The Proxy

"OLIVIA!!! BEVERLY!!! I WAS SOOO EXCITED, WHEN THEY TOLD ME YOU WERE HIRING ME AS A CONSULTANT ON YOUR CASE!" said a very excited Attorney Jasmine Coley..

"Jazzy, We hired you and your husband to represent us recently in court...What makes this so different?" I said , amused by her enthusiasm...

"Because it's just me and you're not my clients this time...We are partners on a case...It's different." she said.

We had hired Jazzy on a consulting basis, the way we used to hire Nelson..

''Jazzy, you were once an Assistant District Attorney, after you left the Public Defenders Office...You were ome of the most ruthless and cut -throat ADA's they had in time....We need that skill of yours to help us prepare to face ADA Billie Lawrence...who is just as cut-throat...You can help us by taking part in a series of Mock Trials we are going to have.."said Olivia.

"Ohhhhhhh like a Proxy...." giggled Jazzy..

"Exactly...We always hold mock trials when we are working on strategy....We do it amongst ourselves..But Auntay thought it would be better if we had another antagonist...Someone outside of our circle who wouldn't pull any punches...And who we'd still love after it was over.."said Beverly ,hugging her friend..

"Awwwwww, you'd still love me?" asked Jazzy...

Olivia kissed her on the cheek..

"I could never hate my sweet sweet Jazzy.." said Olivia using the nickname she had given her..

''Welcome to the team."said Josie, who also hugged her...Hard to believe these two had been bitter combatants once during a trial Josie held when she was in law school in which she actually faced off against Jasmine Coley...

That was all in the past now and they were friends....

Nelson smiled...

"And here is the best part about being on our team.." he joked..

"Come and get it everybody."said Alfreda.

Our office manager, Alfreda put two trays on the table..

Hot Doughnuts, Bagels and Cream Cheese and Jelly and Hot Coffee...

"Ouuuu yesss!" said Jazzy, smiling.

II-

We didn't need Jazzy's services right away...I took Beverly with me the first two days...

We went to Brent Jenson's construction company where we interviewed 124 employees...They basically had a favorable opinion of "Mr. Jenson" , while his foreman, Bobby Lee Hunter, who he was accused of killing had less favorable reviews..He was sullen, quick tempered and condescending...Not the most well liked of employees, yet still Mr. Jenson's right hand man..

The employees weren't at liberty to discuss the 20 million dollar lawsuit still pending in court...Instead we were refferred to the company's chief counsel, none other than Linda Houston...That was for another day...

The Next day ,Olivia, Beverly, Nelson and Jazzy went with me to the Morgue.

To see the still unclaimed body and get a copy of the Autopsy Report....

We then went to Police Headquarters and got a copy of the Police report....Lt. Tragg was not around and he had no idea we were the attorneys on this case...That was good...That was real good for us..

Beverly and I saw that he hadn't interviewed any of the 100 employees we had talked to...Only the 24 who witnessed the brawl, the day before Bobby Lee Hunter was murdered..

We checked Bobby Lee and Brent Jenson's credit card and debit card receipts and bank accounts and studied street and business cam footage as well as the camera footage taken from his security cameras..

"We know that after that fight they had, neither man went anywhere near each other...But our client had been over Bobby Lee's house just two days before and had had a drink...His fingerprints and DNA is on a drink glass in Bobby Lee's home." I said..

"But Bobby Lee had at least two visitors on the morning of his death....One is this man." said Olivia.

she was looking at a photo of a mysterious man ringing the doorbell

 and being let in at 5:00 am in the morning...and leaving at 5:30 am...and this woman!!! Look who it is" said Olivia..

"That's Linda Houston, the company lawyer...WHAT IS SHE DOING THERE?" asked Beverly...who also noted.

"Her visit wasn't that long...She's in at 5:30 and out at 5:40....Just ten minutes, she's looking around and she exits... Didn't Brent Tell us she came to his home at 7:00 am and they made love most of the morning?" said Beverly..

"That means she has to explain what she was doing in between Quarter to Six and Seven O'Clock.." said Nelson...

"Check her financials, See if she bought gas, gum, cigarettes , a sandwich, anything...but make sure you know why she was there at that time of morning...I'm betting your client doesn't know she came to his house from there...I'm betting she never told him..."said Jazzy..

"Donnie Ray find out who this man is...

He was there before Linda Houston arrived." said Olivia..

"He certainly had a lot of visitors that early in the morning.."said Beverly.

