Two To The Heart

 A FEW HOURS LATER-

At Julian Roach's apartment...Neighbors had called police saying they heard gunshots and a struggle..Police had arrived finding broken glass, broken laptops, a broken camera , a broken telephoto lense and  a whole lot of blood..

Julian Roach's body lie in the center of the floor in a pool of blood...

"Somebody worked this guy over....both of his eyes are nearly swollen shut and his face is terribly swollen doc." said one of the Crime Scene Investigators...

"He did get a severe beating....but the cause of death was two gunshot wounds to the heart."said Dr. Hazel Baylor, Deputy County Coroner and Forensic Investigator...

"Body Temp and time of death is around 4:00 pm..Cause of death is two to the heart." repeated Hazel to Lt. Tragg.

"Two to the heart....Geez, blood everywhere.....A broken window, a laptop in the driveway....Take the hard drives out, check em all for a clue."said Lt. Tragg...

"We talked to the neighbors...They said around 3:00 pm , this guy left here with a tall Black man, an older guy..had a bit of grayish hair and they returned about a quarter to four...They heard shouting and what sounded like punches being thrown and broken glass...and the vic here pleading for him not to hurt him..."said another detective...

"They went to his bank...He withdrew 45K and came back here.." said another detective.

"Check the film at the bank...We just may get a photo of our killer..."said Lt. Tragg.

"Fingerprints and DNA are everywhere."said a Forensics specialist....

''Who is he?"asked Lt. Tragg.

"His name is Julian Roach.....He works for Nora Desmond...He's kind of like a gopher at the Television studio..." said Hazel...

''What's he doin with 45 Large in his bank account?"asked Lt. Tragg.

"He invests well." said Hazel sarcastically, knowing Lt. Tragg wouldn't get the joke..

and miles away at our office duplex...

Our day was starting just like mostly any other day....With a nice hot breakfast at home..

Omelettes to Order

Pancakes

Hash Browns

Sausages

Orange Juice 

and coffee...

Beverly and Josie were cooking...

Olivia was sitting in my lap, waiting for breakfast to be served and slowly kissing me..

"Mmmmmm thanks for last night baby." she whispered in my ear..

"Maybe at lunch time if we aren't busy, we can uh come up here and uh continue.." I whispered in her ear..

Olivia laughed  and whispered in my ear..."Ummmmmmmmmm you always want it Donnie Ray."

"The door rang...that's probably Ms. Jay.."said Nelson...Speaking of his mother in law, Alfreda Johnson.

It was Alfreda...

"Mmmmmmm smells good...Listen , I just got some scoop for you guys...Rockland called me...He went in early today...He has a preliminary hearing...He said that Lt. Tragg arrested both Nora Desmond and Eddie Jefferson this morning...Suspicion of murder in the death of Julian Roach....He was found beaten to death early this morning and shot two times...His apartment trashed...He thought you might want to know." said Alfreda , who sat down and poured herself a cup of coffee and began to eat breakfast with us..

"Damn it... I told him to chill...I told him not to do anything stupid!" said Olivia..

"He did seem like he was boiling over when he discovered who it was yesterday.." I said.

"Ohhhhh goddddd..I hope he's innocent and this is a misunderstanding.."said Beverly...

"Well we owe it to him to at least hear his side.."said Nelson..

"If Lt. Tragg arrested both of them, why hasn't either one called us yet?" asked Josie.

Olivia's phone began to ring...

''Welp! There is your answer Josie girl!" said Beverly..

"Hello!" said Olivia..

"Liv, I may be in a little trouble...I've been arrested and charged with First Degree Murder...Nora has too...I assure you Liv, I didn't kill him....I beat him up...but he was alive when I left his place...I swear...and I certainly didn't shoot him...I-" said Eddie..

"Okay...Okay Eddie...Don't say a word....You're an Attorney, you know that....Don't say a thing..We'll be down shortly.." said Olivia.

II-

At Central Booking in the "Fishbowl", the nickname the detectives  gave to the interrogation room, Lt. Tragg sat across from Eddie Jefferson.

"Basically Jefferson, your career is over...You know that right? Disbarment, Prison probably for the rest of your life.....You might as well confess....I mean we got you cold...We got you on tape with the guy withdrawing 45 large from the bank....Several of his neighbors IDed you in his apartment and heard glass breaking, punches being thrown, yelling and screaming...We found your bloody clothes from the day with his blood all over em and we got your gun....Your prints are on the smashed laptops and camera and telephoto lense...You're as good as gone...You might as well confess.." said Lt. Tragg...

Former Defense Attorney and City Councilman ,Eddie Jefferson stared angrily at Lt. Tragg, who he had never liked and said nothing, not a word...

