Sleeping With The Fishes

It was Saturday....Noon...Nobody was at my office...They were all off today...even in the basement at Morris Investigations,

My 30 man administrative staff was off and even my five operatives were off..If anyone was down there, It would be Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson, who I suspected were living in the sub-basement of my building...

I let myself in.....It was 12:01 pm...

Like clockwork, beautiful young and perky Jessica Sanchez, the attorney I had just met in Josie's the night before arrived...

"Hi...Sorry I'm late.." she said..

"Two minutes? That's not late!." I said and smiled..

She had her briefcase with her...

"I brought Coffee and Doughnuts...From Cakeman Raven's shop." she exclaimed and smiled..

I smiled..

"You're my kinda gal...None of the other attorneys I work for bring me coffee and doughnuts...although I do have coffee and doughnuts when I go to visit Yvette Jones and her crew.."I laughed..

Thinking about the few times I'd done investigative work for them..

"You've worked for Yvette?" she asked..

"I pinch hit for Jade sometimes when all of them are working cases...and I have worked for your friends Olivia and Beverly a couple of times too...

This was before they hooked up with Donnie Ray... Nelson and Josie.

When she was just getting established...

That Duplex/Office they live in...My wife sold that to them..

That's how I met them...And My wife and Bonita rented out the apartments that Yvette,

Jade and her four young charges live in now..." I said.

''Wow! You and your wife are really something...You two have built something together...You got any kids?" asked Jessica.

"One daughter, Kimberly....She's three...You may meet her today....and you know, Josie...Olivia and Beverly's Josie is my legal ward..

I met her while I was a client of her late father, The Gangster, Joe Boyd, who practically ran the Black underworld in Philly at the time..when he died...Josie had nobody...I legally adopted her and took care of her until she was grown..finished college...I introduced her to Olivia and Beverly when they were starting out...She's worked for them ever since.."I said.

"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww you and your wife are connected to my closest friends..You are a good guy to know...I don't have a Donnie Ray or a Jade Lee...Can I hire you for future investigative work?" she asked..

"Of course...I work with a lot of Attorneys and Law enforcement as well.."I said as we both quaffed coffees and munched on doughnuts...

"Now let's get down to cases.." I said.


II-

"Funny you mention Joe Boyd...he was losing his grip on the rackets...His control....He had kept things quiet.....He had the gambling, he had the wire rooms...He had strip clubs and a piece of the every robbery, bank job or illegal vice that went down...

Little Caesarline brought drugs...Crack Cocaine, Heroin and Prostitution into the mix... Joe Boyd wanted no parts of that because of the violence it brought into the community...He could no longer control his Lieutenant and they fought a bitter war...A war that cost 28 people their lives...14 from both sides..

The Police and The Feds were coming down hard... Little Caesarline broke with Joe Boyd and carved out his own little fiefdom in Southwest Philly and he held on to it...

For awhile...There was peace..."said Jessica, who couldn't have been or was just being born around this time....I was amazed she knew so much of Philly's crime history..

"But then came , Joey Coconut....right?" I said..

"Joey Coconut" , Joseph Browning, Flashy, young, ambitious, ruthless...He had once been Little Caesarline's  protoge', his right hand man...His Lieutenant...but he started getting a big head, started believing that he was really the brains of the operation."said Jessica.

"I heard that Joey Coconut actually attended Community college, took Business courses and actually graduated with an Associates Degree..." I said.

"He did and he streamlined everything, ran things like a fortune 500 business...Distribution, pick up dates, delivery, Kept impeccable records of everything and everyone that was paid...Invested even...He was ahead of his time...He owned several legitimate businesses and a few not so legitimate businesses where money was laundered.. He was way ahead of Little Caesarline, who was simply a gangster...

Soon he was carving out corners of his own...Soldiers who only answered to him...That was the beginning of the tensions..but what drove Little Caesarline over the edge was when he got word that
Joey Coconut was sleeping with his girlfriend.

It drove him over the edge and the die was set..... The contract was put out and his younger brother..

