The Next Morning..Austin Worthy dropped by our office....It was a rare informal day and since it was early...Beverly gave him the tour....
They traveled upstairs to Beverly and Nelson's floor...
"This is where me and my hubby live.." said Beverly..
"It's home!"said Nelson...
"It's great...You guys have a law library of your own downstairs , a super modern conference room..and office...and this nice place up here.."said Austin..
Josie and Paris were emerging from the other bedroom, dressed...
"Oh Hi Austin...Austin, this is my boyfriend, Paris.."said Josie.
"Hey" said Paris, who had come over before midnight last night to spend the night with Josie,who was staying with us.
"No wonder you didn't mind giving me your place.." laughed Austin..."I smell something...Smells like coffee and sausage and bacon..." he said..
"That means breakfast is ready...Come on,let's go upstairs.." said Beverly...
And upstairs...Olivia was talking to Alfreda...Who had helped her prepare breakfast...
"Thank you for washing and styling my hair Alfreda...Beverly usually does it...But I didn't want to bother her..She has company." said Olivia..
"Oh I don't mind...I used to do your hair when you were a little girl and when you were in high school, remember?" laughed Alfreda..
"I do...and I remember our talks..." said Olivia...even after her older brother (and Beverly's father) Jimmy stopped seeing Alfreda, Olivia still went to see her..Sometimes she brought Beverly along, sometimes she came by herself..
''Where is Tall Dark and Southern?"asked Alfreda..
"He'll be here..He went to pick up a few groceries....He's really been working hard on this case...That ADA gets out of jail tomorrow and he wanted to use his time wisely to gather as much information as he could.."said Olivia..
"He's been working hard on YOU too livy girl, done made you sweat out your perm.."laughed Alfreda..
"Oh My God Alfreda!!!...The man never gets enough...but it's soooo good,I can't tell him no..."laughed Olivia..
"Awwww Honeyyyyyyyyyyyy,I know how that is..Believe me..I know" laughed Alfreda..hugging Olivia....
Both women laughed.....
Just then Beverly, Nelson, Josie,Paris and Austin walked in...
"Hi Mommy" said Beverly, kissing Alfreda and hugging her... "Hi Auntay" she said , kissing and hugging Olivia..
"Wait! This woman, The Office Manager...She's your Mom Bev?? Well that explains a lot...This is where you got all your sexiness from.."said Austin...
"He is such a flirt.." said Alfreda..laughing...
''Hey Mrs. J." said Nelson. Kissing his Mother in law, "Hey Liv" he also added..
"Good Morning Liv, Ms. Alfreda"said Josie..
"Good Morning Liv, Mrs. J."said Paris.
''Well Breakfast is ready....There is Hot Coffee.....
And there are Pancakes
and Eggs..
take your pick.."said Olivia..
''Oh My God Liv, this is some set up...An Office and Duplex...How did you swing this?" asked Austin..
''A good divorce!"said Olivia..
Beverly, Alfreda and Josie cracked up laughing...
I came in just then....
"Well Well, the gangs all here.."I said...
"You're right on time.."said Olivia..
I took her in my arms and kissed her passionately....
"Ummmmmmm so are you.." I whispered to her...
II-
Steaming hot tumblers of coffee was poured....
Nelson, Paris ,Beverly and I had Pancakes.
and country sausage....
Olivia, Alfreda,Josie and Austin had
Cheddar Omelets...
We chowed down....
"I did some digging into your case....Lt. Tragg told us that ADA Brad Hammer had an alibi...He was supposedly at the Policeman's Beef and Beer Fundraiser..."I said.
"Tragg told you that?" asked Austin..
''Yes..we had Coffee with him.."said Beverly...
"Get out of here...Seriously?"asked Austin in disbelief..
"It was rather nice..."laughed Olivia..
"You're kidding me.."said Austin..
"I am...We saw him in a coffee shop and we sat down with him...Tried to talk some sense into him but.."said Olivia..
"You know that was a lost cause." said Beverly..
"But I did go and get a list of everybody present at the Policeman's Beef and Beer fundraiser...I spent a day interviewing all of them..It started at noon and ended around 5:30....Tragg said that Hammer told him he was there from 12:00 noon until it ended....Not exactly true...Hammer arrived at 2:00pm and left around 3:00pm and returned around 4:50 with a different suit on...His hair disheveled and in a surly mood."I said.
"You mean more surlier than usual?" asked Austin..
"Yeah, you've got a point."said Josie.
"He never smiles...He goes from Surly to Angry to rage!"said Olivia.
"I wonder if that's why she left him.."asked Beverly.
"Probably!" said Alfreda...
Nelson and Paris laughed....
