Knife And Death

 A Friday Night in Josie's Bar....

The joint was packed....

Downtown Rob Brown

Bone Hampton

Reed Nelson

and Dutch Van Buren were sitting in with the house band tonight...

Although the crowd was predominately African -American, the occassional white man did wander in sometimes...Hipsters, who dug the smooth jazz sounds of the live entertainment..

A man who called himself "Chopper" Chopper McKenzie was one such man...He had sent word to me that he needed my services..

Me...I'm Kevin Morris...I'm A Private Investigator....I mostly work clean now of days..For Attorneys..but occasionally I take a street case like his..

We sat in a little booth...

He had a shot glass and a bottle of Tequilla..

He poured himself a finger..

"Should I have poured you a finger?" he asked me..

"Uh No...I drink Beer." I said.

As Honey Brown brought my beer over..

I cracked it open and began to drink..

"Okay Chopper...What is it that you want?" I asked.

"I need you to find somebody for me..His name is Harry ...Harry Swayze...He owes me a lot of money..150 large..." he said and drank some more Tequila.. He passed me an envelope with $2500.00 in one hundred dollar bills in it..

"You locate him for me and there is another $2500.oo for ya..I hear you are one of the best P.I.'s in the business." he said.

"Okay...You're a Gambler...You play in all of the big games around town.....If I find him...Nothing untoward had better happen to him..Like Sudden Death....I don't work for Gangsters or Killers."I said,.

"Relax...I never killed nobody in my life...I just want my money...I'm on the up Mr. Morris, Ask around about me..I just want my dough ,that's all." he said.

"I will ask around about you....believe that!" I said.

II-

For the next few days  I went to every floating crap game in North, South, West Philly, Germantown, Kensington, Mt. Airy, Roxborough, West Oak Lane and East Oak Lane.. No sign of Harry Swayze..

I even went to Atlantic City, looking for him, going to both legitimate card games at the casino and semi legal floating crap games...No sign of Harry Swayzie..

Most people who knew him said that he hadn't been around...

My travels next lead me to Chinatown,here in Philadelphia, to one of the biggest games in town..

Games lead by Eddie Lee, who owned one of the most successful restaurants in the area...A restaurant and bar that had won awards and got many notices in the paper for fine dining.....while upstairs..A high stakes Poker game that attracted Russian and Asian Mobsters was run...It was semi-legal.. The cops didn't bother Eddie Lee because he kept the peace...He kept Chinatown quiet..

"Haven't seen you sniffing around here in awhile..What brings you around now?" he asked..

I showed him a photo....

"Know him?" I asked.

"Harry...Harry Swayze...Haven't seen him in about a week , about the time he got into Chopper McKenzie for  150 large.."laughed Eddie..

"That means he was into you too...I knew I should have looked here first instead of going to all of those off brand floating crap games."I said.

"He owed me, but he paid me...Thing is...This guy seldom lost...If he lost to Chopper..He must have been having a bad night..a really bad night.." laughed Eddie.

''Always pay the house right?" I laughed..

"Always...I suppose uh you would be wanting to know where he lays his head right?" said Eddie, who wrote down three addresses and one phone number on a piece of paper.

"That's the apartment complex he lives in..This is his girl and uh this is his side piece..Be careful , you aint the only one lookin for him...I imagine you're workin for Chopper....He's bad enough, but another guy come around here lookin for him..He was real bad news... I didn't tell him nothin...I don't wanna be mixed up in no murder, you dig..?" said Eddie Lee.

I decided not to ask him anything more about this other guy...He either would have told me if he wanted me to know or he wouldn't..which he didn't.. I preferred to stay on Eddie's good side..He had helped me out a lot in past cases...

"Okay Eddie...Thanks...Next time I come by..It'll be strictly to dine.."I said..

"I look forward to that.." he said sarcastically and smiled as I left.

III-

Perhaps I should have searched here first...Harry Swayzie was not at his apartment and mail had piled up for a week there... Here was his girlfriend's house... He had to be there..

It was late.. I knocked on the door..It was surprisingly open in a ritzy complex like this..

I walked in and to my surprise..a woman was lying on the floor , Her throat had been slit and she was lying in a pool of blood..

A woman was kneeling over the body with latex gloves...

She heard me come in and she drew her glock! She showed her badge....

"I'm a cop!" she said. I figured!

I threw my hands up...

"Whoaaaa! Hold Up!  I'm a Private Investigator...." I said.. I went in my pocket and tossed her my photo license...

"You look like a detective...I don't recognize you.." I said.

"I'm Homicide Detective, Barbara Hutton, Bayside Homicide..I know I'm supposed to be here...I've been hunting Harry Swayzie..." she said and tossed my I.D. back at me.

"I'm looking for him too....I've been by his house and by every floating crap game between here and Atlantic City for the past few days and I'm found no luck.." I said.

"Private Investigator huh?  Your client is probably somebody he owes money too...I need him for another reason...He witnessed a murder in Bayside..My need trumps yours...but when I get him..You can tell your client he's in police custody." she said.

