Slick As Canned Grease

We had stayed up all night playing cards and eating Pizza at Beverly and Nelson's floor.. By the time we all went to bed, it was well after 3:00 in the morning...

So it was no surprise that Alfreda had to let herself in and call us

To wake us up...

We showered, shaved and got dressed and were all in the office by 10:00 am...

"You guys got it made...Be glad you don't have a REAL job to go to.." she laughed...

"We were up late last night.."said Olivia..

''We had a good time didn't we Lucy." said Beverly..

''Best time I've had in a long time..If I ever get out of this and you come to New York...You are welcome to stay with me...I have a nice townhouse with plenty of room for the five of you.." said Lucy...

 "Don't worry, we are gonna get you out of this."said Nelson.

"For sure." said Josie...

"You'll laugh about all of this someday..."I said..

"I don't know about all of that...being accused of murder and a 200Large theft is no laughing matter." said  Lucy..

Alfreda went in the refrigerator and took out some good Jewish Rye Bread, some Mayo and some Deli Ham and Swiss Cheese and began making us sandwiches..

I know you guys haven't had any breakfast...and it's too close to lunch, so I'm making some sandwiches for you....

There's some Ice tea in their too." she said..

"Oh Alfreda , you didn't have to do all of this.." said Olivia..."Thank youuu." said Olivia..

"Wow this is nice Ms. Olivia, you have your own firm..Two additional attorneys, a para legal , an investigator and an office manager...Wow!...Now you and Bev are Aunt and Niece right?"asked Lucy..

"I have a much older brother...

His name is James West

He had Beverly when I was 9 years old and he was 21..." she said..

''And I'm Beverly's mama."said Alfreda...

''Whattttt? Wow...so you and Olivia's brother aren't together?" asked Lucy...

"No...He's married and he lives in California now...but we talk...He's a great guy...And as you see I'm with someone.." said Alfreda..

"I sawwwww, An Assistant District Attorney...Not baddddd…"laughed Lucy.....'and Donnie Ray, you're Olivia's husband and an ex-cop...right?"she asked..

''You got it.."I said..

"And Nelson, you're Beverly's husband and an Attorney also.." she said..

''Yes...Me ,Liv and Bev have been together since we were all Public defenders.."said Nelson..

"This firm is a family affair, except for you Josie.." said Lucy..

''I know.."said Josie..

"Josie is family...She's been with us, since I started this firm....She's our para-legal and she's currently in law school.."said Olivia..

"I like what you've done...I'm thinking of starting my own firm...I'm a Financial Planner and Advisor. Going into business for myself...You've got a beautiful office and beautiful apartments upstairs...I love it.." she said..

We ate the sandwiches and drank the Ice Tea....

II-

 "Today we are going to start shaping our defense of you.."said Olivia.

She pointed to our 50 inch monitor on the wall which showed a video of the  train station on the day Lucy arrived.

 "We know that the prosecution has video of you taken from the Parking Garage Camera of you leaving the train station with the briefcase and placing it in the car." said Beverly...

"There you are leaving and taking the subway..." said Nelson...

"Now there is the murder victim, Joyce Martin..."I said.

"She goes in the car, opens the briefcase...counts the money, takes the keys out of the glove compartment and drives off....So what we know is that she was not killed in this parking lot...She went somewhere else and was killed.."I said.

"Wow....I can't believe you have this technology...."said Lucy...

Two friends of ours, Private Investigator,

Kevin Morris and

Insurance Investigator, Bonnie Shay told me where to buy spyware

that allowed us to hack into street and traffic cams

just like local and federal law enforcement does...I had even more sophisticated equipment , to aid us being put together in an empty back office by Kevin's guy, Peeping Tom... This would really help me with my investigations and us in general...

I sold Olivia on it for this very reason...It would help with her and Beverly's defense...It cost her a pretty penny, but she did it...Now it was paying off.