I continued..
"Hammer made three phone calls during that time...They were to Joanie....All three were close to twenty minutes long...I have a photo of him standing outside the hall on his phone...See the suit?" I said and showed him a glossy.. "Now..he made another phone call around 4:00 am to a man, A guy named Pete Kaplan....He's a twice convicted car thief and burglar...He's out on parole and was about to be sent back for parole violations...Guess who the prosecutor was ,both times he went up???.....Our boy Brad Hammer...Strange he'd be calling him...but this next call is the most telling...He called Wanda Peyton....The young lady you said you were entertaining....Did you know she has three arrests for soliciting or more commonly known as, prostitution...?" I said.
"What? She told me she was an Event Planner!" said Austin...
"I'll just bet she doesplan some events."said Alfreda...
Olivia ,Beverly,Josie,Nelson and Paris broke into guffaws of laughter...
"Oh My God...Alfreda, you are too much!"laughed Olivia.
"See, And you guys think I'm bad...I get it from my mama."said Beverly..
''Yeah girl, yes you do!"laughed Josie..
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh man, event planner...That's a new one.."laughed Nelson...
"Nah it aint.."laughed Paris..
"The call was made around 4:15pm..." I said softly...
"I was asleep and she was gone by then." said Austin...
"Time enough for her or Pete Kaplan to plant the gun and the sandle in your apartment...These calls...All of these calls were right after the murder...."I said..
"When I call him on the stand...He's going to have to explain why he, an Assistant District Attorney was calling a parolee, someone he sent up and a prostitute..."said Olivia.
"He's going to have to explain where he was those missing hours when he was supposedly at the policeman's beef and beer fundraiser."said Beverly...
''And why he returned with a different suit on as evidenced in this photo."said Nelson...
"He also had a Private Investigator following the former Mrs. Hammer...were you aware of that?" I asked.
''Joanie told me she thought her phone was tapped and that she was being followed" said Austin.
"I hate to ask this...but when was the last time you and Joanie were intimate?" asked Olivia..
"Two days before she died...We were friends with benefits you might say..I was quite fond of her."said Austin..
"Obviously."said Alfreda...
"Mommy stop!"laughed Beverly...
''Bev,I always found it hard to believe you and Olivia were Aunt and Niece...You look like you could be sisters...And harder to believe that Alfreda is your mother?? My goodness...Sexiness just abounds in this building.."said Austin..
"Awww you only say that cause it's true.."laughed Olivia..
"Auntay and I are nine years apart in age...Her older brother is my daddy!"explained Beverly...
"My Brother is 12 years older than me..He was about 21 or 22 when he and Alfreda had Beverly...I had just turned 9 years old, three days before she was born..."said Olivia..
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh that explains it.."said Austin...
"We slept in the same room for years...We kind of bonded...Been tight like glue ever since.."said Olivia.
"Yupper" said Beverly...
"You know the ADA's call you two Auntie and Niecey don't you?"laughed Austin, who was finishing his food and turned his attention to me..
''So what else did you find Mr. Donnie Ray?" he asked.
"There were a couple of calls from the Private Investigator to ADA Hammer right after the day you say you were last with Joanie...Followed by several calls to her landline phone, which she didn't answer....I heard the phone messages she left and recorded them...ADA Hammer was pretty steamed up that she had been with you...But he couldn't violate the restraining order that was still filed against him...And those calls he made to her cell phone the day she died...I don't know what they were about , but they were twenty minutes long..All three of them...Neighbors in her apartment complex said she went running out and she looked distraught, near 4:00 pm...Last time she was seen alive."I said..
"Then what?" he asked..
"Then she died..Somewhere in between the time after the last call and when he reappeared again at the Policeman's Beef and Beer event...Joanie was brutally murdered and placed in that driveway...Your stolen car was seen speeding away and then it's miraculously found, the next day...After you're in custody..No, this story that seemed so nicely tied up, has enough holes in it to sink the Titantic.."I said..
"You know Donnie Ray,Olivia said that when she met you , You were a cop, A Homicide Detective..I imagine you were a damn good one too...It's a shame this is Lieutenant Tragg's case and not yours...I would have never been arrested in the first place..."said Austin.
"His Shoddy police work has won us about a dozen cases..."said Olivia..
"My Boyfriend is an Assistant District Attorney....Tragg's cases have caused him to lose a couple of cases...He hired his own Investigator to go over all of the cases he is handed now...All because of Lt. Tragg!"said Alfreda..
''Awww Alfreda, you got a boyfriend? I was going to ask you out."said Austin Worthy..
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu you are too much, You need to stopppp!"laughed Alfreda...
