Something We Don't Know About

The visitors room in the Women's Detention Center was pleasant.  It looked like the room in a children's daycare...

Not like anything I'd seen in Louisiana...As a Detective...I'd been in both men's and women's detention centers and none looked like this..

"I know what you're thinking Donnie Ray....And the answer is...This is a brand new facility...The old one was a hell hole.."said my wife, Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander..

'Wow that was pretty good..That was exactly what I was thinking.."I said.

"I remember the old one....Remember the time you and I had a case together, back in the Public Defender's office and we had to come here to see our client..?" said Beverly to Nelson..

"Yeah and you had on that Purple Mini Skirt and the matching Heels and...."said Nelson, smiling and remembering...

 Olivia looked at Nelson and smiled...

''Auntay, he's got a one track mind.."sighed Beverly, who then smiled at her new husband...

"Goofball." she said...

"Most guys do baby...Don't you know that by now?" said Olivia..

I smiled...I hugged Josie, who had more or less been quiet through out our bantering..

"It's going to be alright.. Think about who arrested her...HE CAN'T BE RIGHT!!!"I said..

Josie smiled..

They brought Meeka in...Upon seeing all of us, She smiled..

"Oh My God!! Olivia and Beverly!!!   I always wanted to meet you two...but not like this...Under indictment for murder..."she said..

"Hi Meeka...We are going to try and get you bail and get you out of here...You have a formal arraignment in two days..."said Olivia..

"Meanwhile tell us what you know.....Oh..My manners...This is my husband, Attorney Nelson East, He's going to be helping us with the case.." said Beverly..

"Pleased to meet You"said Nelson..

"And this is my husband..Donnie Ray Alexander...Our Investigator, Former Homicide Detective.."said Olivia..

"I hope you're a better homicide detective than the one who arrested me and Josie."said Meeka..

I laughed...

"I hope so.."I said..

"Josie , thank you so much...You've always been my ride or die girl...I don't know how to thank you...."said Meeka.

"You'd do the same for me.."said Josie..

"And Girllllllllllll They are both sharp....Those dresses, those shoes...I gotta hang with them while I'm here, See where they go shopping!"whispered Meeka.



II-

I spoke to Meeka as softly as I could...

"Meeka, tell us everything...What happened ? Why were you in Philadelphia?" I asked..

"Tell Us as much as possible...Don't leave anything out..."said Olivia..

"The most minute thing might be important..."said Beverly....

Meeka began to talk..

"Rapheal  St. John...was my boss...He imports and sells very high end Jewelry...I was a buyer and an apprasier...I've been doing this for about five years..for several well known jewelers in the New York City Area..

I was in Philadelphia because I was supposed to meet with a local man here...Named Port..Port Bello,who wanted to buy some Jewelry....Lt. Tragg impounded the Jewelry when he arrested me the other night...

I came to Philly two days, well now three days ago...I was in town so I hooked up with Josie..

Josie and I were room mates in college...We went to Fisk and later we both went to PENN, which is where I see you and Beverly went.." she said..

I was around some very sexy and well educated women...Olivia and Beverly did their undergrad at Temple University and Attended Penn for Law School...While Josie got her Masters at Penn..Was probably there while Beverly and Kayla were there , but just didn't know each other..

I was proud that none of them were snobs...and they accepted me into their fold..

Meeka continued..

"After College, I went to New York...Josie stayed in Philadelphia and eventually hooked up with you guys...I got into the jewelry appraisal and buying business...I've made good money and gotten to travel to Paris, London, Tokyo and Africa over the years...I hooked up with Raphael St. John last year...

I've been working exclusively for him...He's paid me well..The last time I saw him was two days ago..He told me to hook up with Port when I got here and he gave me a sample of the Jewelry he wanted to move..

Only, I never met with Port...I had dinner and drinks with my girl Jo and well, here I am.."said Meeka.

"So you never saw this guy you were supposed to meet? Did you know what he looked like?" asked Beverly...

"I had a photo...It's in my luggage in my hotel.."said Meeka..

"You had luggage in that trunk right?" I asked.

"Two Suitcases, Two Dress bags and the case with the jewelry samples...No way I could have been carrying a body and all that stuff in my trunk..."said Meeka.

"Meeka, I uh have to ask...You and Mr. St. John's relationship was purely business right?.Not romantic?"asked Nelson...

"Raphael...? Me?? Strictly business...I mean he tried...He tried several times, but I told him I never mix business with pleasure...I was making too much money for him for him to try to buck that.."said Meeka..

"Okay....Give us two days...We'll see you in court...Your arraignment...We'll try to get you reasonable bail."said Olivia..

"I know it's rough girl...Hang in there.."said Beverly, smiling at her..

"Thank you two so much and thank you Josie.."said Meeka..

I smiled..

And the five of us left...

III-

The next day, I did some digging...into all of the players in this drama....

First Off ,Our Client...

Meeka Lewis was born Tamara Tameeka Lewis in New York City, New York...Her Father was an Attorney, Her mother was a School Teacher and later a member of City Council...She Attended New York City Public Schools for awhile and then a Private High School...She graduated and Attended Fisk University...Where she met Josie Boyd...They both Pledged Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority...

After Fisk ,both girls found themselves in Philadelphia, Where Josie was born, but hadn't lived in years...Josie was raised by her mother in New York City...She returned to Philadelphia and the home of her father, Joe E. Boyd...who had never married her mom...Josie and Meeka had both attended Penn...

After Penn, Josie decided to live in Philadelphia...She had been taken in by Kevin Morris ,

who promised her dying gangster father, he'd take care of her.. Josie worked as an Architect fir awhile, but was not fulfilled...

