Murder On Your Day Off

It was a nice ending to a few days off for our female detectives...As a unit we had cracked quite a few cases lately...Taken down a major Drug Kingpin, Taken down a shot caller and several heist crews that were working for him, Snagged a serial killer and solved a brutal murder..

Sissy had given everybody a few days off...

Our female detectives planned a girls night out at the tony new Aqua Rooftop Bar, owned by the same guy who owned Aqua Bar...

It was a great last day off plan...

A huge  day party was going on... both up on the roof and a floor below at the pool..

My wife Carlotta,

 and Attorney, Olivia Bennett-Alexander

 were the only ones actually in the pool..

The others, Detectives Angie Belton -Barlow, Detective Sirena Pile, FBI Deputy Special Agent in charge, Sharon Ferrell-Hopkins and Deputy Coroner, Dr. Hazel Baylor were poolside, waiting for drinks..

''Wow..Carlotta and Olivia can really swim.." noted Angie..

"Olivia went to the state championships and won ,our senior year of high school...We were all so proud of her." said Sharon...

"You knew both of them in high school? Carlotta and Olivia" said Sirena to Sharon..

"Yeah, but they didn't know each other..

"Carlotta and I lived next door to each other...We've known each other since we could walk...I met

Olivia in the 9th grade...We had some classes together...and as fate would have it..We went to Temple University after High school and Penn Law school..."said Sharon...

"Wow, that's quite a history.." said Sirena..

"And Both Angie and Sharon used to like my older brother though at different times.. I pledged Olivia and Yvette Jones into Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority when they were undergrads.."laughed Hazel, who graduated from high school with Angie..

"Wow...you bringin up ancient history Hazel."laughed Angie..

"I'm really surprised that Olivia is here alone without her Niece or her husband..but I guess, just like all of us..We have to get away from it all sometimes.." said Sharon...

"Here come our drinks!" said Sirena..

A plate full of drinks arrived...

"This is sooo nice.."said Hazel..."Just us girls...No dead bodies...no blood splatter.."said Hazel..

"Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl, you aint never lied.."said Sirena..

"We should do this more often...It takes the stress off.." said Angie..


II-

 Unfortunately....Murder seldom takes a day off and in the playground just blocks from where most of us lived, a body was found ….

When I arrived on the scene...Uniformed policemen were holding the crowds back...

I saw Sissy and she let me through...

"What have we got here?" I asked..

"Female ,Caucasion...Strangulation...left in the middle...."said Sissy...

 Detective Tyriq Pile kneeled down....He had on latex gloves....He examined the body...

"She's fully clothed...No sign of sexual activity..." he said.

"Credit Cards and debit cards in her purse.....Here is her ID...and Drivers License...her name is Gillis,
Helen Gillis, She's 27." said Jimmy.

"This makes Three Sis.." observed Duke...

"Yup, but before I say serial killer, let's take a look at these girls...There is a sinister pattern here..."said Sissy..

"Pattern?" I asked..

"I'll talk to you about it in private..Not out here.."said Sissy..

"Nobody saw or heard anything Sis....We are going to have to check the street and traffic cams.."said Hop..

"Don't look now...THE GREAT DETECTIVE has arrived." said Jimmy...

Two additional police cars pulled up....Four uniformed officers got out and Lt. Tragg walked out last..

"What have we got here?" he demanded to know..

''A murder!" said Sissy sarcastically..

"Very funny Lieutenant...If my memory serves me right..This is number three...Young girl, strangled, dropped in the park....We've got ourselves a serial killer on the loose." he said loudly...

"WE haven't got ourselves anything...I have a third murdered girl..and I am investigating if this murder is linked to my other two unsolved.."said Sissy..

"Three unsolved murders.. Where are your other detectives?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"They'll be back tomorrow...I gave them some days off.."said Sissy..

"You got three unsolved murders and you give half your detectives days off...The Deputy of Operations will not like this."said Lt. Tragg.

"You never stop do you?  You just stay on my case constantly...My detectives just cleaned up one of your messes a week or so ago...The Mayfield Case..oh and you're welcome..  Jimmy, you can release the body.."said Sissy..

