We had decided to have breakfast in ,since we had all worked late yesterday...
Olivia and Beverly had gotten up and cooked breakfast and put a pot of coffee on..
We had Eggs
Pancakes
and hot coffee...
Nelson, Josie and I had a guest...Our client, Richard Graves
"Mmm this is great.." said Nelson, who was chowing down..
''Slow Down, you're going to choke yourself." said Josie. She and Nelson shared a sister/brother type of relationship now of days.
"I tell him that all the time Jo...He eats like it's his last meal...We not gonna let you starve baby.." joked Beverly.
I smiled.
"You okay Mr. Graves?" I asked.
"Oh this is great, best meal I've had since I got out of stir. Mr. Graves is my father, Call me Richie." said Richard Graves..
"We are just glad you are out of jail, but you're not out of the woods...I should tell you this is going to go bad real soon...Especially if those bodies turn out to be who they think they are." said Olivia.
"But don't feel discouraged...We have a lot of options and legal predicates." said Beverly...
"Listen..you guys have never asked me...but I should tell you...I did not kill my wife...I loved her, I was obsessed with her...Sure..When I found out she was cheating on me with my brother, I belted her..Yes, I hit her..I was upset, but that's as violent as I ever got with her...There was no pattern of abuse..It's in Mr. Sullivan's notes which you have...I woke up after we had a night of great sex and she was gone...I was surprised.. I got high...I went out...I wandered around god knows where..but I never saw her...I swear that's the truth. and I never buried her or anyone else in the Juniata Creek."said Richard Graves..
I had to admit....I believed him now for the first time ever.
Olivia fixed a plate of Pancakes...
"Niecy Poo, would you be a doll and take these to Alfreda...She's downstairs in the office."said Olivia.
"Sure" said Beverly...
"Liv, it's about seven police cars outside."said Josie..
"Police Cars??WHAT??" said Nelson..
"Take a guess who that is.."said Beverly.
"Oh My God, what a butt head."said Olivia.
"You know....That guy really needs a new career...Police work doesn't suit him."said Richard Graves.
II-
Alfreda stared down Lt. Tragg, who arrived with a Tactical Squad..
"Look, we've traced him here...We know he's here.." said Lt. Tragg.
Alfreda was as cool as a cucumber..
"He's here...He's upstairs on the second floor." said Alfreda.."But you're not going up there.. You don't have a warrant.."she said.
"Listen, get out of my way or I'll arrest you for Obstruction of Justice. Ms. Johnson..I don't want to have to do that...I rather like Rockland Cambridge.." said Lt. Tragg.
''Who do you think you're talkin to , some punk kid? I work for Attorneys and my boyfriend is an Assistant District Attorney...I know a little bit about the law..."You aint goin upstairs without a warrant!!!." said Alfreda defiantly.
''Don't make this hard on yourself ...Get out of my way." said Lt. Tragg...
"Don't make it hard on yourself...I said you aint goin upstairs unless you produce a warrant." said Alfreda defiantly...
"I don't need one!!!...He's not jumping bail again." said Lt. Tragg..
"YOU DO NEED ONE! And for the record, He's not jumping bail...He is eating breakfast. Last time I checked, that wasn't against the law!"said Olivia, who suddenly appeared..
Beverly passed her mother a plate of Pancakes.
"Here Mommy." she said and hugged her mother..."We are here now...Thanks for holding it down for us." said Beverly...
"He's not under house arrest Lieutenant...and he's still wearing his ankle bracelet.."I said..
"He left the parameter set up by the court..." said Lt Tragg…
"What Parameter? We weren't informed of any parameter...other than the Philadelphia City Limits...This is still Philadelphia. He is allowed to meet with his attorneys...We are his attorneys of record."said Nelson..
"It's alright guys...He can see that I was meeting with my attorneys at their office for breakfast...I've broken no laws.. Do you want to arrest me again and really get embarrassed like you're going to be in a few days when they ID those bodies Lieutenant? I'm certain that my wife is not among them." said Richard Graves.
