The Mystery of The House Of Pure Joy

I stood in total shock...Not like I hadn't seen a murder before...Why was I so shocked by this particular one?

They were pulling the body out of the water...I didn't need to look, I knew who it was...After all of the cases I have been on...All the death I've seen...I was visibly shook by this...

 Dr. Hazel Baylor, Coroner and Forensic Investigator  walked over to me..

"Kevin" she said softly..

"Kevin....you alright?" said Lt. Sissy Van Buren of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Philadelphia Police Department..

"I'll be alright...I suppose.."I said..

The body was of a young girl, Lamecia Womack, age 23..A young girl I had gotten a job for....

Detective Carlotta Wallace observed the body...

"Her neck was broken...." she said softly..She could see how upset I was....

 ''Looks like she's been in the water at least two days."said Detective Tyriq Pile..

"Hop and I and some uniforms will search the area, see if anybody saw anything.."said Detective Jimmy Barlow..

''Come on Jimmy, Maybe somebody in one of these restaurants and bistros saw or heard something."said Detective Tony Hopkins...

His partner, Detective Sirena Pile and Detective Angie Belton-Barlow looked at the body...

"We won't get any forensics from this...She's been in the water too long.."said Sirena..

Angie observed the body....

"Her clothes are all in tack...She was strangled and then dumped...Quickly..No attempt to conceal the body...The killer didn't even weigh her down.."she said..

Detective Edwin "Duke " Baylor looked around...

"There are at least two street cams ....Wonder if they picked up anything...?" he said..

"Put a team on it Duke and one on the traffic cams in the surrounding areas...We might get lucky." said Sissy...

"My FBI guys might be able to pull up something even more substantial.."said Deputy FBI Special Agent in charge, Sharon Hopkins..

Sissy looked at me..

"So Kevin you know this girl right?" she asked..

"Yeah...Her name was Lamecia..Lamecia Womack...  I-I got her the job......She was the receptionist at the House of Pure Joy, a lingerie operation...They manufacture panties and bras and they have a magazine that features models...She came to me a year ago looking for a job at my company....I didn't have any openings...but I knew the owner, well co-owner of the House of Pure Joy and she did me a favor, she hired her...She did good work...They really liked her...and she was taking classes at Community College, a real good kid...

She reminds me of Josie so much..."I said..Thinking of Josie Boyd, my adopted daughter...

"How is Josie?

I see her with Olivia and Beverly and Donnie Ray in court quite a bit..She's like Liv and Bev's right hand."said Sissy, smiling ,trying to make things lighter..

"Josie is doing great...She just signed up to take the LSAT's...and she's in an accelerated program...She may have her law degree soon.."I said with pride...

"I'm so happy for her...After losing her mother and father...You and Sepia

came in and took care of her and now Olivia and Beverly and Donnie Ray take care of her too...Uh Oh..Here comes trouble.."said Sissy...

Lieutenant Tragg drove up and with him was a gaggle of reporters...

He seemed to be distressed that Sissy and her detectives were already at the scene..

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE SISSY, THIS IS MY CRIME SCENE!" he bellowed..

"I'm afraid not...I got the call and Me and my detectives are already on this..."said Sissy...

"Must we go through this again?" he asked..

"Only if you insist..."said Sissy...who was not about to back down...

"Morris...What are you doing here? You have no business at the crime scene." said Lieutenant Tragg..

"Kind of like You, Huh?" I said....I was in no mood for his foolishness right now..

Jimmy,Hop,Duke, Tyriq and Sirena didn't try to hide their laughter at what I'd just said..

Lt. Tragg was visibly upset...

"Sissy...teach your detectives some respect....I could write every one of them up for disrespecting an officer..."he said..

"Oh knock it off...They didn't do anything wrong that I saw.."said Sissy..

"I didn't see them do anything wrong either.."said Sharon...

He turned to me...

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

"I knew the victim....She was a friend...I called Sissy and asked her to intervene if you must know.."I said with no fear...

''Well I don't want you interfering with-" said Lt. Tragg...

"You have no say in this at all...He's working with me and my detectives...We are sharing information..This is MY investigation...Not yours..."said Sissy... "Hazel if you have enough...you can release the body.." said Sissy..paying Lt. Tragg no mind, which incensed him...The blood between them was really bad at this point...

"I'm on it Siss."said Hazel...

The body was removed and placed in a plastic bag and placed on a stretcher and removed...

The Press was now asking Sissy and Sharon questions to which they both answered...

"We don't know anything right now...We'll release her name after her next of kin has been notified..."

Lt. Tragg got on his phone.. He no doubt was calling The Deputy Of Operations...

It didn't matter...The Police and Medical Examiners people as well as the press had all left...

"Anything we get, we'll let you know..okay friend." she said to me..

"Likewise.." I said..