"Pack her up boys." said Jimmy..

"Where is Dr. Baylor..?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"She's off today.."said Sissy..

"Hmmmm very interesting.."said Lt. Tragg...

Sissy ignored him...

"Let's go guys.." she said..

As the body was packed up and rolled away...

Sissy and I, Tyriq, Duke, Jimmy and Hop all followed her....

Meanwhile at the pool party...

Carlotta, Sirena, Sharon, Angie and Hazel , were joined by Olivia, now out of the water,

and her niece, Beverly and young protoge' , Josie Boyd

who came late and joined her and Carlotta  in the pool and

 Yvette Jones,  and her girls,Bee Bee Evans, Sofia Garcia and Jade Lee

who also joined the party with more drinks...
It truly was a girl's day party....






III-

I was at COMSTAT Meeting with Sissy the next day...

Lt. Tragg was holding court as usual and he was doing what he did that made a lot of officers hate these meetings...Upbraiding  Seargents and Lieutenants...Many who had just made rank for any and every mistake they had made on their command in front of their peers...

His favorite target however was Lieutenant Sissy Van Buren...He usually saved her for last...Everyone found these meetings uncomfortable...

Today however was even worse..The Deputy Of Operations was present..

"Lieutenant Van Buren.... My intelligence tells me that last month you had a caterer to bring in a lot
of food

to your new headquarters that you share with the federallis...You then had brunch served to your unit, the cops who were there and several federal agents as WELL AS SEVERAL GUESTS WHO ARE NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT....Hmmmm I counted Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her staff, Yvette Jones and her staff

"Yvette Jones and her staff,

, a certain Private Investigator who meddles in police business and his wife....

named Keven Morris, An Insurance Investigator, uh Bonnie Shay and her husband...

and uh personell from Robbery -Homicide 

and Missing persons...

CARE TO EXPLAIN THIS EXCESS?" he asked.

"Your intelligence tells you all that huh? You and that word seem to be an oxymoron!" said Sissy..

The entire room burst into gales of laughter..

"For your information,My Husband and I paid for that caterer and that meal out of our own pockets.. first off...I got permission from the Deputy Of Operations who is here today to use our facility for it...and yes...We invited our friends, people who have helped us over the years...I was saying thank you to my unit for taking down two serial killers in a 48 hour period and a drug lord and a heist crew just weeks before."said Sissy.

Undaunted, Lt. Tragg continued..

" Your unit now has three open murders...Yet you have not addressed the press and informed the public that a serial killer is at large...I think it would be in the interest of public safety that the public be informed." he said.

"I'm glad you do...but my team hasn't looked at everything in these three cases thoroughly yet...When they do and we have all the FACTS...We will then proceed."said Sissy.

"My Intelligence tells me that that will be hard to do, especially since several of your female detectives were seen at a day party at a rooftop swimming pool and club yesterday." He said and smiled a superior grin..

"They were on their day off.. Where they go or what they do when they're off the clock is not my concern OR YOURS....You know, you do a better job of shadowing my detectives than you do making arrests and getting convictions....Correct me if I'm wrong....Two of my detectives with some help from the P.I. you talk about and that Insurance Investigator cleaned up your mess recently...You arrested the wrong man in a sensational murder case...While they came in and arrested the correct suspects in just two days...They did in two days what you didn't do in four weeks... The ADA was so angry, he demanded you be taken off the case, isn't that right?" asked Sissy... She was going for the jugular..

Most of the rank and file weren't aware of that...They began laughing, clapping and worse, getting up and leaving...The Deputy Of Operations had already gotten up and left...

''WAIT!!!  THIS ISN'T OVER YET!!" said Lt. Tragg..

I was in the back laughing so hard, I nearly fell out of my seat....

"It's over....Good Day My Esteemed Lieutenant." said Sissy as she exited .

Lt. Tragg stomped his foot in disgust..,.

IV-

At Sam Mother's Diner later that same morning..We met for breakfast...

''We couldn't be off one day without you guys getting yourselves in trouble.." joked Carlotta as she sat next to me in a booth..