"Oh really? well I'm certain she is and I think you know we got you cold..You're trying to be cool until you can find a way to slip out of town..but it won't work...My men are on you like a cheap suit."said Lt. Tragg.
Josie passed Alfreda a cup of coffee,
"Here Ms. Alfreda" she said.
"Thank you baby...Lt. Tragg was just leavingweren't you Lieutenant?"said Alfreda..
Lt. Tragg didn't have a leg to stand on... and he knew it ...He was beet red...He turned...
"You win this time Graves...but you're going down...it's just a matter of time.." he said..
"Let's go boys." he said.
They turned and left...
"Wow, imagine if this was a TV show or a dramatic story...That was a great scene right there."I said.
"HA!" Olivia laughed.
"Donnie Ray, you are too much." laughed Beverly...
"Be careful man, Tragg is on you like a cheap suit."said Nelson laughing...
"He's waiting for you to slip up. Then you're goin down mannnn" said Josie, which was met by laughter from all of us.
"He's shorter in person than he seems on Television." said Alfreda.
We all cracked up laughing again..
"You're my kind of woman Alfreda...The way you stared him down...I loved it.."I said and kissed her on the cheek..
"He's a trip, he was going to bum rush me up the stairs.."said Alfreda..
"I came down here to protect him,from you Freda.." laughed Olivia..
Beverly cracked up...
"He wasn't running over my mommy." said Beverly...
"Alfreda...What is your shoe size? There is a nice pair of shoes in your future baby." said Richard Graves..
Hazel had contacted Dr. Phillip Harris, asking for Elaine Grave's Medical and Dental Records...He hadn't complied within four days..
Richard gave us his address and phone number...He failed to answer numerous calls, so Olivia, Beverly and I went to his office with a court order for the records..
"This is a beautiful office." said Olivia.
"It is.."said Beverly..
"Where is the Doc? We've been out here for 45 minutes?" I asked ,feeling a strange feeling in my gut.
"I'll call him again...I told him you were out here and with a court order...He said he'd be right out." said the receptionist..
We heard a door slam shut and heard a back door open and the sound of running...
''That's Dr. Harris...I don't understand why he's running out the back..I told him you guys were here." said the receptionist...
"Donnie Ray, he's pulling off." said Beverly...
who saw his shiny Lexus backing out of the parking lot.
"Come on ladies...Let's go" I said..
''We are going to chase him?" asked Olivia as she ran behind Beverly and me...
"You've got a court order don't you?" I said.
We got in our SUV...
I drove..
Beverly sat up front with me..
Olivia sat in the back...
Dr. Harris saw us and took off, darting in between cars... The Chase through the city streets was on!
I stayed on him...
I hated being in a car chase with Olivia and Beverly in the car...I didn't want anything to happen to either one of them.. but my cop instincts had kicked in...I was in hot pursuit..
My adrenaline was running high...
So was Beverly's ,She was enjoying the entire thing..
I couldn't gage Olivia...Her beautiful big eyes were wide open, but she didn't look afraid..
Her sexy afro was blowing in the wind... We drove with caution in the city...
He got close to the expressway and he unbelievably jacked his speed up...He was going at 100 or more.. I jacked my speed up too... I felt like a Homicide Detective again after a suspect....
I was doing 90 almost....Everything looked like a blur as we sped down the freeway...I looked at Shortcake...So young, just starting out and then Olivia, my beautiful bride...No...It wasn't worth risking injury to either of them...I cut my speed...We'd catch the good doc another day, another time..
"Donnie Ray, you're slowing down." said Beverly...
"I can't risk you and your Aunt's safety....I'm not a cop anymore.." I sighed..
"You are so sweet." said Olivia..who was relieved that I thought better than a car chase down the freeway...
No Sooner than I had said that and slowed down...The unexpected happened..
The Good Doctor must have lost control of his car... It careened off the side of the road and flipped over several times and exploded.!!
It was a horrific accident....Several cars stopped and people were watching..
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!" screamed Olivia..
"OH MY GOD!" screamed Beverly...
