Saturday Morning...After last night...I thought it would be safer if our entire party stayed at our place for the night...
Meeka and Chico slept in our extra bedroom....
Olivia and I slept in our room...
Downstairs..
Josie and Paris slept in the extra room, while Beverly and Nelson slept in their room...
As you can imagine..bedsprings were squeaking in every room in our duplex over the night..
I felt better knowing everybody was safe from the mysterious gentlemen with the pinky ring..
Meeka's preliminary hearing was Monday...This would decide whether she would be held over for trial..
Olivia and Beverly were 100 percent certain they could get all charges dropped and that there wouldn't even be a trial..
Everybody involved was hoping that was true...
II-
I got up and showered early and whipped up some Pancake batter
and fired up the waffle iron... I also put on some bacon..
Olivia whipped up egg batter...
She was scrambling eggs and making omelets..
Beverly joined us and whipped up a pot of grits
and started a pot of coffee brewing...
Josie came up and set the table...
Paris
and Nelson eventually arrived...
"I guess they want to sleep late."said Olivia ,pointing to the door...
Beverly and Josie looked at each other and smiled..
''And they just met.."said Beverly...
"I know...Believe it or not..This isn't like her at all..In college she used to string a number of guys along for awhile before going there...This is extremely fast for her.."said Josie..
''Extremely"said Nelson,laughing..
Paris cracked up..
In the room Chico smiled..He and Meeka were still under the covers...
"Damn, they wasn't kidding, Smell all that good food out there?" he said..
"Ummmmmmmmmmmm I do...Let's get up and get dressed boo...." she said..
"One last kiss?" he asked..
"Uh Uh...You said one last kiss a few hours ago and we wound up doing it again...Now come on,let's get up..."
''Come on baby...Give Big Daddy one last big wet one.." said Chico..
"Big Daddy is a big baby.." said Meeka, laughing...
"Big Daddy loves his Meeka."said Chico...
"Meeka loves her Big Daddy.." she said softly....
They kissed a little more, but he kept his promise this time...
They dressed and walked out...We were already eating..
"Liv!!! OH MY GOD!! Everything is just...Just incredible..The food looks delicious...You all have been so kind to me...I-I-I don't know how to thank you.."said Meeka..
"Man...Donnie Ray, You're the man...You live with these two fine ladies...here in this nice set up? I'm envious as a mug man."said Chico..
Chico surveyed the area...
"Real Nice Set Up!" he said.
"Beverly and Nelson live downstairs.."I said..
''And your office is on the first floor? Nicccccccccccccceeeee"said Chico..
We chowed down and relaxed......in Beverly and Nelson's place much later..
The Preliminary was Monday....We tried not to think about it...
III-
Monday Morning, We met in Judge Keith Marshall's court....
He smiled at Olivia a lot.....
DAMN THAT'S A SEXY WOMAN! he mused.
Olivia looked a little uneasy....
"Auntay...Do you know him?" asked Beverly...
"Nooo...Never seen him before in my life..."said Olivia..
"He's looking at you like a hungry wolf.."said Beverly...
"I know, He's making me feel a little uncomfortable,like he's looking through my clothes..Maybe this dress shows a little too much cleavage....Maybe it's too short... But..I might as well use it to my advantage.."said Olivia, smiling..
Beverly wasn't lost on him either...He was staring at her behind...Smiling and shaking his head..
"Nonsense Auntay...That dress is just fine...He's just a thirsty dog , is all." she said and smiled.
I came in with Nelson and Josie and sat behind them...I had to admit...Olivia did look delicious...I couldn't keep my eyes off of her myself..
Olivia motioned for me to sit beside her on the other side of her...She held my hand tightly...and stroked it lightly...and she smiled at me endearingly...
Beverly moved and sat next to her husband...
Nelson was tickled pink and smiled at her...
Josie and Meeka sat together..
""Don't worry girlfriend, We got this...You're leaving out of here today!"said Josie.
"I hope so....You guys have more faith in the system than I do...I suppose you have your reasons."said Meeka.
I didn't catch this ADA's name, but I remember, Olivia and Beverly had gone up against him before...
He opened up with the argument that the young lady had been arrested with
Diamonds estimated at close to a million dollars on her person and the dead body of Raphael St. John of New York City in the trunk of her car... He had been dead for a day...