I just laughed..

"Yeah Top, somebody dropped another body in another playground...This one close to home.." said Tyriq..

"Oh My God...Our kids play there Rico." said Sirena...

"Sis doesn't want us discussing the particulars...Not out in the open, but there is something different about these three murders.."said Jimmy..

''Well I'm sure Sis has a good reason...I can't wait to get to work.."said Angie..

 "That's the spirit Ang!" joked Hop as we all laughed..

"Here comes our food." said Sharon..

 Stacks of Pancakes

 Omeletts

 Hash Browns

and sausage links arrived...

 Duke

 Hazel

 Sissy

and her husband, Eddie C. arrived just then and took booths across from us...


Sam Mother laughed..

"One day I have a house full of lawyers, this morning I have a house full of cops..What will you guys be having?" he laughed..

As they ordered ,Lt. Tragg walked in..

"Well, look what we have here...The Whole Gang....Enjoying your breakfast??Let's see...you got three bodies...no suspect...and it's now 72 hours old...I hope everybody had a relaxing few days off.." he said sarcastically...

"It wouldn't hurt us if YOU TOOK A FEW DAYS OFF!" said Jimmy...

 "JIMMY!" said Sirena..

"JIMMY" said his wife Angie...


It was too late..

Carlotta, Sharon, Sissy, Eddie C. and Hazel all burst out into laughter....

Duke, Tyriq and Hop, no fans of Lt. Tragg didn't laugh loud, but they snickered.....

I tried to defuse the situation as more food arrived..

"Lieutenant is there something you wanted?  They're all on duty and I assure you...I know these guys are going to put 100 percent into cracking these three cases...They always do...Should I remind you that Lt. Van Buren's unit has the highest arrest and conviction rate on the force?" I said..

"Well Laaaa Deee Dah.." tell it to those three dead girl's relatives.." said Lt. Tragg..

He was getting ready to tear into Jimmy when he was distracted..

ADA Karen Page walked in...She had on a party dress....

"That's ADA Karen Page." said Carlotta..

"And she's not going to work with THAT dress on.." mused Sharon...

"No, that's a I spent the night with my boyfriend...and I'm on my way home dress.." laughed Sirena..

"Ouuuuuu Yes....We've all had those mornings." said Hazel....

"You guys need to stop..I'm sure there is a perfectly valid reason for her attire." said Tyriq sarcastically...

Duke and I and Eddie C. gave Tyriq the serious side eye and 

and Jimmy and  Hop cracked up laughing...

Lieutenant Tragg walked over to her and sat next to her..

"Good Morning Karen...Rough Night?" he asked..

"Noooo I uh actually had a nice night..I'm off today.."said ADA Karen Page..

''Sam... Two coffees....and some breakfast here.....I'll bet you like an Omelette with cheese and some Hash Browns and Sausage...It's all on me.." said Lt. Tragg..

"Why thank you Lieutenant...You..You..You really didn't have to do this."said Karen..

"I insist.." said Lt. Tragg, smiling from ear to ear...

Sam Mother just shook his head..

Angie looked at Sissy..

"I think the GREAT DETECTIVE is sweet on ADA Page..."said Angie..

"Angie Girl...I think you're right..."said Sissy.."Poor Karen" she snickered.

"Let's get out of here and get to work.."said Carlotta..

"Yeah, while Detective Barlow still has his Gold Shield."said Tyriq..

"Yes.."laughed Sirena..

Hazel, Duke, Angie, Hop, Sharon, Eddie C, Sissy and Carlotta all paid their bill and quietly left...

 Lt. Tragg could have cared less...He only had eyes for ADA Karen Page..

He had to know she was seeing TV journalist , B.L. Benz...

.but he didn't seem to care.. She had in fact been with him all night, drinking and making sweet love...

She had a slight hangover..

 Omelettes

 Hash Browns

The nice Hot Breakfast that Lt. Tragg ordered for both of them would take care of that...

Meanwhile...We had three murders to work on...Murders that occurred on some of our members day off!

(TO BE CONTINUED)