could have helped me.."said Ray.

"You've been talking to a jailhouse lawyer....I see you've filed several briefs for a new trial.."said Olivia.

"You do your homework....You think I got a shot at beatin this rap?" said Ray...

"We'll do our best.."said Olivia...

"Hang tight...We may have some good news for you soon.."said Beverly...

"All I got is time.."said Ray as we left...

We drove back to Philadelphia....There wasn't much talk...

Beverly and Nelson were wrapped up in each other's arms and sleeping soundly....

Josie and Olivia were both asleep...

I drove and thought....Ray would have certainly have been a suspect....but I would have had that DNA tested to rule him out.....

We had with us fresh DNA from Ray, Blood, Urine, Semen and hair samples ....All taken while we were at the prison...We'd go from there...

Upon arriving in Philadelphia...A familiar figure was waiting for us....A police car was parked behind what we figured was a rental...

Lt. Tragg and two uniformed officers...

Beverly yawned....but said nothing...

Nelson had his arms around her waist..

Josie stared at him....

Olivia broke the silence..

"Lieutenant Tragg, To what do we owe the honor?" she said..

"I take it you know an Attorney named Danny White huh? He used to work as a Public Defender with you guys..."said Lt. Tragg...

"As a matter of fact I do know him very well.."said Olivia, who, ever the poker player was trying to find out what Tragg wanted and where he was going with his questioning..She knew as an attorney to never volunteer more information than needed...

"You five had dinner with him last night..." said Lt. Tragg...

"We did!!....It was a very nice dinner too..."said Olivia with a smile..

"You haven't seen him in what three ,four years....And the five of you have dinner with him out of the blue last night at a very trendy restaurant...What was that about?" he asked..

"Is it against the law to have dinner?" asked a sleepy Beverly...

"I'm asking the questions..."said Lt. Tragg..who was in no mood to verbally spar with Beverly, who he viewed as a smart alec...

"That's our business...Now you've established we had dinner...We parted ways a little after 11:30 pm and we drove Josie home and we all came back here and went to bed..As we are planning to do now...It's been a long day."said Olivia..

"You've been gone all day...Where were you?" he asked..

"We went to visit a client and no I'm not going to tell you which client...Or where we've been...We left at around 6:30 this morning and we've been gone all day.."said Olivia..."If you need anything else you're going to need a warrant." she said..

Lieutenant Tragg was beat red...Olivia had him and he knew it...He hated lawyers....He preferred street punks and people who didn't know their rights.

"Your buddy, Danny White  is dead!  He was electrocuted in an accident at his home  that looks very suspicious....His death hasn't been ruled a homicide as of yet..."he said.

"We heard....We didn't see him after 11:30 pm...He got in a cab, an UBER to be exact...and that was the last we saw or heard of him..."said Olivia..."Anything else?" she asked..

"No." he said and got in his rental...

"I thought we were about to get arrested for a minute."said Nelson, smiling...

I just smiled and shook my head... He knew better...He also knew he was grasping at straws....

"Come on Josie...I'll drive you home....I'll see you guys when I get back.."I said..

"Thanks Donnie Ray...See you tomorrow guys."said Josie.
IV-

It had been particularly humid today....And now in mid afternoon...The sky was overcast,like a thunderstorm was coming...

I drove Josie home and then I headed back home...

Olivia was in Beverly and Nelson's place relaxing

A floor below our place..

"You got back in just the nick of time baby...It's raining.." said Olivia..

It was indeed raining...

"It might be a short rainstorm"I said,looking at the wet streets..

"The nerve of that stupid flat foot, Lieutenant Tragg asking us why we went out to dinner and what did we talk about? He's so backward...."said a still angry Beverly...

I hugged her...

"Remember that detective we met in Punta Canta? Fearless Fosdick....Fearless Fosdick is my name, Homicide is my game?" I said.."He's a better detective than Tragg I fear.." I said..

Beverly laughed....

"I almost forgot about him....Nelson, did I ever tell you about him?" she asked her husband..

"No...This guy was as bad as Tragg?" asked Nelson...

"Almost, but he at least actually solved a case..."said Olivia...Remembering and laughing...

The rain eventually stopped as I predicted....

A beautiful rainbow replaced it...

The Police Car carrying the two officers had left...

Lt. Tragg drove his rental car..He discovered that he was low on gas...He drove into a small gas station...

"Hmm, I think I'll grab a sandwich, some gum and a bottle of water..." he said.. He got out of the car and walked into the Gas Station market...

"Gimmee sum uh gum..And I'll take this sandwich and this bottle of water.." he said as he paid the cashier...

A loud roar was heard!!!....His rental car exploded!!!....and flames just leaped up in the sky...

"OH MY GOD!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed the Cashier...

"HOLY CRAP! Your car is on fire buddy..." said the store manager...

Lieutenant Tragg  ran out the door..

"I CAN SEE THAT GENIUS!" he bellowed!!!!  Mr. Personality always!!!

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!   WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" he screamed...

His rental car was on fire...Fire Engines rushed to the site...They wanted to keep the gas pumps from going up.....

His rental car was gone...Only the frame and the wheels were left....For the second time in as many days...He had escaped death...He was visibly shaken...

(TO BE CONTINUED)