Then she came to work for Olivia, Beverly and me and she found her calling..The Law..

She was our girl Friday and eventually our para-legal...She's close to being an Attorney....

Meeka became a buyer...First in the fashion district and then in the Jewelry business..She was telling the truth, She bought and appraised and moved High end Jewelry for a number of well heeled buyers for years and made a lot of money for them and herself..She had a tony townhouse in Manhattan and maintained a small walk up in the Bronx, where she grew up...A chill out spot..

She had no criminal record whatsoever...She appeared to be a good kid..

Her boss and the murder victim, Raphael St. John was a completely different story....

His real name was actually Ralph, Ralph Johnson.....He had no juvenile arrests...but a few adult arrests, but no convictions, for Burglary, Breaking and Entering and Bunco...He had an Associate Degree from New York Community College in History and entered St. John's for two years, but dropped out...

He was somehow able to endear himself to several people on New York's Gold Coast and set up a lucrative partnership with a New York Jeweler named Sam Spade...(Siri Spadadavich, A Russian Jew) who owned two jewelry stores..Sam Spade vanished without a trace seven years ago and Ralph Johnson became Raphael St. John and took over both stores...He also became a dealer of high end jewelry...and a major power broker over the years...Which led him into the orbit of up and coming buyer...Meeka Lewis..

I gave all of this information to Olivia, Beverly and Nelson...

''Okay...so our murder victim was no angel...What we need to know from Meeka is how much about him did she know?" asked Olivia.

"She didn't talk about him a lot ,except to say that she made the most money with him..."said Josie..

"I called Vice , NYPD like you asked Donnie Ray and they said that Raphael St. John, AKA Ralph Johnson was something of a grifter...con man..and that they had been watching him awhile..They suspected he may have been a shot caller...Setting up jewel heists..but they were never able to put a tag on him..They weren't looking at him for anything recently."said Nelson..

"Sounds like somebody put a tag on him..Somebody Tipped Lt. Tragg off...If it wasn't the NYPD, then who?."said Beverly...

"All good questions, Shortcake..You may have to ask him that under oath...Thing is...If Raphael sent Meeka to Philly to meet this guy, Porto Bello...Why was he here in Philly??? and when did he get here?" I asked..

"I'm assuming she didn't know he was here in town..."said Olivia..

"Unless he was here to warn her..."said Josie..

"Good Point.." I said..

"Good Point ....Honey Bunny, Do you know anything about This "Porto Bella" fellow?" asked Olivia..

"Yeah, he's a local gangster..His Name is Phillip "Porto" Bella...He lives up in Little Norway...Not a made man, but an associate of several Russian mobsters...He's got quite a sheet, Armed Robbery, arrested twice, no convictions, Breaking and Entering...Did two years for that, Wire Fraud, suspected of, never arrested, Car Theft, Arrested ,never convicted...Low Level hood, looking to move up.."I said..

"A real sweetheart."said Olivia..

''Why would they be selling high end merch to a guy like that? He's not the type of client they were used to dealing with.."said Beverly..

"He would be if the price was right.."said Nelson..

"Nelson's right , but I keep thinking there is more to this..This guy was waiting for a meet...He's still waiting...Maybe somebody eliminated the middle man in this deal."  I said..

"Listen at my baby, sounding like a detective."said Olivia, smiling.

IV-

The next day at the hearing...

Olivia, Beverly and Nelson arrived with the argument that Meeka was not a flight risk...

With Josie assisting them , they argued that Meeka Lewis had a sterling record...College Graduate..Bachelors and Masters degree from Fisk and PENN, a solid record in the New York Business community and no criminal record whatsoever..

They even began a preliminary argument for what could be their defense of her murder conviction,

provided by me...Photos of her luggage being removed from her car upon arrival in Philadelphia..and a copy of the Autopsy report saying the body was cold and rigor was setting in at the time of discovery, plus the weather report for that night and the contention that a rotting, decomposing body would have been noticed by someone..

The Judge smiled..

"You guys are arguing your entire case before me...This is just a bail hearing...but I'll agree, Ms. Lewis does not seem like a flight risk..." he said..

He granted reasonable bail, which was readily paid...And Meeka was free for the first time in two days..

"OH MY GOD!!!  One thing I've learned...I never want to go to jail ever again.."she said as she hugged us all..

"Nobody does.."said Olivia..

"You shouldn't stay in that hotel...Whoever killed Raphael, might be looking to kill you too."said Beverly...

"Bev is right.."said Nelson..

''She's going to stay with me.." said Josie...

"Awwww Gee....You guys are so sharp...Thank you..."said Meeka..

"But now...I'm sure you're starving, Since this hearing was so early...Let's go get you something to eat and get your things.." I said..

We picked up Meeka's luggage,checked her out of her hotel and then took her to Sam Mother's Diner...Her car, a rental had been impounded...It was part of evidence in her case.

where we had Cheddar Omelets, Grits and hot tumblers of coffee...

"Meeka, this is my boyfriend...Paris.." said Josie..

"How you doin Meeka."said Paris..Who just happened to be in Sam Mother's Diner, when we got there...

" Just fine,considering...Nice Josie....Paris, you got any single friends?" asked Meeka..

Beverly and Olivia laughed...

Nelson looked at me...

"Donnie Ray man, something else is going on here...Something we don't know about." he said..

"Yeah, I know...The Autopsy report said that this guy's neck was broke...This girl couldn't have done that...Look at her ,Look at Josie...They're too petite...I need to look at that body.." I said..

I needed to look at a lot of things.

(TO BE CONTINUED)