Under The Water Fountain

 DISTRICT COURT- A WEEK LATER!

It was the first day of Anson Gilbron's Murder trial.

Anson Gilbron was accused of murdering Attorney Stanley Beamer,

 a man he said he did not know personally....

He and we had listened for three days the week before as Assistant District Attorney, Curtis Loader argued that both Anson Gilbron and Stanley Beamer had been the lovers of Amy St. James..

Called as a hostile witness, Amy St. James vigourously denied being in a sexual or romantic relationship with either man..

All the while we sat and did not ask a question....He mostly showed everyone the crime scene photos and the autopsy photos...He had no eyewitnesses...Not one..We didn't even offer a defense..We wanted a trial.

Judge Berkley Green, who had taught ADA Curtis Loader, and myself, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil as well in law school just smiled... He smiled as if he knew what we were planning to do..Lull Curtis Loader into a false sense of superiority...

Kahlil and I were running the defense...and on Voir Dire he actually turned out to be quite good.. We battled vigorously for two days.. and wound up with 7 jurors we wanted and 5 jurors he wanted..

The arguments began...

He weaved his tale of two men deeply in love with Amy St. James, the widow of Brian St. James, missing for over 7 years and recently declared dead..

He talked about how she had inherited over a million dollars in liquid funds and an estate worth even more...The fact that she was young and very attractive and that in itself attracted these two men to her.

He presented 12 witnesses, neighbors of hers  who testified that they saw both men at her residence a lot..

Sofia and Bee Bee cross examined them thoroughly, using their statements to Lt. Tragg and to Jade and getting them to admit..That Anson Gilbron was there with his workforce, cutting grass and cleaning the pool..

They got them to successfully admit that they never saw or heard any romantic overtures on the part of either Amy St.James and Anson Gilbron.

This frustrated ADA Loader to no avail...Their cross examination was so clean...He couldn't object...

Judge Berkley Green smiled ,almost laughed with glee..

Lt. Tragg sat staring at Jade, as if he was waiting for her or us to reveal something that he should have seen, something taken from the crime scene that he wasn't privy to.

Jade smiled at him and sat back confidently...

Yvette argued that in all we had heard from the prosecution so far, he had not offered one bit of proof of his motive , nor had he even placed our client at the scene of the murder.

ADA Curtis Loader produced 

The Murder weapon

"FOUND IN THE VICTIM'S BRAND NEW CAR!!" he exclaimed..

Kahlil asked Lt. Tragg if any of the suspects fingerprints or DNA had been found on the gun..

"No..the gun had been bleached down..and it was in a plastic bag...When I came upon him..I believe he was going somewhere to discard the gun."said Lt. Tragg.

''What made you stop Anson in the first place?  He had just bought a brand new car..with new tags They weren't even in the system yet...How did you get on to him?" I asked.

"I got a tip...an anonymous tip." he said.

''It never occurred to you that someone with that much information might be involved themselves...Might have even placed the gun there?" asked Kahlil..

"I-I-I didn't think that far into the future...I-I-I was trying to solve a homicide.."said Lt. Tragg...

ADA Curtis Loader put his head in his hands....Lt. Tragg was as usual, a total disaster....

Both Ms. Jade and Judge Berkley Green guffawed with laughter after Lt. Tragg's testimony...

II-

FOUR DAYS LATER-

Assistant District Attorney Curtis Loader was doing his best to argue about the guilt of Anson Gilbron..but even he realized that his case was not only weak, but slipping through his fingers..

He had presented 12 witnesses, 12 neighbors of Amy St. James and Beatrice Evans-Jones and Sofia Garcia -Ahmed, who he had had several classes with in law school and rather liked as individuals had all but destroyed their testimony, taking it apart like a surgeon, revealing gaping discrepancies and getting them to admit that they really didn't know for a fact that Anson was involved personally with her.

He had never really cared for me much in law school..I had challenged the physical evidence he had..A gun with no prints or DNA, found in the car..A brand new car...I , along with  with Kahlil

had destroyed Lt. Tragg 's testimony and lack of real investigation..

Lt. Tragg glared angrily at the four of us....

Yvette addressed Lt. Tragg..

"Lieutenant, you told us when we came to arraign Mr. Gilbron that he killed Mr. Beamer, who he says he had seen before, but has never met that he killed him as a result of a lovers quarrel. How did you come about this information?" asked Yvette..