''We have your credit card and debit card information which tells us where you ate and drank in town and where you shopped and we have the autopsy report that tells us the exact time of death..."said Olivia..

"I'm going to have to track down someone who remembers seeing you in the places you were in that afternoon..."I said.

"You got a call on your phone from New York around the time you were having dinner in town.."said Nelson..

"That was Ray, telling me that the briefcase was stuffed with newspapers and that his client didn't get his money...This was the first that I knew what was in the briefcase..."said Lucy...

"You used your credit card to rent a hotel room in South Philly...Where you stayed for two days before contacting us." said Beverly...

''I was terrified....I was afraid I'd lose my job, possibly go to jail..." she said.

"You didn't know about any murder of Joyce Martin or anything?" asked Josie..

''Nooooooooooooooooo...I didn't know about that until you guys told me in the bar the other night.."said Judy...

 I pulled out a glossy...

''Do you know who that is?" I asked..

She looked at the photo..

''Never seen him before in my life."said Judy.

"His name is  Karl Evans....He's a local Stock Broker.....The dead woman, Joyce Martin, you're accused of killing was his Attorney....He is said to be very influential in local and state politics, knows a lot of influential people, spreads a lot of money around and very connected...She was picking up your briefcase....She was renting the car and express mailing the key to New York to your boss...and after the briefcase was successfully delivered to your boss...She was the one who returned the rental car...She's used seven different rental car locations in the six or seven months you've been delivering that briefcase and she's used three different expressmail companies to deliver that key and a photo of the car to your boss Ray Connors in New York."I said.

Lucy didn't say anything....She smiled and looked at Olivia...

"He's Good...Wow....in little over a week, He knows more about this operation than I knew in six months of working for Mr. Connor. He's good." she kept saying..

 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you just don't know how good my baby is.."said Olivia with pride and a little bit of arousal...She sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck..

She gave me a wet,sloppy kiss.

"Let's just say.....If I was a crook....I wouldn't want Donnie Ray after me." said Beverly, laughing...

'Tall Dark and Southern is like James Bond.."said Alfreda..

"If James Bond was real...He'd be like me.."I said, laughing..

Nelson and Josie cracked up laughing..

"In all seriousness Judy....Your Boss went to a whole lot of trouble to send money to Mr. Evans here in Philly...He could have wired it...In seconds..Usually when somebody like him goes to this much trouble to send somebody money..It's because they don't want a paper or electronic trail...Nothing the IRS,SEC or law enforcement can trace..

"We've seen copies of your bosses books and Mr. Evans's books...There are deductions from his bank account of 200k every month for seven months...but no deposits in Mr. Evans account or his off shore account of the nearly one million in cash delivered here.."said Beverly..

"Which makes us question....Where did the money go?  What was it for...?" asked Nelson..

"I have no idea...I know nothing about that...I was given a briefcase and given my instructions and told what to do when I got here and that's all I know.."said Lucy..

"Your Boss ,Mr. Connor has paid our legal fees..and he returned your retainer....Here is a check...Since we technically work for him...We can't ask him those questions."said Olivia..

"And we don't have to...Whatever their business agreement was...Whereever that money was going is not our affair...What we are going to do...Is prove you didn't kill Joyce Martin." said Beverly..

"But I should tell you...The ADA will be asking those type of questions...We'll do our best to deflect them." said Nelson..

But I wanted to know..

III-

At the home of  Karl Evans...The bed could be heard squeaking up a storm, the headboard slamming hard against the wall..and the sounds of sweet lovemaking coming from the front window..

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuu....ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Oh my god , you're driving me crazy..."moaned Yasmen, Edwards, Karl's secretary....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh work me , work me daddy, work me like a job...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, oh my goodness..." she moaned.

 "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" he yelled.. 

''Karl please!!!  the window is open...people walking by can hear us and this noisy bed she giggled

"I don't give a damn.ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" he moaned..