"Yes...he does..."laughed Olivia..
Beverly laughed and shook her head...
I said to Nelson...
"I need to find Hammer's car and be able to look into it.."
"I know where he lives and where he parks his car...but you'd need a warrant to look inside it..And you're not a cop and it's not your case..We could ask Gary...Gary Lockwood.."said Nelson..
"It's worth a try..." I said.
III-
ADA Rockland Cambridge and his Investigator, Gary Lockwood stopped by later on that day...
Rockland wasn't really who we wanted to talk to ..It was Gary....Rockland was in the front talking to Alfreda..
"I had a big breakfast this morning, upstairs in Olivia's place...I'm full..but thank you for thinking of me...with this lunch.."said Alfreda..
''Well uh do I get uh a reward for uh thinking of you?" asked Rockland, laughing sheepishly...
"What kind of reward do you want? "She asked ,then laughed.."Yes...I suppose you do deserve a reward...."said Alfreda, sighing..
Rockland took her in his arms and they began kissing passionately...
"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." he moaned..
She giggled...
"You are the horniest man alive..." she said..
While in the conference room ,Gary told us what I already knew..
"I wish I could help you guys...but I have no jurisdiction...I could if it was Rockland's case...but it's not...and no other detective can help you...You were on the job once..You know you can't mess with another detective's case...Have you talked to Lieutenant Tragg?" asked Gary..
''We tried that...He wouldn't listen to anything we had to say.."said Olivia.
"Figures...Plus he and Brad Hammer are buddies...Grew up in the same neighborhood...Was in Tragg's Uncle's Boy Scout troop...His Dad knew Tragg's Father..The dad ,Traggs father and uncle were all cops together...All Detectives..."said Gary.
''Wow, they're that tight huh? Well I did as much as I could...Hammer gets out of jail tomorrow."I said.
''Wait!Hammer is in jail?" asked Gary incredulously..
"Yeah, Contempt of court...he yelled at the Judge..."said Olivia.
"Oh My God...That is rich..."laughed Gary...
"Even if you could get inside his car or his apartment...Anything you found would be inadmissable Donnie Ray!.."said Beverly...
Nelson looked at Josie..
''And Why is that Jo?" he asked.
"Improper Search and Seizure...No noted probable cause or warrant!" said Josie...
"Good Girrrllll"said Olivia..smiling like a proud mother...As a para legal, Josie had been in and out of court with Olivia, Beverly and Nelson and had picked up so much on the job knowledge that law school, even her accelerated courses at Drexel was just a formality..She was going to be a very knowledgable attorney.
''She's going to be a great lawyer.."said Beverly, hugging her...
"Hmmmm but that doesn't stop us from checking the local dumpsters does it?" I asked.
''What are you getting at?"asked Gary...
"He had on a different suit..when he came back...If it was torn and bloody and judging by the way that woman's body was beaten up...They had a terrific fight..He wouldn't take that suit to the cleaners..He'd get rid of it..Trash day is tomorrow..."I said..
"Meaning what?" asked Olivia..
"Nelson, let's go hunting."I said..
"Okay.." said Nelson..
Beverly pouted..
"I'm jealous...I'm your Robin, Batman, you usually take me.." she said..
I kissed her on her forehead..
"Next time, I promise Shortcake...But this is dirty work...and it calls for a man's touch.."I said.
It was the sound of kissing...and moaning...No mistaking Rockland's deep baritone...
"Oh My God!" said Beverly...A little embarrassed...
"Got any cold water to throw on those two?" laughed Gary...
"Oh leave them alone...I think they're cute..."said Olivia..
"I uh think I'd better go.."whispered Rockland.
Alfreda slipped him a spare key..She whispered in his ear..
"I expect you in the bed...Nude, when I get home.."
"Oh My God!" he whispered....
''You ready to go boss man?" asked Gary..
"Yesssssssssss..Yesssssssssss.." he said.."I-I-mean yes.." he said..
"I'll take that as a yes...Sorry I couldn't help you guys..."said Gary..
"That's Okay..I've one last hand to play." I said..
"Bye Gary, Tell Yvette I said Hi." said Olivia..
"Well We'd better get ready." said Beverly..
"Get ready for what?" I asked..
''We know you plan to go dumpster diving...Bev and I will drive...We'll take the SUV..and you both are sitting in the back...You aren't smelling up either one of our cars. And no cuddling until you are properly showered tonight."said Olivia.
She was after all ,the boss and she had spoken!
"We don't have time to argue Donnie Ray."said Nelson, smiling...
"You're right....Josie take Alfreda home and lock up.." I said..
"Okay." she said...
Meanwhile the four of us were off to make a difference in this case.