"Sure did!" said Nelson.

"Yes and I'm guessing these weren't social calls." I said.

"That's for sure.." laughed Jazzy.

III-

They took what information they had gleaned concerning the case and began to build a defense...They still had to account for that unexplained hour of time...Or maybe not...

I took Josie with me this time...One, she was now an Attorney and two, she had a background in Architecture...This would come in handy in this case..

We met with the company attorney, Linda Houston... I had thought when I called her she was going to be a problem and that we might need a subpeona..but she was very pleasent and agreed to meet with us in her office on a construction site..

"I know you and your wife and her niece are handling Brent's case...I had thought I would have the pleasure of meeting them..."said Linda.

"They are busy visiting with Brent at the House of Corrections and Fashioning his defense...So I brought along our other Associate Attorney, Ms. Josie Boyd...She has an Architectural degree and worked at a major firm in New York City, before returning to Philadelphia and deciding to go to law school." I said proudly...I was very proud of Josie..

Josie smiled..

"Pleased to meet you." she said Politely...

"Can I offer you both some coffee?" she asked.

"Please" I said.. "Two creams, six sugars.."I said.

"Same for me..Two creams and six sugars." said Josie..

She poured three cups of coffee and added two creams to all three and six sugars a piece...

"Mr. Alexander...before I start....I should tell you something....And I'm willing to testify in court...I discovered Bobby Lee's body....I went to his house because he called me...He was very upset that Brent had fired him...He wanted me to smooth things over with Brent...I came there around 5:30 am in the morning..I was up...I was going to go into the office and do a little work..I stopped by his house..I rang the bell and I called a number of times..I tried the door and I walked in and he was on the floor in his underwear...his head cracked open. I felt for a pulse..He was dead! ..I got up, I took my hankerchief out and wiped my prints off the doorknob and I got the hell out of there.

I ran a few blocks to a diner...I bought some coffee with cash...and I used my business phone and called 911, reporting a death and gave them the address..

I was upset...I drove and got some gas and then went to Brent's house...I at first thought Brent might have done it...but when I got to his house...It was obvious that he had been there all night...His bed was warm and unmade..He was in his boxers...I undressed and got in the bed with him... I didn't even tell him about Bobby Lee's death." said Linda.

"Did Lt. Tragg question you?" I asked.

"No, but he questioned Brent three times...I went with him and acted as his Attorney...."said Linda.

"Tell us about this lawsuit...20 million dollar lawsuit your company was facing." said Josie.

She hung her head...

"Oh That.." she said. We won a bid to work on the new Mega Hospital...Bobby Joe Hunter used one of his friends, a plumbing contracted named Ron Craggler...Defective construction works at the Mega Hospital have caused extensive plumbing problems, a Superior Court writ alleges, leading the Hospital  to sue Contractor, Britt Jenson for costs "in excess of $20 million". The legal action cites repeated water leaks following the completion of the hospital's nine-level tower." said Linda.

"Looking at this specs...They are all wrong...It might not have been the Plumbers fault...It might have been with the Architect and the construction company.."said Josie..

"Yes, that was my argument...I tried to calm Brent down...but if he lost this lawsuit, he and his company would go bankrupt...He was furious...He blamed Bobby Lee for hiring those plumbers.. I tried to tell him it wasn't Bobby Lee's fault...Not this time...There was a time before when Bobby Lee hired some other workers , who were aligned with gangsters and they weren't showing up for for work and still getting paid..That was a big mess and he almost fired Bobby that time...but this time was not Bobby's fault.."said Linda..

According to the suit , a section of the hospital's 30-bed intensive care unit has been closed since February because of leaks, which are believed to be affecting other parts of the facility. The legal action, taken by the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, claims hot and cold water piping in part of the hospital is defective and that materials used for plumbing were not "fit for their intended purpose". Hot water pipes have failed four times since the re-development's completion because of cracks brought on by stress, the writ claims. It also alleges unsuitable materials were used in the plumbing given the speed at which water is pumped through the pipes. The litany of issues with the hot water system outlined in the action include problems with support systems that put the pipes under too much stress and fittings that did not carry required approval markings. The writ estimates that the cost of the repairs will be more than $20 million. Construction of the tower at the Mega Hospital where the faulty works are alleged to have happened were done by Plumbers contracted by Brent Jenson Contracting and Associates . 