I jumped out and ran towards the carnage....As close as I could get...
The heat drove me back...The car exploded again...
As usual, Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic specialists were at the scene some time later. Police kept the crows back...
So was poor Hazel...
"It's not your fault guys...I called him six or seven times...He put me on hold and when I called back, the receptionist said he had left for the day...I emailed him and I was about to get a court order myself.. He was afraid about something. .He never intended to give anybody access to his files."she said.
"What was he afraid of? We wanted Elaine Graves's file."said Olivia..
"Unless he knows something ,something that nobody else knows.."said Beverly..
"Assuming he took her file...That was our last chance to know anything." I said.
"No, her sister is coming in tomorrow to give a DNA sample and I think we can get her dental records from her practice...We still have a chance..."said Hazel...
Lt. Tragg drove up...
"Dr. Harris? Elaine Graves's Doc? You know...I could run you three in for obstruction of justice..but it wouldn't be worth it..." he said.
"OH SHUT UP! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! I told you...I told you to wait until we had positively identified the bodies before making an arrest...But nooooo you came up with a crazy theory with not a shred of proof whatsoever and now a man is on trial for his life and being held up to international embarrassment and scorn because you have a need to always be in the news , in the spotlight...A Man is dead! Now it's going to be even harder to identify that woman's body and what are you going to do if they turn out to not be either of who you think they are? I personally hope Richard Graves sues the boxer shorts off of you."said an angry Hazel..
"You know I'm going to talk to Doc Gibbons about assigning another Coroner to this case...It's quite obvious that you have an axe to grind with me and I don't think we can work on this case or any other case for that matter in harmony...Yes I'm going to have a talk with Doc Gibbons... Olivia...this was a close one for you...You and your niece and your husband were very close to Obstruction of Justice."said Lt. Tragg..
"How do you figure? I have a legal court order to see Dr. Harris's files...He has avoided Dr. Baylor and my requests to see Elaine Graves medical and dental records for days...Today we came to see him in person and he chose to flee...Justice? Your public persecution of the man is not justice, it's injustice!"said Olivia.
''We didn't break one law and you know it.."said Beverly.
"I was driving...Not Them." I said, trying to defuse the situation...
"Cop's instincts kicking in huh? " he said, smiling..."Just watch yourselves..." said Lt. Tragg… He got in his car and pulled off. .He hadn't listened to a word we had said..
Firemen arrived to put out the fire..
Soon the charred body of Dr. Harris
was removed from the wreckage...
IV-
Nelson and Josie met us at a nearby Diner about an hour later..
They served great Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes and Green Peas.. We all had a helping of it...Comfort food for three people who needed to be comforted...
"You guys caught a bad break today huh?" said Nelson..
"I'm pretty sure Elaine's records went up in smoke with the good doctor in that car." I said.
''Maybe we can still have a look see at his office tomorrow."said Beverly.
"Sounds like a good idea Shortcake."I said.
"What was he afraid of? what was he hiding?" asked Olivia..
''While you guys were out I did some digging..Dr. Harris was married and having a torrid affair with a woman named Lisa Brooks.. Lisa Brooks told him she was pregnant...He thought it was his, but they took a paternity check and guess what? It wasn't his...It was Mike Fugate's..."said Josie..
"Mike Fugate? The Guy who was sleeping with Richard Graves;s wife.."I said.
"Well Now...Isn't that interesting/"said Olivia..
"Awwwwww Suki Suki now."said Beverly...
"Dr. Harris should have been relieved that it wasn't his baby, but he was said to be livid..That another man had gotten his girlfriend pregnant."said Josie.
"Mike Fugate ,from what I'm hearing was a lady's man, he liked the ladies and the ladies liked him...He never met a woman he didn't feel he shouldn't liberate from her panties and bra." said Nelson.
"Reminds me of your ex, who shall not be named." said Beverly...
"Yes.. Thank you." said Olivia..
We all had a hot steaming cup of coffee to digest what we had just heard. This case just got murkier and murkier..
No comments:
Post a Comment