She laughed... ''I see, ouuuuuuuuu you're so hard.....so bigg...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" she giggled..

The bed was squeaking out of control and the headboard was slamming up against the wall so hard, the paint and the plaster was coming off...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Karl, I'm losing my mind....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned..

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." "Ohhh baby, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph…"she screamed

 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. ...ouuuuuuuuuu, more, more... ohhhhhh..."he screamed.... 

"Sock it to me Karl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." 

"LAWDDD woman, what are you doing to meeeee?"he said... 

"What am I doing to you? What are you doing to MEEEEEE?"she cooed... 

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gooooddddddd lawdd it's soooo goood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I've missed you girl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeet jesusssssssssss you are a demon in the bedddddddddd...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." 

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS had breezily slipped by.

"Morrre...Morreee....morrre...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. you can have all you want....ouuuuuu......OHHHHHHH." she wailed... 

"Ohhh baby, baby,ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..I'm losin my minddddddddd!! " 

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...I love you soooooooooooooo much...ouuuuuuuuuuuu..KARL!!!!!!"she yelled out... 

"I'm about to blow my loaddd arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed and came so hard, he thought he was dying..

She was having an intense orgasm that was causing her legs to shake out of control....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" she squealed..

Then all went quiet...

The man in the dark suit was outside....He made a call to New York...He was laughing and shaking his head at what he'd just heard...

Ray Connor answered...

"Any News?"

''Lucy is still with Olivia and Beverly and company.. She hasn't gone anywhere...I studied Karl's finances....He hasn't added anything since our last drop...but his secretary has a huge deposit of 200 large in her bank account  and 150 large  withdrawn, two days later...Hmmmmm?" he said.

"Joyce was stealing from him?" asked Ray...

"No Joyce is his Attorney....The other one, the Blonde...She's the thief....and my guess is...She killed Joyce and took that money.."said the man..

"But who did she give it to? What happened to 150 large?"asked Ray...

"That I don't know...but our influential friend isn't going to want to hear that...We are 200K short..He needs to have that money in hand soon ,so he can get that information for us...." said the man.

"I hate dealing with middle men, we should have dealt with this man directly."said Ray..

"Too late for that now oh and uh what if this comes up in the trial?" asked the man..

"I assure you it won't....I'm paying Olivia and Beverly's legal fees....Olivia Bennett-Alexander is a very shrewd woman...She's too smart to bite the hand that feeds her...She's going to defend Lucy...and that's it...Why do you think I paid Lucy's legal fees and bail? For the duration of this trial...I own them all,lock ,stock and barrell...  I'm on my way to Philadelphia...We are going to get to the bottom of this.."said Ray...

 After they both showered and dressed, Yasmen asked him...

''Did she make you scream as loud as I did?"

"What? , Who?  What are you talkin about?"asked Karl..

"I know you were screwing Joyce...." she said.

"Joyce was my attorney...." said Karl..

"She was your bed mate...Your little chocolate plaything...I heard you two, one time when I came back...I let myself in to get some papers...I heard you two in the bedroom...

.

You had screwed me in your office just hours before...I couldn't believe it....I take care of you...I look out for you....and yet you chose her over me...Why? What did she do for you that I didn't do just as well Karl??  "asked his secretary...

"I don't know what you're talking about.." said Karl Evans..

IV-

Josie's boyfriend ,Paris came over with an overnight bag.....

''Hey Guys...I brought food like you asked..." he said..

By now it was afternoon...

"Josie!  Keep him!" laughed Beverly...

Josie laughed and planted a soft kiss on Paris's lips...

They were spending the night with Beverly and Nelson again...

 ''Well don't just stand there, open that bag...We are starving."said Beverly..

"What my wifey said." laughed Nelson...

He had ordered enough soul food platters for all of us...

and desserts as well..

 "We are going to have to really hit the gym this weekend ,Neicy Poo."said Olivia..

