The Leows Hotel in Center City Philadelphia.. 9:59 PM
In the Hotel Room of Wardell "Big Daddy" Clemmons , He is engaged in a hot and passionate kiss with a beautiful young woman..
"Baby...Let's stay in...we've got all weekend to go out dancing.."said Big Daddy...
"Your WIFE might not think so.." said the woman..Carmella Clark, an Attorney from D.C.
"My wife is in Washington D.C., We are in Philly...." said "Big Daddy" , a very influential Politician, one time U.S. Attorney...Mover and shaker in the world of Politics...
"We are here for your girlfriend's wedding...relax!!!Now give Big Daddy another kiss." he moaned..
"Ummmmmmm girrrrrrrllll...Oh My god! Come on, take your clothes off,let's make love.." he moaned..
"No that's all we do..non stop...is make love...You never get enough....I'm not your sex toy...I want to go out dancing.." she said and pulled away from his embrace..
"Oh alright...Give me a minute.." he said, pouring himself a drink..
"You really ought to try this Citris Martini babe...It's good!" he said..
"I'll wait for you downstairs.." she said..
10: 50 pm....
"What's taking him so long..?" asked Carmella....
She went back up to his room...
11:15 pm.
"Heyy roomie, where you been? asked Louise Johnson...Carmella's room mate and the bride to be..
Louise had recently graduated from Law School...She was about to take the bar..but she was getting married even sooner ,In Two days...
"What's Wrong? You look like you seen a ghost?" said Louise..
"Make yourself a drink...I'll be back...I'm going to the Bathroom..."said Louise..
"Yes....I'll uh do that..."said Carmella..
11:45 pm..
"Louise??? Louise....It's me.. Aunt Alfreda...I'm sorry to come by so late...but I figured you'd still be up." said Alfreda Johnson, our office manager and mother of Beverly West-East, my wife's beloved niece and Law partner..
The door was open....both Carmella and Louise were on the floor..
"It's too early for you you two gals to be getting this toasted.."Alfreda laughed...
But something was different about their two bodies... Alfreda couldn't wake them up...She felt for a pulse..both pulses were weak...and there was a dry blue spittle on the outside of both their lips..
She got on her phone....She called the only two people who might help her....
II-
The Leow's Hotel, 12:30 am..
"We got here as soon as we could Alfreda..Donnie Ray is on his way...He had a gig at Josie's tonight."said Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Attorney , My wife and the sister of Alfreda's Baby Daddy..
and thus Aunt of Alfreda's daughter, Beverly..
"Whoa...what happened here Mommy?" asked Beverly West -East, Attorney...Olivia's partner in her law firm, Olivia's niece...Younger by only nine years...They were more like sisters than Aunt and Niece....
''As I told you...I was coming here to see your cousin, Louise...My Older sister's daughter...You two only met once...You both were very young...you might not remember her..."said Alfreda.
"I remember her,Aunt Alecia's daughter...She wrote to me occasionally...She just graduated from Law School...Georgetown....She's taking the bar after she comes back from her honeymoon...Is she..Is She?" asked Beverly...
"No! They're both alive...but just barely..."said Olivia..
''Don't touch anything and wipe down anything you have touched.." said Olivia..
She sniffed the unfinished drinks...
"Smells like Barbituates..Hmmmmmm." she said..
"There's a note..It says... My dear, you left your underthings in my room upstairs...I wouldn't want my wife to find them, please come and retrieve them..Big Daddy. Room 714" said Alfreda.
"Big Daddy?" said Beverly...
"Big Daddy???" said Olivia..
"The letter has got his room number and a phone number....I called it...but nobody answered.."said Alfreda.
''A room number...let's check it out."said Olivia.
Just then, I walked in with the rest of the gang...
I surveyed the scene...
''What Happened here? They're not dead are they?" I said looking at the bodies of the two women..
"No but they are barely alive.. They've apparently been drugged.."said my wife Olivia.
"There is a letter here from some man..He left his address and phone number on it..He's three floors up." said Beverly..
Her Husband, Attorney Nelson East, our Associate Attorney read it..
"My dear, you left your underthings in my room upstairs...I wouldn't want my wife to find them, please come and retrieve them..Big Daddy."
"Whoa, isn't she getting married in two days?" asked Nelson..
."This was typed on a laptop and printed...That seems a bit suspect for something this minor..and why didn't he just call?" asked Josie..
"Let's go to his room and check it out.."I said..
We walked to his room and and found Wardell "Big Daddy Clemmons in just his boxers ,with a lipstick imprint on his forehead and his cheek...but unlike the girls, very, very dead...
lying a few feet from him was a pair of Burgandy Bikini panties
and a Burgandy lace bra..