Nate Russell,  rumored to have killed at least two others took the contract...He set it up and he and another man

followed Joey Coconut to the outdoor Seafood Market in South Philly...Joey Coconut loved seafood and he loved to cook it...He bought fresh fish and seafood from the outdoor market every Friday morning like clockwork...

On this particular Friday Morning...It was overcast....In Front of a crowd of people...Nate Russell opened fire on him...

He had a .45..Both slugs from his .45 hit Joey Coconut in the legs....But the second man, the man with the sawed off shotty fired  the kill shot, the blast that literally separated his head from his body..."said Jessica..

"And That man would allegedly  be..Melvin "Little Mel" Harris.|" I said.

''Well that's who the police picked up and charged....but my client is innocent...He wasn't even at the scene...He had a broken toe...His leg was in a cast..He was at his doctor's at the time..." said Jessica.

"Is his Doctor still alive?" I asked.

''Yes and he signed an affidavit  saying as much... He was never called to testify during the trial.. I have an FBI agent who will also testify...See they were looking into "Little Mel"said Jessica.

"Little Mel was no saint.. He had done 5 years for Armed Robbery...His wife had a restraining order out on him at the time of the murder and it was rumored that Joe Boyd had a contract out on him also." I said.

"I know...but he always maintained that he didn't kill Joey Coconut..and even at the trial..Nate Russell vehemently said that Melvin Harris had nothing to do with the hit...Stephen Russell, Little Caesarline "wouldn't testify because he was maintaining his innocence and trying to get a new trial."said Jessica.

"All three men were convicted and given life sentences...which meant that Joe Boyd moved in and took over Little Caesarline and Joey Coconut's territory again..."I said.

"Right and so it stayed...Meanwhile...All three men languished in prison for years...In 2015, Stephen "Little Caesarline" Russell was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer...Stage 4...He was released from prison and in Hospice he finally admitted to masterminding the Joey Coconut hit and he said in a dying declaration that Melvin "Little Mel " Harris...Had nothing to do with it...That he wasn't there."Then he died... Nothing was done about it.. Both Melvin Harris and Nate Russell have been paroled." said Jasmine..

"They're paroled , They are both free???...What do you need me to do?" I asked.

''.Melvin Harris wants to clear his name...It's important to him that he not be labeled a murderer...he came to the Innocence Project..I'm representing him...I need your help.."said Jessica.

"Okay....but we are looking at a thirty five year old homicide..It's going to be hard to find witnesses and evidence...but I'll do my best.." I said.

"That's all I ask...Thank you Kevin.." said Jessica.






III-

Walter "Kool Kat" Jones and I stood outside the fish market...

 "This is where it happened Walter.." I said.

"It was a sloppy hit...Broad daylight....crowds of people....children might have gotten hurt...Nate was the first person  who got out the car...and walked towards him...He saw Nate and started running..Carrying Fresh water trout in his hands...wrapped in Newspaper..."said Kool Kat..

Nate fired twice..Th first shot hit him below the left buttock..the second shot hit him in the right thigh..He fell into the table with the crabs...

The second shooter..

with the shotgun, fired and took his head off of his body, sending it over there on the table..

and sending people running for cover.." he said..

"Of course none of the people could identify the shooters because all they saw was two BNBG's." I said.

Kool Kat laughed..

"Big Negroes, Big Guns..." he said...

Exactly....This area did have Street cams back then...I wonder if any of those cameras caught the murder..?" I mused..

"It's worth looking into.."said Kool Kat...

 Jessica and I wound up at the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Philadelphia Police department and the FBI/ATF..... Only my good friend, Deputy FBI Special Agent In Charge, Sharon Ferrell-Hopkins was at work today..

"I got your text Kevin and I was able to rustle up these old files and make copies....I should warn you...some of the information is didacted...I don't know why...This case was before I was even thinking about the FBI.."said Sharon...

 "Thanks Sharon....I wasn't thinking about anything either...You and I were probably in pre school back when this case was hot...Oh excuse my manners...This is my client, Attorney Jessica Sanchez with the Innocence Project." I said.

"My girls , Olivia and Yvette have done a lot of work with the Innocence Project..."said Sharon.