  The $376 million Mega Hospital re-development was one of the State's  biggest ever public hospital redevelopments and also involved the relocation of the Intensive Care Unit. "The intensive care unit was running at normal operating capacity but it is are now temporarily limited in it's ability to open spare capacity to meet additional demand,"  A "handful" of elective surgery operations had to be rescheduled. But  the hospital expected to reopen the section within weeks 

This is not the first time leaks have caused problems at the Austin. In 2013, a water leak in the hospital's then under construction  Cancer and Wellness Centre led to a fungal outbreak, and five at-risk cancer patients were warned they had been vulnerable to infection. A  spokesperson said the company was working with the department in relation to the matter.

It's been a big mess..." said Linda.

Josie looked at the complaint...and at the specs...It wasn't our job to assist in Linda's legal battle..but she was looking and making sensible suggestions..

"Young lady...I could use you...Your knowledge to help me...I'm going to ask Olivia and Beverly if I can hire you as a consultant...You'd be a proxy for the people I'd be arguing against to help prepare me for litigation..."said Linda..

I showed her a glossy, a photo of a man who was leaving the home of Bobby Lee just minutes before she arrived..

''Do you know who this man is? " I asked.

"That's Jake...Jake Alcender...The Architect....He was the one who suggested , through Bobby Lee that we take on this job...It promised a big payoff....I wanted to go after him for his faulty architecture and structural design...So Did Brent...Bobby was trying to protect him...I wonder why he was there that time of morning.?" asked Carol..

"Yes....So do I?" I said..  "Thank you for you time and the information...Ms. Houston.....And uh, go see Brent...A visit from you would make him feel a lot better." I said..

"I will Mr. Alexander and tell Olivia, I will be calling her about using Ms. Boyd here as a consultant/Proxy!" said Linda.

IV-

Josie and I went home..

Alfreda laughed as we walked in...

"Boyyyyyy Tall Dark and Southern, you missed quite a performance in here..I thought I was in court..They really went at it..." she said.

In the conference room, Jazzy was doing her best imitation of ruthless prosecutor, Billie Lawrence and challenging , Olivia, Beverly and Nelson in their defense of Brent Jenson...She was a good Attorney and she was bringing up all of the legal arguments and stunts she knew Billie would employ to get their goat.

Jessica Sanchez-Burrows, who had once clerked for Billie and knew her quite well came over and gave Jazzy and the guys some helpful tips..

"WOW! Let's take five for today...This was good...Great job Jazzy and thank you Jessica..."said an exhausted Olivia.

"Now we know what legal precedents to look up...We know what can hurt us..."said Beverly..

"Here come Donnie Ray and Josie..Hopefully they have the missing peices to our argument."said Nelson.

Jazzy's husband ,Dabnis had stopped by after work and had caught the Mock trial...he was thorougly entertained by the intensity of the arguments..

"Boyyyyyyyy..I'm glad we are all friends and don't have to really go up against each other like that." he laughed..

Paris had also acted as an unofficial juror..

And Jessica's Husband Chip, An Attorney himself was just sitting back absorbing everything...He had started out as a corporate litigator and was now learning how to be a defense lawyer...Learning from the best..

"You guys are going to be just fine."laughed Jazzy, tired and hugging Olivia.

"Thank you so much...Now Bev, Nelson and I will be mentally prepared...You won't need Josie tomorrow will you husband?  She needs to take part in this."said Olivia.

''Nah...Tomorrow I'll be goin solo.. Linda Huston was so impressed with Josie that she wants to hire her as a consultant on the law suit the hospital has against Brent Jenson's insurance company.."I said.

"Wayyy to go girlfriend."said Jazzy...

"Thank You!" said Josie, smiling..

"That's My Girl."said Nelson...

"Just remember, you're our Josie, She can't keep you...You belong to us."joked Beverly...

"This will be such an education for you Josie girl." said Olivia, hugging Josie.

"Anybody Hungry?  Cheesesteaks...On Me, I'll spring for everybody.."said DAbnis..

''Works for me.."said Paris.

"Me too!"said Jessica

"That makes it unanimous.."said Chip..

"That include me too?" asked Alfreda..

"Of course...you're part of the team."laughed Dabnis, hugging Alfreda....

Olivia sat in my lap and leaned her head into my shoulders..She kicked her heels off.

Beverly and Nelson did the same thing..

so did Josie and Paris..

We sat and watched as our friends laughed and talked..

and awaited those cheese steaks..

that were on the way.

(CONCLUSION NEXT)