"What went on here?" asked Nelson...
I sniffed the drink glass
"Smells like Cyanide..." I said..
"Okay, nobody touch anything...Wipe down anything you think you've touched...Let's get out of here and call the police." I said.
"What about those panties and that bra?" asked Alfreda.
''Do you recognize them? Are they your niece's ?" I asked.
"I don't know."said Alfreda.
'Then we have to leave them...We can't move anything."said Olivia.
"Come on Mommy.."said Beverly...
"Yeah, let's get out of here."said Josie..
As we were leaving, An Attractive Black woman was entering the room directly across from us..
"Hello.." she said..
"Hello, have you seen anyone else in this room tonight?" asked Nelson..
"Other than you five? No, I mind my own business." said the woman ,who opened her door and went in her room.
"I'm calling an ambulance for your niece and her room-mate and I'm calling the police to report a homicide.." I said.
III-
1:45 AM
Crime scene investigators and Forensic Specialists were all over the room,
Dr. Hazel Baylor looked at us..
"He was definitely poisoned...Somebody put Cyanide in his drink...I can smell it..He had sex before he died...There is semen splatter on the rug" she said..
"How are the two young ladies in the room downstairs?" asked Olivia.
"Yeah, one is my cousin...She is supposed to be married in a few days.."said Beverly..
"They appear to have been drugged too...I wondered if there was a connection.." I said.
''This sure was a wild night.." said Nelson..
"For sure." said Josie.
"They're going to be alright won't they?" asked Alfreda..
"Oh yeah...Their drinks were spiked with sleeping pills..We pumped their stomachs ...They'll be good as new in the morning..."said Hazel...
Lt. Tragg walked in...
''What have we got here Hazel?" he asked..
Hazel sighed..
"I wished you guys had gotten out of here before HE came." she whispered.
"MURDER HUH?" he said..
"He appears to have been poisoned.....Cyanide in his drink glass..." said Hazel...
"Prints.?" he asked..
"Several...None on the drink glass..."said Hazel..
He looked at the water glass...
"Definitely prints on these un drank glasses of water....Get em dusted...Olivia, Beverly and crew...What are YOU guys doing here?" he asked..
"They came because I called them...My niece and her room mate downstairs were also drugged tonight.." said a distraught Alfreda..
''Alfreda...No..." said Olivia. She didn't want her giving any unwarranted information to Lt. Tragg.
"Mommy!" said Beverly...
"Oh really?...She was one of the two young ladies ,I saw being attended to in the ambulance when I arrived...What have they got to do with this dead man here?, who I understand is a big wig politician from out of town?" asked Lt. Tragg...
"Nothing." I said..
"Lieutenant!" said a uniformed officer , who passed him some clothing from the dry cleaners..
"Is your niece, by any chance, Ms. Louise Johnson?"asked Lt. Tragg...
He picked up the panties and the bra...
"Bag these and tag these...Hmmmm...I'd say this guy had quite the party...I'll be needing to talk with your niece.." said Lt. Tragg to Alfreda..
"Now wait a minute...Don't go jumping to conclusions.."said Olivia.
"That's right..You don't know what happened.." said Beverly...
"Then why don't you tell me?...Your niece is two floors down...She's poisoned and you're up here..and this man is dead! I think you came up here to manipulate this crime scene..remove any thing incriminating your niece.."laughed Lt. Tragg...
"I'm a lawyer....I don't do things like that...I obey the law.."said Olivia..
"Ohhhh ho ho...Listen at this.." laughed Lt. Tragg..
"And besides...I called in the murder..."I said..
"Good for you...I need to talk to your niece...Boys go to that ambulance...Bring Louise Johnson up here.." said Lt. Tragg..
"Now wait a minute...She's been drugged..She's semi conscious.." said Alfreda..
"She's a material witness, possibly a suspect..She'll need to be interviewed..." said Lt. Tragg...
"Oh you're being extra now.." said Beverly...
''Am I Beverly? You know all about being extra as you say.. I'm close to charging all six of you with Obstruction of Justice , Accessory after the fact..but I don't have enough evidence to support either one of those charges..."laughed Lt. Tragg..
"Not enough evidence? When has that ever stopped you?" asked Beverly..
"Honey Bun, cool it.."said Nelson..
"That's right...You tell her son...That smart mouth of hers will only hurt her in this case..You should listen to your husband Bev. "said Lt. Tragg.
"Don't you think you're rushing to judgement? Don't you think you should find out what happened in this room first before you go making assumptions..?/"said Olivia.
"He's in his boxers...There is a bra and a pair of panties on the floor and a spiked drink...It's quite obvious what was going on here...Any man knows what was going on here.."said Lt. Tragg..
