Sugar Papi

A MONTH BEFORE-

In the very tony Stevenson Condos....The body of 23 year old Connie Rubell was found in her bed ,clad only in Bra and Panties...

An anonymous call had brought the police.. Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic people were looking at the body and dusting for prints..

"There is a lot of prints in here...DNA too..."said one guy as another guy snapped photos..

''A loaded condom in the trash can and a wet shower.."said another..

"Shower is hot, like it was recently used..."said another..

Forensic Investigator and Coroner ,Dr. Hazel Baylor observed the body...

''Cause of death is manual strangulation..and the body is still warm...She was just killed within the past hour or so.."said Hazel..

''Is that right ?" said Lt. Tragg , who arrived with five uniformed officers..

Hazel sighed....She hated when he was the lead detective on the case...

Within 24 HOURS-

"You're making a big mistake.."said Blake Jones as Lt. Tragg read him his rights and handcuffed him..

''We got you coming in the building 8 hours before...Your prints are in her bedroom, in the bathroom and we found a loaded condom with your DNA in her trash can.." said Lt. Tragg.

''She was my girlfriend!!!... I was sleeping with her...Yes, I had just left there...BUT I DIDN'T KILL HER YOU JACKASS!!! WHY WOULD I KILL HER?? I LOVED HER!. "said Blake..

"Tell it to the Judge pal.."said Lt. Tragg...

"My cousin is a lawyer and my Uncle is a judge....You just wait.."said Blake Jones..

 He was talking about me of course being his cousin and an Attorney

And my dad, Judge Keith Morrison...His Uncle.

"Well Laaaa Deee Dah." said Lt. Tragg.. "Hook him up boys."he said,laughing…"You're going to need BOTH to help you out son.." he said.

Which is how the four of us wound up being his attorneys....

"I'm his cousin...He called McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt and asked for the four of us by name..

II-

TODAY-

We were in the office today...

ADA Spade had asked for a continuance...and the Judge had granted it...No surprise there.. Spade's open and shut case was all of sudden falling apart at the seams..

"What are you guys doing in the office today?" asked Yvette.. who sat quietly in her office..

Still feeling the glow of her night of lovemaking with Gary...He had been so intense..had made her see stars almost!

 and the sensual kissing in his bathroom after her shower...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh baby!" he moaned.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu sweetie..." she cooed in between more kisses...

and how he didn't want her to leave this morning..

 "I've got to go baby..." she whispered.."And you've got to go to work too!. Don't get yourself all worked up for nothing...We both have to be at work this morning...We have tonight..." she said..

''Stop reminding me.." he said sadly..

While at our office-

''ADA Spade asked for a continuance.." I said.

"And his buddy the Judge gave it to him..."said Bee Bee.

''Which gives us a chance to go take a look at what's left of the crime scene.."said Sofia..

Kahlil came up with hot steaming tumblers of coffee and passed them to all of us...

''You won't believe this...but I just saw Judge Mackelroy leaving the building when I was coming back with the coffee."said Kahlil..

Ms. Jade was coming in behind him..

"I just saw Judge Mackelroy leaving here and getting in an Uber...Isn't he the judge trying your case?" asked Jade.

"Sure is."said Bee Bee..

"I wonder what he was doing in this building."asked Yvette out loud...

And now remembering how very disappointed she was in a man who had been one of her mentors and who she had once considered a friend , asking her to pull us off of my cousin's murder trial..What Judge would do that and why?

Just then, Mr. McCluskey, one of our founding partners walked in...He had a strange look on his face..

"Hi guys....Hi Yvette...Uh can I have a word with you in your office?" he asked.

''Sure."said Yvette.

They walked into her office and she closed the door..

''What's Up?"

"I got a strange visit this morning....From Judge Sam Mackelroy…" he said.

At the sound of his name, Ms. Yvette cringed... The Old Boy Network she thought...The Fix was in!!!

"….I know him from seeing him around...We golf at the same club...but uh I wouldn't say we were friends.. He wanted a favor.." said Mr. McCluskey..

"He was one of my professors in Law School and he helped me pass the bar and I clerked for him after I passed the bar as a young attorney.. I thought the world of him until last night.." said Yvette.

"Yes, he told me you two went to dinner..and that he asked you to pull your young charges off of their present case and allow a young attorney working for him to take over...He said you refused , but he wanted me to pull them off as a favor to him...He even offered to pay the difference...He said he'd remember the favor and he'd owe me a big favor in the future.."said Mr. McCluskey..

''I refused.. That's unethical.. I told him that...So I guess he called himself going over my head...I'll be damned." said Yvette.

"Yes he did....He did think he was going over your head...I found his request odd and  frankly unheard of...I told him to take a hike..That's a paying client...You pull our guys, We lose money and credibility....Not only that...It's unethical ..He's off his nut...I never heard of a Judge asking defense attorneys to drop out of a case.."said Mr. McCluskey...

Yvette smiled.. She was relieved! Here was one guy she could depend on ,she thought!

"You Guys be careful...If he gives you any unreasonable trouble...Let me know...I'll have the Ethics Board look into his conduct..I've never heard of a Judge asking defense attorneys to leave a case....and trying to butter up their supervisor with drinks and dinner...He shouldn't have even been talking about this case..especially not to you...You're too close to it. HE KNOWS THAT!!"said Mr. McClusky...