"We know this kid was blackmailing you....See you destroyed the Laptops and the cameras, but you didn't destroy the hard drives...We saw all of the nasty photos of you and Nora Desmond...She gets around...Bishop.....You....We cut her loose...She had an alibi...She was in New York City all day yesterdayon some press junket..She was just returning to Philly when we picked her up...She told us she hasn't seen or talked to you in weeks...She didn't even need a lawyer.."said Lt. Tragg. "Oh and lover boy, you've been replaced...by get this...a younger guy!" he said.

He remembered her angry boyfriend, Eriq Toussaint..

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, POLICE HARRASSMENT...SHE WAS IN NEW YORK ALL DAY YESTERDAY...HERE ARE HER TRAIN TICKET STUBS....CALL THIS NUMBER THEY WILL VERIFY IT!" he said.

It was done and Nora was released..

"Something ought to be done about you." said Nora Desmond as she left Central Booking..

"Yeah Yeah Yeah" said Lt. Tragg, so glad he didn't have to deal with Olivia, Beverly and company..

"Tragg, you are boring me....Why don't you give it up...I'm not some scared perp....I'm a lawyer....I'm exercising my right to silence..."said Eddie Jefferson..

"You know Jefferson...I never liked you....Not when you were a Defense Attorney.....I didn't vote for you when you ran for City Council....and I hear you were thinking about a run for Judge....I am so glad that that won't be happening now.."sneered Lt. Tragg..

"That sounds so vindictive Lieutenant....I would have thought better of you.."said Olivia..

"I wouldn't" said Beverly as we entered the room....

"Ohhhhhh for the love of pete....YOU GUYS!" said an exasperated Lt. Tragg...."You picked a loser this time Liv...."said Lt. Tragg..I mean we got your guy  cold...We got him on tape with the guy withdrawing 45 large from the bank....Several of his neighbors IDed him in his apartment and heard glass breaking, punches being thrown, yelling and screaming...We found his bloody clothes from the day with his blood all over em and we got his gun....His prints are on the smashed laptops and camera and telephoto lense..He's as good as gone...Ohhh and we know he was being blackmailed...We saw the not so nice photos of him and Nora Desmond....His wife will find them quite interesting.."sneered Lt. Tragg.

"I would hope that you would handle this with sensitivity and discretion.."said Josie..

"You forget who you are talking to and about Josie."said Beverly...

"Junior Partners should be seen and not heard."sneered Lt. Tragg.

"That gun you have that is registered to him is a .40 caliber...It was not fired at all...Mr. Roach was killed with two shots from a .22 caliber...A parafim test on his hands was done at booking..and no gun residue was found on either of his hands..I checked.." I said..

"You would have made a good cop in my divison Donnie Ray...But even you can't help your guys with this guy....He's done." said Lt. Tragg, who walked out of the room so we could talk.

"We told you to be cool, to go home...Not to do anything drastic." said an angry Nelson..

"I know...I know...I am sooo sorry...but when I realized who it was and how much money he had extracted from me in the past six or seven months ,I was furious...I went to his house....I ordered him to take me to the bank to get my money..."said Eddie.

''At gunpoint?? That's kidnapping or at the very least unlawful detainment...conviction on either, even if I can get you off on the murder charges will get you disbarred...Let's not mention that again...What else happened?" asked Olivia.

"When we got back...I smashed three of his laptops...I smashed his camera and his telephoto lense and I think I sailed something through his window.....He gave me some lip and I beat the shit out of him...but mind you...He was alive...He was getting up off the floor and pleading with me not to hurt him further...I left...I swear...I left ...He was alive...I never fired my gun....NEVER...I swear...Whoever shot him came after I came and they used a .22...That's a ladies gun...I don't own and have never owned a .22.   That's the truth...They arrested Nora also...She had nothing to do with this.." he said.

"We know that...She had an iron clad alibi....For once!  She's free...."said Beverly...

''Why didn't you just go home, take a hot shower, have some drinks and chill....We were going to take this to the D.A.'s office and have them pick up Roach...We had him dead to rights...None of this would have gotten out.."I said.

"I know...I know....I'm so sorry guys...but I need your help...Please....Please..." he pleaded..

"I have a good mind to drop this case and steer you towards another attorney...I really do...You've put us in a precarious position...but I'm going to try and help you...Sit tight...I'm going to see if I can get you arraigned.." said Olivia.

"Thank You Olivia, Bev,Donnie Ray, Nelson, Josie.." he said contritely...

III-

Things couldn't get worse....We faced a conservative , tough on crime judge...

Judge Clayton Berger....

And we were up against Assistant District Attorney  Jim "Jumpshot Jim" Taylor.....

Former NCAA Basketball great who tore his ACL his junior year, thus ending what might have been a promising career in Pro-Basketball...He finished college and went to law school, passing the bar and becoming an Attorney..