"That's fine with me...I don't work for gangsters or killers and I'm on the verge of having my client checked out...I have friends at the Criminal Investigation Division of the Philadelphia Police Department...From time to time..We do each other favors." I said.

"Friends? Would those friends be Sissy Van Buren, Carlotta Wallace, Duke Baylor, Sirena Harris, Sharon Hopkins of the FBI and such?" asked The Black female detective..

"Why yes.." I said.

"They are my friends too...We worked a case last year....The Lovers Lane Serial Killer Case."said the detective.

"I read about that in the paper...My name is Kevin Morris, Morris Communications and Investigations.." I said.

"Look...I'll meet you there tomorrow..At their headquarters...You didn't touch anything in here..Did you?" she asked.

"Just the door.." I said.

"Here is a disinfectant wipe..Wipe it off and let's get out of here...Then we'll call the police.." she said.

"Good Idea..I've got another address of another girlfriend of his..We need to see..Maybe we'll luck up and find him there." I said.

We slipped out of the apartments and went to our car..Like me, she had parked three blocks away...So as not to be detected..She followed me in my car after we called the police to inform them there was a dead body in the complex.

I have to give it to this Harry Swayzie...He kept his women apart...This one was halfway across the city from the other one..

And unfortunately , this one was just as dead..same way..Her throat had been slit... She was lying in a pool of blood.

This time we both had on latex gloves..

We both stood over the body and observed it..

"Excuse me if I may add that this is far more than me trying to find somebody that owes a debt...Harry is in some deep trouble." I said.

"The body is cold...Just like the other one...She's been dead for hours...Somebody wants to know where he is badly and they mean to kill him...Like I said.. Harry witnessed a murder in Bayside..In a Floating crap game..we had him, he was going to turn in states evidence..and he skipped bail.." said Detective Hutton , who I noticed was very curvaceous and shapely as well as pretty..

"He owes a gambler here in town 250 large, a guy named Chopper...That's who hired me to find him.."I said.

"Chopper Mckenzie? He's a low life Gambler, wanna be gangster...His motivation may or may not be pure...but I don't know."said Detective Hutton.

"Come on, Let's Get out of here." she said.

"I'm calling the police... I'll see you tomorrow morning..You got someplace to stay?" I asked.

"Mr. Morris..How kind of you..I would stay with you, but you're married...Don't worry about me...I'll manage." she said and smiled.

"You noticed the wedding band eh?" I laughed, smiling sheepishly.

" A smart girl always looks for it first....It was nice meeting you Mr. Kevin Morris..I'll see you in the morning." she laughed and got in her car and walked away..

IV-

I got home around a quarter to ten... Sepia was still up..

 "How's my investigator doing tonight?" asked Sepia , who was still up when I got home..

"This case is deeper than I thought..At first it seemed routine..Like I was just trying to find a degenerate gambler..but now I've been to his girlfriend's house and his side  piece's house and they're both dead..Had their throats slit and still no sign of the guy I'm hunting." I said.

''You think maybe you should check in with Sissy and the guys? asked Sepia.

"You read my mind...I'm going to see her tomorrow..It appears another detective is hunting Harry too. Harry skipped bail in Bayside..He was a material witness to a murder" I said.

''This Harry fellow is bad news...Owes somebody a lot of money and is a witness to a murder.. If I were him I'd be in California by now."said Sepia , smiling..and then laughing at her own joke.

I smiled at her..

''Why are you wasting your time selling houses? You should be my assistant...My partner..."I said.

"You always say that...I am your partner....Your partner in and for life.." she said as she walked up the stairs..

I followed her up the stairs...

We stopped at the top of the stairs and kissed passionately....

In the doorway, I slipped her sweater and her blouse off and unzipped her skirt...we continued kissing passionately...

"Close the door baby.." she said silently...

I did and we both got undressed....

We both got undressed and continued kissing passionately...Sepia wrapped her legs around my waste and I lifted her up...

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU DADDY!" she cooed..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW MOMMMMMY!" I moaned..

I entered her slowly and gently and began to move in and out of her..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...this is sooooooooo gooood..."I moaned..

"Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye....Ayyyyyyyyyyyyye....ouuuuuuuuuu hooooo hooooo hoooooo, ayyyeeeeeeeeee.....ohhhhhhhh my gooodnesss!" she cooed..

We were soon on our bed...Making sweet, sweet love....The bed springs squeaking out of control, the headboard rattling and slamming softly against the wall..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm husband!" she cooed..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ....awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" I moaned..

EIGHT TO NINE SENSUOUS HOURS OF SWEET LOVEMAKING just drifting by,,

and kissing like it was nobody's business until we both climaxed.....

What a night tonight was... A girl had her throat slit in one part of town..

 and in another part of town..

another girl also had her throat slit..

both girls were related to my client...The man I was looking for.. I know it was too early, but I didn't think he had anything to do with the two murders...Well, I didn't think he committed them..But someone did and if I didn't find Harry first...Harry would be next... Just what had I gotten myself into? And who was this knife weilding killer?

That's what I aimed to find out!

(TO BE CONTINUED)