"Yes sir...No I am not bellyaching again..but...What?  I uh brought the press along because there was a dead body in the river...I heard the report on the police radio from the officer at the scene....Yes..Sissy and her detectives were already on the scene..Look they had this P.I. working with them and I don't think...Yes...Yes sir...It's Sissy's case...Alllllllllllright!  " he said and hung up...He was furious..

That was the only thing about today that made me laugh...Seeing him get his...I was glad he wasn't on the case...He'd just get in the way and screw things up..With Sissy and her guys investigating the murder..I was certain it would be solved..
II-

TWO WEEKS BEFORE-  

Lemecia wasn't my client, wasn't the focus of my investigation....To understand that, you had to go back a week before..

My wife Sepia and I were entertaining my friend and one time client, Bridget Jones, owner of Lady Chatterlies Lover, Panties and Bras for the Discriminating Woman...

"Kevin did your wife give you my good news?" asked Bridget...who was looking sensational as always..

"No she didn't.."I said..

" Bridget allowed me and Bonita to sell her house ...

 You know she lives halfway across the city, but spends most of her time in our area..."said Sepia..

"All my friends are in this section...Sissy,Angie, Hazel, Carlotta, Olivia, Beverly ,Josie and what not..

I hang out in Josies, Aqua Bar and Stoleys...

I eat at all of the establishments here  and then I have to make that long drive back to my house...So I sold it...and I bought a new  house..Not too far from you guys...a few blocks over in that new development..."said Bridget..

"Heyyy I'm glad to hear that.." I said..

Sepia brought us all glasses of nice ice cold ice tea...

''So Bridget girl, what's up?" asked Sepia..

''Where is little sugar loaf?" she asked..

"Kimmy Cakes is in summer day care...She loves it.."said Sepia, speaking about our daughter...

"Awww, I wanted to see her...Kevin...I need to hire you...." said Bridget...

"Oh ?" I said..

"Have you ever heard of  The House of Pure Joy?" she asked..

"Your competitor....They make panties and bras mostly...."I said..

My wife Sepia smiled...

"These guys are so knowledgable.."laughed Bridget..  "Anyway..There is a girl over there..Her name is Mindy, Mindy Regan....She and her fiance ,Brad Ruland are co-owners of the business.....Actually Brad runs the day to day operation, but Mindy owns 62 percent of the stock..."said Bridget...

"You want me to do a work up on her?" I asked..

"It's a little more complex than that ....We did business with them....We sold their Panties and Bras...and we distributed their magazine.....We did this for years...Then a few days ago...Mindy called me....She said she was adamnit about selling me her 62 percent of the stock...With an option to buy out Brad's portion....Which would have made me the sole owner of the House of Pure Joy..."said Bridget...

"Wow...Talk about a power move.."said Sepia..

"You'd be the Queen of Panties." I said jokingly....

Bridget looked at Sepia..

"I'm sorry Bridget girl, I do the best I can with him." laughed Sepia ,who playfully swatted at me..

"We were supposed to have drinks and meet at that trendy new rooftop Bistro owned by Stephen Bristol. last Tuesday....

Only She never showed up....I was there for two hours and she never showed up...I was furious, being stood up like that....I sent her a very angry text....but I got no return text...So I called her...Nothing!!!Finally after two days I went over to the House of Pure Joy....

Her fiance, Brad was there...He had one of the models on the couch...

 His tongue halfway down her throat....Kissing her and nearly had her panties down...  Then I got it...For years,I had seen him in clubs with different women and I wondered what kind of relationship they had....Then when I heard they were engaged I thought maybe he had cleaned up his act....but I see he hadn't......I asked Brad if he had seen Mindy...He was very embarrassed being caught like that.....He said that she was in the store earlier and was probably out shopping or something...

So I left...I thought nothing of it...I texted her again a few days later...Nothing...I called...Her phone went to voice mail...  I went back to the store....I found out from a few workers and models that nobody had seen or heard from Mindy for a week.... I didn't say anything, but I wondered why Brad would have openly lied to me like that...We've known each other for years..."said Bridget....

"Did you talk to Brad about her plans to sell her controlling interest of the business to you?" I asked..

"I did and he said he didn't know anything about it....Another lie....She told me she had told him and that she also told him she was leaving him...and moving in with London Branton....A Designer of very fashionable Lingerie...We have sold some of his items too.."said Bridget...

 "Why did she offer to sell to you and not him?" I asked..

"I asked her that too...And she said...A lingerie business should be managed by a woman....Plus London Branton doesn't have the distribution network I have...I can move the stuff faster and more efficient than he can..."said Bridget...

"Usually when I hear people talking about moving merch they're talking about illegal substances or stolen goods."I laughed...Such was my world..

"I think something has happened to her....I really got worried when London Branton called and asked me if I'd seen her...She was supposed to be hiring a moving company to move her things out of storage and into his house..." said Bridget...  "It's been two weeks since I've heard from her...I'm worried Kevin, She's been a dear friend as well as business partner.."said Bridget..

"You said her things are already in storage...What company?" I asked..