He and Lt. Tragg had gotten into a fist fight the last time they had worked together...They hadn't seen each other since then...Some of their hard feelings had subsided..

One thing they all had in common...They all hated City Councilman, Attorney Eddie Jefferson with a passion...and despite our pleas...

We were denied bail...and Eddie Jefferson was to be taken back into custody until the resolution of this case..

''Soon as I seen who the judge was..I knew we were going to be behind the eight ball.."said Nelson..

The Judge walked past us...

"Hey Nelson, Beverly....Olivia...Nice to see you...It's uh been awhile hasn't it?" he said..

''Yes it has been awhile huh?  Congratulations on becoming a Judge....Is your dad still on the bench?" asked Beverly..

"Ohhh nooo. My Dad retired two years ago after I got appointed...I've kept up with you and your aunt, you guys are really rolling.....Your own practice...Nice.." he said.."Well ,gotta go pick up my husband..." he said..

''Oh, you are married...Congratulations..This is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander....He's our investigator.."said Olivia.

"Pleased to meet you.." I said..

"And you know my husband, Nelson..."said Beverly...

''Yeah he knows me...We both played on the Public Defender's softball team...We beat the ADA's that one year.."said Nelson..

"Yesss.. Yessss...Good times...Wowwwwwww! Well, good luck with the trial.. My Husband does boring Divorce law...He doesn't have the stomach for criminal law.."laughed Judge Clayton Berger, who seemed like a nice enough fellow....

After he walked away...Josie smiled..

"You Guys Know him huh?" said Josie..

''We knew Him..He worked with us at the Public Defenders Office for a few years..."said Olivia.

"Then he went to work for the D.A.'s office as an ADA...He left and was chief counsel for some software company for awhile, now He's a Judge....His dad was a Judge.."said Beverly...

"He's a nice guy as Judges go...but don't look for any favors...As you see he's no Judge Reynolds or Judge Morrison or some of the more friendlier judges.."said Nelson..

''And look who you're up against...Ole Jumpshot Jim...I remember when he played College Basketball, All he had was a shot..He never played any defense..I thought he was over-rated..."I said..

"That's because you're not a Duke Fan." laughed Nelson...

"Tar heels all day baby." said Beverly, high fiving me..

"Let's get out of here...It's almost 3:00 p.m." I said.

Olivia tossed Josie the keys...

"You mind driving Jo?" she asked..

"Nope, not at all...Let's go."said Josie..

A Big press conference was going on 

ADA Jim "Jumpshot " Taylor and Lt. Arthur Tragg were going on and on about all of the sordid details of the case...Doing the very thing that Eddie Jefferson had not wanted.....Nora Desmond hadn't wanted this either..Once again...She was in the news in the middle of a scandal..A scandal she hadn't created this time.

IV-

We locked our office up and headed to our spot across town....We needed to wind down....

We all ordered a round of Beers

and several of their gourmet burgers.....

We loved the nice quiet atmosphere....

Our one time adversary, now friend, ADA Rockland Cambridge was here with Alfreda tonight..

"Liv you are in a bit of a quandry with this case...I just happened to look at discovery and uh, They have a strong case against Jefferson...I've known him for years...He is a bit of a self serving, over-dramatic loudmouth...but I don't picture him a killer.."said Rockland..

"And where is his wife in all of this? It's all out now about him and Nora Desmond, last summer...I heard she's taken a leave of absence from her Television show and is in seclusion.."said Alfreda.

"He's such a jackass..If he had let us handle this..It could have been taken care of quietly...Now it's all out and he's been charged with murder.."said Olivia.

"Rockland's right...They do have a strong case..He was seen by the neighbors forcing him to go to the bank and withdraw money...The bank has the two of them on film...The neighbors heard them arguing, heard him breaking up stuff and heard him punching the guy..."said Beverly...

"I need to look at his bank records and those hard drives..Maybe...just maybe he was blackmailing more than one person.." I said..

"Roach gambled a lot...which is why he kept asking for more and more money...I'm going to look at his bank records, his credit card purchases and what have you."said Nelson...

"Josie, you Bev and I are going to have to work on damage control...We are going to have to call a press conference for tomorrow..While Donnie Ray and Nelson are doing some digging..Then we are going to have to fashion an aggressive defense.."said Olivia..

"Got'cha Liv." said Josie.

"Boyyyyyyy you guys really got a dilly of a case on your hands...I still got my money on you guys though.."said Josie's boyfriend, Paris.

''Well thank you for your vote of confidence Paris."laughed Beverly..

"Yes, thank you.."laughed Olivia as we chowed down....

Of all of our cases, this one looked bad, real bad...but we would somehow find a way...Somehow we would....

(TO BE CONTINUED)