"Oh Come on Trevor is this because I won't sleep with you? I told you I'm married.."said Leslie Mckenzie , standing in the doorway of her apartment ...
laughing at the young man...
"Don't Flatter yourself you phony.... Cancer huh? How much money did you bring in? Huh? You stole my idea and used it as a cheap scam..." said the man named Trevor..
''Angry because I made more money than you?" laughed Leslie McKenzie.
"I really have Cancer....You're just a cheap grifter...A Loser.."said Trevor..
''Sounds like you've drank a little bit of hater ade to me.."said Leslie..
"Oh yeah...well I'm going to the press and then I have a meeting with Assistant District Attorney Karen Page...how does that sound to you , you cheap grifter?" said Trevor, who walked away...
The smile suddenly left her face...She had been to jail once...She didn't relish going back to jail..
II-
Josie's was jumping... It was a Thursday Night...Wing and Crab legs night...
Josie's was packed as usual...
Sepia and I were sitting in a booth in the back kissing passionately
when we were interrupted...
''Ahem!"
It was a friend...Mrs. Bonnie Shay...Attorney and Insurance Investigator for Cyclops Insurance..
"You two are so cute...You've been married longer than any couple I know and you're still like newlyweds..Those are our relationship goals.."she gushed..
"My Husband is just a horn dog that's all...He can't keep his hands off of me."said Sepia , giving me the side eye..
"Complaining?" asked Bonnie..
"Girrrrrrrl, not at all." said a very satisfied looking Sepia..
who kissed me again softly...
"Have a seat Bon Bon.." I said..
My Tall Boy of Beer arrived
and Martinis for Bonnie and Sepia arrived..
"How you guys doing tonight?" asked Honey Brown....
"We are doing fine Honey Bee..How are you?" I asked.
"Great....Some White Guy came in here lookin for you the other night..."said Honey Brown..
"My Husband is in demand.."laughed Sepia..
''Aint he though?" asked Bonnie.
''White Guy? He say what he wanted?" I asked.
"No, just that he needed to talk to you...I told him the best time to catch you in here was the weekends...Or at your job...He said he knew where you worked... He didn't look corporate or like a player either...Just an average white guy.."said Honey Brown..
"Probably a future client" I said.
There were five D.J.'s spinning tonight...I couldn't wait until next week when live entertainment returned..I missed Reed Nelson, Downtown Brown, Bone Hampton, The Liquid Love Band and even Symphony Sam and the house band.. All of them were on some cruise...
I spoke to Gus a minute...
"Hey Kid..Haven't seen you around in awhile.." he said.
''What you know good?" I asked.
''Did Honey Brown tell you some white guy was in here looking for you?" he asked.
"Yeah ,she did..." I said.
"He wasn't a playa and he wasn't a cop...Just some dusty white guy...He bought two beers...When you didn't show up, he left...You in any trouble?" asked Gus..
"Not me..He wants to hire me probably...He may have to wait....I'm already tied up in something."I said.."Or about to be." I smiled and added.
''When aint you?" laughed Gus.
I smiled and headed back to our table..
Kool Kat and his wife were just entering..
"What's Up bud? We aint ran those streets in awhile..You still Taking soft case?" he said.. By that he meant working for attorneys... I had been...
"Yeah, but I got the feeling I'm on the verge of something juicy..."I said.. "I might need your help.."I said.
"You know where I can be found..if you need me."said Walter "Kool Kat " Jones.
"Hi Kevin"said Kool Kat's wife, Chelsea...
"Hi Baby." I said and smiled..
They both smiled and waved at Bonnie and Sepia.
"I looked into that Leslie Mckenzie person you were talking about..We dropped her and her husband almost a year ago...I know they are both going around saying that they had a 15,000 dollar deductible ,but that was a lie."said Bonnie..
"I thought so...Earlier in the year, Leslie Mckenzie created a GoFundMe and Facebook page claiming she was diagnosed with Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) and was receiving treatment from oncology specialists at the "Abraham Cancer Center” at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The actual name of the facility is the Abramson Cancer Center.
Through her pages, Mckenzie claimed she was facing tremendous medical bills, travel costs and other payments related to child care and missed work. She also said her insurance coverage held a $15,000 deductible.
Mrs. Mckenzie managed to raise over $110,000 through her fundraisers which she deposited to her multiple bank accounts,I found out. But with the increased donations also came skepticism.
"She was very vague about her diagnosis and treatment and really suggestive photos, like a selfie on the bathroom floor, "About to give up on life but also please donate to my GoFundMe,'"
Terri Price, McKenzie's high school friend, who works for me..(We Distribute her Podcast. Told me that she brought McKenzie on as a guest on her podcast "The Ever Lovin Truth" over the summer. During the interview, McKenzie defended herself against her detractors.
"If anyone straight up came up to me and was like, ''I think you’re faking this,' I literally would say, 'Okay, you’re coming to chemo with me on Monday,'" she said during the interview.
There was no chemo for her on Monday or any other day...I checked with all of the area hospitals and Cancer specialists...It took some time...but I got it done.."I said.
''Wow ,our investigations must have overlapped each other...I came to the same conclusions and checked all of her bank accounts."said Bonnie. "Notice on one sight she claims to have no insurance at all and on the other she has a $115,000 deductible....No Deductible is that high...WHO COULD PAY IT?" asked Bonnie, incensed!
"Did you also know she started a GoFund me on Twitter saying she had Breast Cancer and she said pretty much the same thing..That she was facing tremendous medical bills, travel costs and other payments related to child care and missed work. She also said her insurance coverage held a $15,000.00 deductible. My mother in law and her boyfriend gave her $2500.00 and two of my employees gave her $400.00. She has pulled in half a million dollars total in over a year....Half a million dollars that is unreported on her taxes...She states her employer is the Coca Cola Bottling Company...but I checked..She hasn't worked there in six months...and get this..she has no children...So why does she need money for child care?" I asked.