"Unity Storage ,I know that much..."said Bridget...

"That's my company....."said Sepia.."last year..

Bonita and I, merged with Clerow and Owen Todd..We handle, Home sales, Apartments, Loft, Condo,Duplex and Triplex rentals and storage...We are the Unity Company.."said Sepia..

 "WOW! You talk about a power move....You go girl..."laughed Bridget..  "So if it's your company...you can start there...They must have talked to her in that last week."said Bridget.

"Then I'll talk to Clerow and Owen Todd and find out what they know.." I said..

Bridget wrote a check and passed it to me....

"There's more if you need it.." she said..

"Thanks Bridget,I'll do my best.." I said.

III-

So I met with both Clerow and Owen Todd the next day....

They both remembered Mindy Regan..

"Yeah Kev, She was here....Her and some guys from her job who helped her move...She paid up front...She was supposed to move her stuff last week..but we haven't heard from her.." said Owen Todd..

Clerow opened up the storage locker  and there was all of her things, Clothing, Chest of drawers, two of them....Work desk, Two laptop computers, which I took....a smartphone,

which I also took and a design board...

Clerow showed me a bill of lading...

"This is dated two days before she was last seen or heard from.."I said.

"Yeah like I said...She was supposed to have this stuff out of here a week ago, but we never heard from her...We called her even...Phone went to voice mail..." he said..

"Hmmm,I said.. "Okay thanks guys.." I said..

 Later that afternoon, I went to my headquarters..Morris Investigations.In the sub-basement of Morris Communications...It was kind of like my batcave..

..Peeping Tom, Sean Jackson,Lockpick Johnson and my five new investigators were there ,along with my administrative staff....It was nice having an agency...Saved me a lot of legwork..

Her laptop revealed a lot...

 Apparently she had her fiance's bedroom wired for video and sound...Whoever did this was good...

 The video was high definition and the sound was good...Her fiance apparently had a different woman every night of the week in the loft they shared....I counted six different girls...

 She had the storeroom at the House of Pure Joy wired for sound and video...He had several of the cashiers and models in the backroom ,kissing them passionately...This was even more girls...How did he get any work done?

and apparently he used another room on the premises to take it even further...With yet another woman who wandered in....

Sean Jackson and Lockpick Johnson were stunned..

"Man ,when does this guy get any work done?" they asked..

"How does he run a business?" asked Peeping Tom..

"His fiance runs the business...She owns 62 percent of the stock...A controlling interest...She makes the deals..."I said..

"Yeah and while she's making deals, he's making whoopie."said one of my new investigators...

We all laughed...

"This was professional work...She hired a P.I. This P.I. did work almost as good as us..."said Peeping Tom..

"Run her credit card and her bank accounts..let's see who she's paid in the last few weeks.."I said..

Once again, a familiar name came up...

"Cyclops Insurance..They were heavily insured by Cyclops Insurance...I should have known..."I said smiling..

I checked her phone...

This wasn't her regular phone..I suspected it was a phone her fiance didn't even know existed...There were several calls to Cyclops Insurance and to another number I clearly recognized...

IV-

Bonnie Shay smiled when she saw me at her desk with a laptop...

"Why am I not surprised to see you Kevin?" said. Bonnie, An Attorney who was once a Public Defender, Then an Assistant District Attorney and now an Insurance Investigator for Cyclops Insurance..

I smiled , I plopped the Laptop down on her desk and showed her the video of Brad Ruland and his numerous trysts....

"Oh myyy the man is a walking erection.." said Bonnie..

"This was you wasn't it?  It's good...It rivals my own work..."I said smiling..

"I have operatives too ,who are very skilled, though probably not as skilled as yours..."laughed Bonnie..

"Yes, I had both places wired for sound and video...Mindy is a friend as well as a client.. Cyclops Insurance heavily insured her and her business..I shouldn't tell you this..but she often gave me panties and bras on the house for my services...She told me she had heard rumors for years that her fiance played around, but she had never caught him...So we wired the dressing room of the store and the back office first and then the loft that they shared...
He not only cheated with one...He as you can see cheated with every girl in the store just about...Myyy  goodness...As soon as he got to work ,he was on somebody...Ouuu look at him!"said Bonnie...

"So when did you give this information to Mindy?" I asked..

"Two weeks ago...I hated to do it..but she said she needed to know who this woman was...We had no idea it was several women..." said Bonnie...

"Hmmm were you aware that she planned to sell her share of the business to Bridget Jones?" I asked..

"No, but we insure her two businesses too...I haven't seen or heard from Mindy in two weeks.."said Bonnie..

"Neither has anybody else..I have been hired to find her.." I said..

"Oh My God, She's missing??...She said that she was done with Brad, that she was calling the engagement off, but that's all she told me.."said Bonnie..

"Did you know Mr. London Branton?" I asked..

"No...Who is he?" she asked..

"Somebody we should talk to..."I said..

(TO BE CONTINUED)