"Thank You Mr. McCluskey..I told him that last night...And I excused myself..I didn't talk to him about the case any further." said Yvette..

"Thank You Yvette for doing the right thing..For always doing the right thing." said Mr. McCluskey...

III-

Ms. Yvette told us about her dinner with the judge and about his conversation with Mr. McCluskey...All which we found very odd!

We revisited the crime scene...The ritzy condo where the young girl was staying..

"This is so weird...Why is he so interested in this case...Is he related to this girl?" I asked.

"Not at all...She's a southern girl...from Raleigh, North Carolina..."said Ms. Jade.

"This place is pretty expensive and she attends PENN...Any student loans?" asked Yvette..

"No...Her tuition and the rent on this place was automatically paid on line by funds coming from a dummy company...As soon as I got up on it...the funds disappeared and the account was shut down. Guess where the account originates..?" asked Ms. Jade.

"The Caymen Islands right?" laughed Bee Bee..

"That's right!!!...How did you know?" asked Jade..

"I was kidding." laughed Bee Bee.

"The name on the account naturally was a phony name...A person who has actually been dead for 31 years and a phony social security number was attached to it.."said Jade.

''Somebody was covering their tracks quite well.."said Yvette.

"What is she...a Mob Bosses daughter?" asked Kahlil.

"Not hardly...She's a Coal Miners daughter...Her father is dead...and her Mother works at Super Walmart in Raleigh, North Carolina.  She arrived in Philadelphia , shortly after she turned 18..She worked in the courthouse as a Stenographer and as a Secretary... She earned a GED on her own and was in Community College for two years, earned an Associates Degree....She worked as an Exotic Dancer/Stripper at a popular Men's club the entire time she was here until four years ago. She moved from her small apartment in Fishtown to this place and entered the University of Pennsylvania..She would have graduated this spring..Tuition paid in full ..Here's the thing...She hasn't worked anywhere in four years..." said Jade.

"Hmmm she doesn't come from Money...Came up here without a high school diploma, earned a GED, went to Community College and worked as a court stenographer and secretary during the day and an exotic dancer at night.. Then all of a sudden..She's living in this place, which isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination and going to the University of Pennsylvania without a scholarship or student loans, straight money and no  job, no other means of support...What does that say?" asked Yvette.

"It says she has a sweet Sugar Papi.." said Sofia..

We all busted out in raucous laughter...

"That's funny, but somebody was keeping her...Somebody with deep pockets."said Yvette..

"It certainly wasn't my cousin.  He's a City Councilman...A Newly elected City Councilman..He hasn't got that kind of dough...Not even close!"I said.

"Does he know how she was affording this place?" asked Bee Bee.

"He said she told him an important man was paying for this and her schooling..That was the deal she made with him if he wanted to keep seeing her and sleeping with her and he agreed to everything..Putting her up in this spot, paying all of her bills and putting her through school..She would have graduated this spring.. He wanted her to stop seeing this guy...She said as soon as she graduated from Penn, she'd give all this up."I said.

''Don't bet on that? I mean she may have told your cousin that...but who would go from THIS to living in Fishtown again?" said Kahlil.. He had a point.

"Why Couldn't I meet a man like that?" said Jade,laughing..

"Okayyyyyyyy?" said Yvette, High fiving her..

''So this guy pays for her to live in this spot and attend PENN...Wow..What did she do to him?" asked Kahlil..

''I gotta spell it out for you home slice?" I said.

"Tell Him Ladies...In Unison.."said Yvette..

"THE POWER OF THE PANTIES!" said Bee Bee, Sofia and Jade in unison..

Kahlil busted out laughing...

''She must have been rocking his world in the bed." said Kahlil.

"Of course...This man...This mystery man...He's got deep pockets and he probably can't be seen with her.."I said.

"Meaning he's married...He probably met her in a Gentleman's Club...She worked in a High end Club frequented by a lot of movers and shakers, Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians.."said Kahlil..

"And Judges.."said Yvette..

"Judges..?" said Bee Bee.."With that kind of loot?" asked Bee Bee..

"If they married well and had a sweet pre nup…"said Yvette..

''A Sweet Sugar Papi. Like I said." said Sofia.

IV-

We had parked on a side street....We took 2 cars...Jade's and mine.

When we came down...Both cars had parking tickets...

''Damn it..I gotta ticket...That's my third one..I got two outside the courthouse last week."I said.

"That was my fault baby!!...I'll pay them both for you...You were waiting on me those days."said Bee Bee.

"Damn...We were on a side street...I didn't think the cops came down here."said Kahlil

"They don't but the PPA (Philadelphia Parking Authority) does...They probably got their quota for the night."said Sofia.

I had driven Bee Bee, Kahlil and Sofia in my car...Yvette and Jade had come in the car behind us..
They had a ticket too!

"Damn, I got a ticket too!...I was doing so good this year."said Yvette.

"I'll help you pay this."said Jade.

Yvette looked at the building..

"If I'm a guy seeing this girl... A married guy... A well to do guy, I don't want to draw attention to myself.. I'm going to park right around here...off the street, behind this building..and I'm betting..I'm betting I get a lot of tickets..."she said.

"You got a point.." I said.

"I'll look into how many people got tickets in this area and see if our mystery man shows up.."said Jade.

"Yes..."said Ms. Yvette to herself.. "See if it's a certain Judge.." she whispered and smiled.

(TO BE CONTINUED)