"You Know Olivia and Yvette??" asked Jessica.

''Sure Do...I was in law school with both of them..We graduated together...And Olivia and I go back further than that...High School.."said Sharon...

"All you guys are so interconnected..."said Jessica..

"Now you are too!" I said and smiled.. "Thanks Sharon...." I said..

"Any time, but don't push it.." laughed Sharon...

At City Hall....

"Thank You so much ADA Karen Page for helping Kevin and I with these.." said Jessica.

"I've been looking into a lot of wrongful convictions lately....It's a new initiative D.A. Garcetti is spearheading..Let me know if I can be of anymore help to you.."said Karen Page , who handed us the D.A.'s Office Case files from the case and The Original Homicide Case Files ."

"Thanks Karen....." I said.

"One more stop and we are done for the day..."I said.

"You've been very helpful..."said Jessica.

Our Next stop was the Medical Examiner's Office...

''Wow....Thirty five years and somebody decides to look into this case again..."said Doc Gibbons..

"You remember this case Doc?" I asked..

"Vaguely....Pretty cruel way to die, even for a hoodlum....His entire head was blown off....no face whatsoever...We identified him by his fingerprints...definitely a mess....Had to have a closed casket funeral..His girlfriend was devastated.. Here is a color copy of the Autopsy report." he said.

 "Thank You." said Jessica..

"Thanks Doc." I said..

I dropped Jessica off at her Apartment complex...

 ''Well, here you go...I'll talk to you Monday and we can go visit your client.." I said..

"Thank you so much.,..We got a lot done today....Those photos you and your friend took of the crime scene, The D.A.'s case file, The Homicide Case File and the Autopsy Report is more than I expected in one day...You have the best contacts..."gushed Jessica.

"I have the best relationships with both Attorneys and Cops." I said..

"I knew you were the right person to come to...Thanks again, see you Monday..." said Jessica..

I smiled and drove off...

IV-

Sepia was surprised to see me home so early...

"I didn't expect to see you back until at least 10:00 pm." said Sepia..

I kissed her and Kimberly....

"Not this Saturday....We got a lot done...." I said.

"This thing is so old....it's going to be hard to clear this guy's name...He should just be glad he's no longer in prison.."said Sepia..

"I agree, but I kind of understand...His good name is all he's got at this point in his life and he doesn't want "Convicted Murderer" on his legacy, especially if he's innocent."I said..

"I suppose you're right.."said Sepia..

"Come on, let's go get some food..."I said..

At Curly's Bar, Lt. Tragg is knocking back a cold beer ….

"I'll have another one Curls." said Lt. Tragg..

A Swarty White man sat down next to him...Detective Mike Grisly....biggest gossip on the force..

"How ya doin Artie?" he said.

''Hey Mikey, what do ya know, what do ya say?"said Lt. Tragg..

"You know I still work at records right?" said Mike..

"Yeah...You pulled a Saturday Shift huh?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"Yeah....I saw that Blonde, Assistant District Attorney ..The one you got your eye on..Karen Page." he said.

''Oh Yeah?" asked Lt. Tragg.

''Yeah, she was over in records...She Pulled The D.A.'s Case file and a Homicide Case file from 35 years ago...Your Father's case...The Joey Coconut Murder..."he said.

"What would she want with that old case...Everybody involved in that case is dead anyway, aren't they?"laughed Lt. Tragg..

"No... Little Caesarline is dead...but his kid brother and the triggerman have both been paroled...They're still alive..and I hear, there was another person , who is still alive that was never caught...That's what I hear."said Mike..

"My dad told me about that case...He always believed that Joe Boyd engineered the trouble between Little Caesarline  and Joey Coco, ..who he fought a bloody street war with that ended in a tie  , so one or the other would wipe the other out and he could take control again."laughed Lt. Tragg.

''Yeah, well Boyd's been dead, Little Caesarline is dead and Joey Coco got his head blown off." laughed Mike.

"Yeah, so why would Karen want that old file?" mused Lt. Tragg..

(TO BE CONTINUED)