"I know Auntay…"said Beverly...

"I haven't been in weeks myself."said Josie..

''Awww you girls are just fine.."I said as I prepared to chow down...Sit down Alfreda... Have supper with us....There is enough there for Rockland...I'm pretty sure he's coming by.."I said..

''Oh you know he is.."said Alfreda..

Lucy looked at us...

"I really like how close knit you guys are, how at home you've made me feel...I'm gonna miss you guys when this is all over.."she said.."You feel like family.."she said..

"Awwww, we'll give you our business cards with our email and information...You can always keep in touch."said Olivia..

Rockland walked in just then...

"Whoa, look at this!" he exclaimed..

'Sit down, have dinner with us...There's enough."said Alfreda...

Rockland sat  down...He didn't have many friends...if any...Until he met Alfreda and fell in love with her... and became unlikely friends with Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her niece, Beverly West, who it turned out was Alfreda's daughter by Olivia's older brother.

And now here he was , a regular visitor to their law firm...and eating breakfast and dinner with them and their staff..

He was nearly in tears as he peered around the room at  all of us..

He chowed down and laughed and talked ..

with the rest of us..

I brought up some things to Lucy...

"Lucy you've been working for Ray Connor for nearly a year haven't you?" I asked.

"Yes , about that.." she said..

"There's a lot you don't know about him....Apparently he's as slick as canned grease...

He's somewhat of an influence peddler...He passes a lot of cash, a lot of allegedly dirty cash, Laundered Drug money and what have you to different people, political candidates, lobbys and what have you..He's sort of an Influence peddler.. a facilitator.  His Undergraduate Degree in Business is from Columbia....Like you, he's a Native New Yorker... He has an MBA in Business from Wharton, here in Philly...and a J.D. from Penn Law also....He passed the bar in both Pennsylvania and New York.

He's been a target of the Securities and Exchange Commission ,The IRS, The FBI and the New York City District Attorney's Office for some time now about a year...He's suspected of Money Laundering, Wire Fraud and Insider Trading....They've never been able to get anything on him..

Two years ago the Feds got him on a Wire Fraud rap, but the case fell apart...Which is probably why he's been transferring money by courier...

Nothing on his books either....He's as slick as canned grease...

His buddy Karl Evans is also a slick little operator...A Philadelphian, MBA from Wharton...They more than likely met when both were attending there...he too has been a target of the SEC,IRS, FBI and the Philadelphia District Attorney's office for the same things..Money laundering, Wire Fraud and Insider Trading..." I said..

''I can attest to that...His name has come up a number of times." said Rockland..

 ''We are just trying to defend her of murder charges.. Prove she didn't do this...Whatever else these two are involved in ,is not our concern.."said Olivia..

"We just think Lucy here is a pawn in a game larger than her." said Beverly...

''You don't have to convince me...If Lt. Tragg was the arresting officer...She's more than likely innocent." said Rockland as he munched on a slice of Sweet Potato pie..

Olivia, Beverly,Nelson, Josie, Alfreda and I busted out in gales of laughter...

Paris explained to Lucy...

"The Detective who arrested you has a history of arresting the wrong suspect and making embarrassing gaffes on TV....Most of the ADA's hate working with him..." he said..

''Oh My." said Lucy..

"Not most...ALL of us do." said Rockland, which was met by more laughter....This made him feel good, feel welcome, feel a part of something...he hugged Alfreda..

She smiled and hugged him too...

Tonight, Olivia, Beverly ,Nelson and Josie

 would be working on their defense strategy..for Lucy..

While Paris, would be watching TV, waiting for them to be finished..

So he and Josie could retreat to their room in Beverly and Nelson's place..

I needed to know if One or both of these cool ,slick guys

 owed any money to somebody...It was obvious to me,

 Joyce Martin's death was connected to a theft....but for what?...And where was the money?
That was the key to this whole case..


(CONCLUSION NEXT)