"That's what it may look like...but this whole thing could have been staged..."I said..
"Is that what your gut tells you detective or are you speaking with another part of your anatomy? Olivia does have beautiful legs and is wearing a very short mini skirt tonight...Is that what's influencing your analysis? Your Wifey???" asked Lt. Tragg..
Olivia bristled at what she thought was a blatantly sexist diatribe by Lt. Tragg..
Josie soothed her..
"Easy Liv, Easy..." she said..
"He's the biggest jackass on two legs...I hate it when I have to work a case with him.."whispered Hazel to Beverly..
"I feel you girl."said Beverly...
IV-
FRIDAY MORNING- 9:30 AM
In the Interrogation room known as the "Fishbowl" , Louise Johnson sat stone faced, staring at Lt. Tragg..
He had had her up for eight straight hours...She was hungry and sleepy..He kept asking her about the death of Wardell "Big Daddy" Clemmons..
She would say only... "I don't know the man...I've never met him." but nothing more..
He asked her if she wanted a cigarette..
She replied.."I don't smoke."
"You want a soda? Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Coke??" he asked.
"No" she said..
"Can I get you a sandwich?"
"I don't want anything from you and I have nothing more to say." she said.
"Look, I know you knew this man.....He's a known womanizer...Did he promise you he was going to leave his wife and you discovered another woman? Come on...We've got your panties, your bra and your dry cleaning in his hotel room and your finger prints on a water glass..We got you cold, make it easy on yourself.."said Lt. Tragg..
"Interview is over..We are here now." said Olivia..
"Cousin Louise...It has been a few years..."said Beverly..."This is my husband, Nelson East..He is also an Attorney....He will be assisting us."said Beverly.. "And with him is Josie Boyd, another associate attorney who will be assisting us.. and Cousin Olivia's husband, Donnie Ray Alexander,our investigator."explained Beverly..
"Hi Louise.." said Nelson..
"Hi Louise." said Josie
"Hi Louise.." I said..
Lt. Tragg angrily moved out of the room and we shut the door.
Louise hugged Olivia and Beverly...
"Cousin Liv, Cousin Beverly....I don't know what this is about...They're sayin I killed some old man..but I never met him...and I've never been up to his hotel room...Never.." said Louise..
"Baby, your dry cleaning was in his apartment and your bra and panties.."said Olivia.
"I don't know how that stuff got in his apartment...I picked up my dry cleaning, two days ago...I just hadn't taken it out of the wrapping yet,.,and those panties and that bra...I wore them the day before..They were in my hamper.." said Louise..
"What about your room mate? Could she have taken those things up to his room?" I asked..
"I don't know why she would do that...She didn't know him either? She was seeing another guy...Some semi pro-football player...I don't understand all this...And that drink glass...It can't be mine...I've never ever been to that man's room or even on that floor."said Louise.. "I'm going to miss my wedding aren't I?" she sobbed.
"Looks like it...You need to concentrate on getting out of here on bail...Think of who can put money up for you..."said Olivia.
"Yes , we are going to see if there is an opening for an arraignment today..."said Beverly...
"Meanwhile...I'm pretty sure you are hungry....Your Aunt Alfreda brought coffee and she made some doughnuts...They are nice and hot." said Nelson.
who pulled out a thermos
and cups and poured the coffee for all of us and doughnuts...
"Annnnd we brought sandwiches for you and all of us.." said Nelson.
"Oh My God!!!...You guys are life savers..I love you guys..."said Louise, who chowed down....
"We've got to find out what went on in that hotel room and who was actually up there with him..."I said..
"And more importantly, who is trying to frame you??.."said Olivia..
"I just sent a text to ADA Karen Page ,Auntay, she's going to get back to me and see if we have a Judge." said Beverly...
"It's Friday Morning...It's going to be tight...."said Nelson..
"We might be able to pull it off." said Josie.
"I'm going back to that Hotel.." I said.
Lt. Tragg stood outside the "Fishbowl". He peered in..
He couldn't hear the conversation...but he saw us all laughing and talking and drinking coffee..
It infuriated him...Wardell "Big Daddy" Clemmons, was big news, a prominent Black politician, a known womanizer, found murdered in a downtown hotel..It was all over the media...
He had been fortunate enough to catch the case. He was the man of the hour....and unfurtunately..he had to share it with them... Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Beverly West ,Me, Nelson and Josie.. He and us seemed to be drawn together over the years...All of the big cases..
The suspect would have to be some kin to them... That was making news too.. He knew the Deputy Of Operations wanted movemant on this case and fast...and he had made a quick arrest...WHY, WHY, WHY DID HE HAVE TO SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT WITH US? he wondered...
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