Lt. Tragg had been given a tip from the NYPD that Raphael St. John and Meeka Lewis were in town with stolen jewelry or "Hot Ice" He immediately got a search warrant and stopped Ms.Lewis's car and determined that not only was the stolen Jewelry in the car, but the dead body of Raphael St. John,also known as Ralph Johnson.
Lt. Tragg testified that more than likely, Ms. Lewis had doubled crossed her boss....
Olivia and Beverly both laughed....which un nerved Lt. Tragg...
Beverly smiled and shook her head...
He glared angrilly at both of them...What was so funny? he wondered.
Josie passed Olivia a piece of paper..
Olivia asked Lt. Tragg at what time did he get the call from New York City....The NYPD...
"I don't know...About Lunchtime..Maybe a little after.." he said..
"This is a list of your phone calls on that day...You got your uh Hot tip at exactly 12:15 pm...And it was not from New York City...It was from the New Dehli Indian Cusine Eatery in Little Norway...It's from a Blocked number...Since when does the NYPD use a Blocked number?" asked Olivia..
Judge Marshall snickered..
The ADA looked exasperatingly at Lt. Tragg...He should have at least checked this out,since it was a tip...He just shook his head...
"I have the chief of Detectives of the NYPD, who was gracious enough to come down today...He will testify that no one from the NYPD called anyone from the Philadelphia PD about any stolen jewelry...While Mr. St. John or Johnson had a spotty criminal record...They never heard of Ms. Lewis..Who by the way was employed at his legitimate business as a buyer and jewelry appraiser..Which is why she was here in Philadelphia in the first place... At the time of her arrest she was having drinks with her old college room-mate, My Para Legal,Ms. Josie Boyd, who you also arrested that night, even though you had little to no evidence that she was involved."said Olivia.
The Chief of Detectives testified that no one from the NYPD called the Philadelphia Police regarding Mr. St. John or Ms. Lewis or any missing diamonds.. So did the Lieutenant of NYPD Robbery-Homicide. They had come to Philadelphia for the day at our request.
Josie smiled..
I passed Beverly some papers...
Beverly showed Autopsy photos of the Raphael St. John's neck...She used the monitor to show the size of the hands ,via handprints around the neck ...She then showed the jury Meeka's hands...
"She's too small, her hands are too small..No way she grabs a big man like this and snaps his neck..She just couldn't do that physically..."said Beverly...
Dr. Hazel Baylor, the Forensic Investigator and Coroner affirmed that....She said that the temperature that night was a humid 85 degrees...A body that had been dead for at least a day and was starting to decompose would have left a ghastly odor that Ms. Boyd and anybody else would have noticed..
Hazel also testified that the killer had to be at last six feet tall...."Look at the neck...see those marks...? There is a mark there indicative a pinky ring...And look at Mrs. Alexander and Her niece's necks...They ran into such a man a few nights ago...He was looking for their client.."said Hazel.
Olivia and Beverly showed the Judge and the grand jury their necks...The members of the grand jury gasped...
Nelson said that Ms. Lewis was here on instructions from her employer, the late Mr. St. John to meet with a potential buyer..Phillip "Porto" Belli...to buy the diamonds...and the diamonds were not Hot Ice..but the property of Mr. St. Johns...A New York Jeweler...but Mr Belli was himself shot to death a day later...said Nelson, who didn't bother to speculate why...or who.. He showed time stamped photos of Meeka at the hotel,opening her trunk, filled with luggage and photos taken of a very alive ,Raphael St. John at an ATM ,nearly the same time..Suggesting he was killed in Philadelphia much later.
The ADA had heard and seen enough...He called a side bar... Olivia and Beverly hadn't finished with all of their defense evidence...They were just getting started...
Judge Marshall was surprised...
"In the interest of Justice...The People wish to drop all charges against Meeka Lewis...It's obvious she didn't kill St. John...How the body got in her car trunk, I don't know..and frankly,I don't care at this point.But it's obvious this petite little woman didn't kill that man...And it would have taken herculean strength on her part to put his body in her trunk ,if it's being said she did that..None of this plays.."he said and stomped his foot..He was beyond exasperated...He glared at Lt. Tragg with a white hot hatred..