"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu she's a slicky....."said Sepia..
"The question is...we know she's a fraud and a phony but what can we do?" asked Bonnie.
"We can meet with her...Talk to her..and maybe just maybe, she'll quietly give the money back."I said.
Sepia gave me the serious side eye..
"Are you serious ?You're talking about almost a million dollars husband. If not a million already."she said.
''She's not likely to give any cash back or even talk to you."said Bonnie.
"Hmmm, I wonder is this big enough to take to my friends, Lt. Sissy Van Buren and ADA Keith Wallace?" I asked.
"Well it is Fraud...I'll meet with you tomorrow and we'll put together a dossier on her...We've already got enough to prove she's a lightweight grifter.."said Bonnie.
"Nothing Lightweight about a million dollars...I'd say..That makes her big time...."said Sepia.
"Your wife is right...Absolutely right."said Bonnie.
III-
That Friday, Bonnie and I spent the entire morning working on a dossier on Leslie McKenszie..
We had a list of donors and their addresses...We had the banking information...and by noon we had gathered enough to take to the police and the District Attorney....
That Monday Morning though at Morris Communications, I got a strange visitor..
A young White Man...….
"You're Kevin Morris aren't you?" he asked.
"Yes..I'm the Chief Operating Officer of Morris Communications and Investigations..How can I help you?"I asked.
"My name is Trevor Wilson...I've already spoken to your associate Sean Jackson and he and some other writers took my story and taped me...but now I'd like to speak to you....I know that in addition to running this Communications conglomerate, you also double as a Private Investigator.." he said.
"News does travel...How can I help you?" I asked.
"As I told your associate...I am here to ask you to look into a Leslie McKenzie...She's a neighbor of mine and I'm afraid she's running a major scam...I'm afraid I gave her the idea for it inadvertedly without meaning to....If you check her Facebook and Twitter pages , she has set up two go fund me's claiming to have Colon Cancer on one, Breast Cancer on the other and asking for money, claiming to have a $15000.00 deductible with Cyclops Insurance..if you check...Neither she nor her husband has Cyclops Insurance...She was on TV last year and on social media saying that her medical bills had piled up and she needed money for child support and care...She has no children and she has a lengthy criminal record too if you check." he said.
"Funny you would say this...I'm already investigating her...See She took my Mother in law and her boyfriend for $2500.00 and two of my employees for $200.00 a piece...That makes it personal for me..Even though I don't actually have a client.." I said.
He shook his head in disgust...
"Now you do...I am your client." said Trevor...
"Well, I'm way ahead of you...An Insurance Investigator from Cyclops Insurance has already helped me build up a very extensive dossier on her and her activities...And with you as my actual client...I have more than enough reason to really go after her...You know my reason...Tell me..What is your reason? What is this to you?" I asked.
"I was diagnosed with Stage Four Pancreatic Cancer a year ago...It has spread to my kidneys...I was unemployed an under insured...We live in the same building..I told her about my advanced condition last spring...I told her I was setting up a go fund me to get some money to pay for my medical bills.. I did...I raised about $25,000. It paid for a lot , but not enough....I've got about uh six months to live...I've made my peace with it...She's raised over a million dollars and she's living the high life..Her and her husband bought cars...Nice clothes...They've been to Cancun, Vegas...The Bahamas...and neither one of them has Cancer...It's just not fair..And the money is still rolling in..." he said.
"You're right..It's not fair or ethical.... Do you have a dollar?" I asked.
''A dollar? Yes." he said and passed me a dollar.
"That makes you my client..." We aren't going to let her get away with this..." I said.
Unfortunately, neither of us could know that this was the last time we would speak to each other..
IV-
A little before nightfall...a body was discovered in the back of the Lincoln Heights Apartments..
The Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic boys were picking up shell casings and looking around for any other clues..
Forensic Investigator and Deputy Coroner, Dr. Hazel Baylor was kneeling down looking at the body..
I walked up..
"I came as soon as you called Hazel.." I said..
"I found your card in his wallet....I figured it would be better if you held on to this.."said Hazel...
I pocketed it..
"That's Trevor Wilson...I only met him earlier today...He was my client...He had just hired me.."I said..
"I know he was your client...I won't ask you what it was about...but whatever it was you two talked about...Somebody didn't want him talking anymore..He took two shots to the chest...One to the head... a .22."said Hazel..
"Hmm, a ladies gun..." I said..
"Kevin, you'd better get out of here...The uh GREAT DETECTIVE caught this one...You know he doesn't like you..."said Hazel..
"Yeah you're right and I don't feel like arguing with him or answering any of his dumb questions...Thanks Hazel...I'll be going." I said and I slipped into the crowd and quietly left..
Wasn't long before two police cars arrived and Lt. Tragg and four police officers got out and followed him to the crime scene...This routine of his was so corny , it almost looked rehearsed ..Like some act for a really awful crime procedural.
Lt. Tragg walked over to the body...
"What have we got here?" he asked..
"Three gunshot wounds...Two to the chest, one to the head.."said Hazel..
"Robbery?" he asked.
"His wallet and his car keys are right there.. That's his car across the street and there is $250.00 in his wallet...a credit card and a debit card..."said Hazel..
"Apparently he lived here."said Lt. Tragg who looked up..."Damnit...The street cam is busted...Alright...go through this complex piece by piece boys...Interview everybody..." he sighed..
"Release the body.." he said.
From a safe distance, I watched as the body of poor Trevor Wilson was put in a body bag and carted off...
My little case of Bunco and Fraud had now turned into a murder..
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