Lt. Tragg looked a bit confused..
"In the interest of justice..The People of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania do not wish to pursue this matter anymore...Charges of Murder against Tamera Tameeka Lewis are here by dismissed...Ms. Lewis , you are free to go..." said the Judge, who winked at Olivia..and then banged his gavel...
He could see she was obviously with me and he spied the wedding band....but he still thought she was one sexy woman...
Olivia smiled uneasily....
"We did it again Auntay.."said Beverly...
"Come on neicy, this wasn't much of a case...A first year Public Defender could have won this case."said Olivia..who high fived her niece.
They were prepared to go to trial...but they were glad they didn't have to..
"Thank you so much...Oh My God...You guys are the best....Thank you too Josie.."said Meeka..
"I'm Just sorry you had to go through all this.."said Josie, who hugged her friend..
"Let's get out of here.."said Nelson...
Lieutenant Tragg stopped me in the hallway...
"You used to be a cop...Lawyers like your wife used to frustrate you didn't they?" he asked..
"I never met any lawyers quite like my wife and her niece...Now if I was you...I'd be worried about the real killer still being at large..Your killer is going to try and get those diamonds...He is going to say he's from New York or something..He might even pose as a policeman...That's going to be your guy..Just a tip...Cop to Cop." I said and walked away...
Olivia put her arms around me and clung tight to me..
"You alright babes?" I asked..
''Yes..Just don't let go of me.."she said.
''You know I never want to..."I said ,smiling raffishly as we left the courthouse..
Beverly and Nelson left the courthouse holding hands...
Josie followed behind with Meeka.
IV-
A few days later a visitor was allowed to enter The Police Evidence Room, where Lt. Tragg was temporarily assigned after the present ADA complained bitterly about his bungling yet another case...
He found himself organizing the bags of evidence in alphabetical order...There was only two other guys who worked with him and they were both at lunch..He was miserable, he needed to be out on the street where the action was...Not wasting his time in the basement of headquarters,organizing evidence in other detectives cases.
A Swarthy hulk of a man with a Pinky ring walked in...He had on a very expensive suit....
"You Lt. Tragg?" he asked..
"Yeah...Who are you?' he asked..
"I'm Detective Jim Rockford, NYPD....I'm here to pick up the uh evidence from the Lewis Case...The uh Hot Ice.." he laughed..
Lieutenant Tragg rooted around and found the bag...
"Here it is.." he said..
"Tough Break huh? Girl got off scott free." laughed the man....
''She had two good lawyers..They twisted the facts around and the gutless wonder of a ADA didn't want to try the case against them."grumbled Lt. Tragg...
"Hey ,what are you going to do huh? That's the way the game is played...Sometimes you get the bear,sometimes the bear gets you..." laughed the man....
It was then that Lt. Tragg remembered what I told him days before..
"I've never met any lawyers quite like my wife and her niece...
Now if I was
you...Your killer is going to try and get those diamonds...He is going
to say he's from New York or something..He might even pose as a
policeman...That's going to be your guy..Just a tip...Cop to Cop."
He kept looking at the man...
"Let me see some identification..." he asked..
The man showed him a badge...
"Let me see that badge.."said Lt. Tragg...."This isn't a real badge or ID...Jim Rockford huh? Hand me that bag buddy..."said Lt. Tragg...
The man punched Lt. Tragg in the stomach and then in the jaw..
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." he moaned...
Lt. Tragg punched him in his stomach...
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."He moaned..
Lt. Tragg then hit him in his face about five times...
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuf!" moaned the man..
The man's face was still swollen from the beating I had given him,He was in no mood for another fight......He placed his massive hands around Lt. Tragg's neck and lifted him off the ground...Ripping his suit jacket and his shirt and tie completely off...
"Geez,look what you've done,arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"said Lt. Tragg...
His trousers got stuck on the wired wall and in the struggle came off completely...Now all he had on was his boxers, knee socks, shoes and his holster...
Lt. Tragg's feet were off the ground, the man was applying pressure to his neck..
"I WILL SMASH YOU LIKE A GRAPE LITTLE MAN"said the man with the pinky ring..
Lt. Tragg pulled his service revolver out and fired one round into the man's side..
All he needed..The man released him and stumbled backwards...His side was bleeding profusely....He looked with shock at Lieutenant Tragg....who looked at him with equal shock..
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..I don't believe it...I've been shot! ohhhhhhhhhhhhh..."said the man, who fell to the ground and died on the spot, shortly afterwards...
Several Crime Scene Investigators snapped photos...
Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor took Lt. Tragg's statement and collected his service revolver..
The body of the swarthy man was put in a body bag and carted out...
Duke's wife, Dr. Hazel Baylor tried as hard as she could to hide her laughter..So did several uniformed police officers on the scene...
Lt. Tragg had on no pants, no shirt and no suit jacket...His neck was red with the working over he had gotten...He had a black eye...
He sat in his boxer shorts, undershirt and knee socks and shoes...looking dejected...Once again, he had gotten himself into an embarrassing situation...
The man just couldn't get a break..
Lt. Tragg did get a break...
The man he shot was a DNA match for the skin cells found around the neck of Rapheal St. John...And the pistol found on him was a ballistic match for the gun used in the Phillip Belli murder...
He was identified as Yohan Spaddavich... The brother of the missing Sam Spade ,who he believed that Raphael St. John had had killed so he could take over the business..He had recently been released from prison and had told Raphael that he was taking back the business..Raphael reached out to out of town help, Porto Belli to take Yohan out..That's why he sent Meeka to Philly with the diamonds..A partial payment..Only something went wrong..We'd never know just what or why Raphael was here in Philly..
Lt. Tragg had in his own way closed two open murder cases and hadn't cost the city a lengthy or embarrassing trial....For once...He'd actually gotten his man. Closing these two cases got him out of the doghouse,Literally and back on the street.
I suppose every dog has his day..Today Lt. Tragg Got one!
EPILOUGE-
ONE MONTH LATER-
Olivia and I were sitting in the conference room..We had just finished another round of cases and were enjoying another period of peace...
She was sitting on my lap and I was hugging her...She was thoroughly enjoying it...
"Ouuuuu Husband, you keep holding me like this and we are going to have to go upstairs.."she cooed in my ear...
Beverly and Nelson were eating lunch , across the table from us.
Josie was studying...
Alfreda walked into our conference room...
"Hey Guys..Look who's here and she's got news, rather they have news.." she said..
"HI GUYS!" said Meeka Lewis...
"Meeka!" said Josie, who hugged her old friend...
"HEYYYY MEEKA!" said Olivia..
"HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GIRL!" said Beverly...
I couldn't believe I noticed it first before the girls did!...I lifted her left hand.. "What is this?" I asked, smiling..
It appeared to be both an engagement ring and a wedding band!!!!!
Nelson looked up...
"WHATTTTTT?" he said..
Chico walked in...He had a sheepish grin on his face...
''We got married!!!Up in New York.,..And Guess What? We are moving to Philly....My stuff is already here in storage...I'm staying with my new hussssssssssband until we find a house.."she said giggling..
"MARRIED??CONGRATULATIONS MEEKA!" said Olivia.
"CONGRATULATIONS...WELCOME TO THE CLUB!"said Beverly..
"CONGRATULATIONS!"said Alfreda..
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu girl...You're married " said Josie..
Nelson whispered to Chico..
"It was THAT good huh?" he said and laughed..
"It was better...The Best I ever had!!!!Man after that first night...I knew I had to take her off the market....We got married in New York, the weekend after you guys got her off that murder rap..I heard they caught the real killer huh?"said Chico.
"Yeah, Tragg is all over Television..He won't stop talking about it.."I said..
''So Meeka you still going to be a buyer?" asked Olivia.
''Only with legitimate customers..Meanwhile...I want to go shopping with you guys..You guys are sharp...I need to know where you get your dresses, your shoes..the works.."said Meeka.
"No problem..Saturday...You can go with Auntay, Josie and I, We'll introduce you to everybody..."said Beverly...
"You don't mind, do you bae?" asked Meeka..
"Not at all..just bring back some lingerie.."laughed Chico...
"Only thing I don't like about this man...He giggles too much."said Meeka and laughed...
Me, Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Alfreda busted up with laughter....Another Happy Ending! FOR SLC!