"Uh...Uh, several of the neighbors and an uh anonymous tip.  Anonymous tips help us solve a lot of homicides." he said in his defense.

'' Well the neighbor in question have already testified that they didn't personally see or hear anything and that everything they testified to was hearsay if not an outright lie...So we come back to your anonymous tipster...Seems this tipster has a lot of information about this case...Enough information to make me think that maybe the tipster could be THE KILLER??" asked Yvette..

Judge Berkley Green was now openly laughing...

So was Jade, myself, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil ...

Lt. Tragg was furious!  He didn't like his investigating techniques questioned..

A frustrated ADA Curtis Loader rested his case.....He was frustrated...He hoped that he could stop the bleeding once our defense started..

The Jury appeared to be 10 to acquit and 2 undecided...but no one to convict at this moment.

"Great job love muffins...He had less of a case than I thought...We are going to take two days off before we begin our defense..."said Ms. Yvette..

"I'm no lawyer, but you guys are the truth...That and the Prosecutor is a major boob!" laughed Anson.

"He's no slouch...We went to law school with him..Don't underestimate him...Just go home, keep a low pro and meet us back here in two days." cautioned Kahlil.

"Yeah, Kahlil is right, We are almost there...Wait til you see our defense."said Bee Bee.

"Yeah, it's going to blow their mind."laughed Sofia.

Jade just laughed..

Anson smiled and whispered to me..

''Even the Asian Babe is sexy as hell..Mannnn how do you and Kahlil do it.. No way I could work around such sexy women day in and day out.." he said.

''Well, we are married to two of them and like Kahlil said..We've been around them so long it doesn't matter." I said.

"If you say so man.."laughed Anson..

"Look guys...Don't eat at Sam Mother's..Find other places...Mocha Joes would be my choice..stay close to home..You know who is going to be on a rampage tonight.." said Ms. Yvette as we all peeled out of the courthouse..

III-

We had the day off...but Ms. Yvette was at work...

She looked up and there was Amy St. James..

"Yvette, Hi...I uh was in the building and I uh thought I'd stop by..."said Amy.

"Oh you did huh?  Consulting with your new lawyer?" asked Yvette...

"It was not personal Yvette...Which is why I dropped by to straighten things out with you."said Amy.

''Stop! You fired me because I asked some questions regarding my current client, a client who used to work for you...a client who told me he had a sexual relationship with you...You got nervous...And you're up here now for one reason and one reason only...to ask me not to call you to the stand!"said Yvette.

"Alright...Looks like I have to take the kid gloves off.. You were my attorney so there for anything you know about my private life is covered by attorney -client priviledge....Violate that and you can be disbarred." said Amy with a superior smirk.

"Amy...Amy...Amy...You didn't go to law school and it shows... I probated your husband's will, then you fired me...At no time did you confide in me about your personal life, Stanley Beamer or Anson Gilbron...Not only that, while Sofia and I were your attorneys...Beatrice Evans-Jones, Kahlil Ahmed and Keith Jones were NEVER your lawyers.. ANYTHING they find, can and will be used...Soooo you can't touch me..."said Yvette.

"I'm going to ask my attorney about this.." snarled Amy..

"You should...You really should." said Yvette.

"Hmmmph!" said Amy as she walked out...She slammed the door hard!

Her husband, Gary came out of her office..

"Not a very happy camper huh?  We had Helicopter fly over her estate...We used equipment that can detect bodies on the premises...I think we got a hit..Now I have to go and get a warrant to dig up her yard...I sure hope we are right.." said Gary...

"I know in my heart you're right.."said Ms. Yvette..

"I'm right about something else too.... I'm the luckiest guy in the world.. I'm married to the sexiest woman alive!" said Gary as he pulled Yvette into her office and locked the door..

"Garyyyyyyyyyy..." cooed Yvette..

as they kissed passionately.  He slipped her panties to the side and dropped his trousers..

"Garrrry, I'm at work.." she whispered..

"Ummmmmmm...so am I?" he said as he began to slowly thrust deep inside of her..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuu, ummmmmmmmmmm what am I going to do with youuuuuuuuuuu??....Ouuuuuu."said Yvette as Gary continued to stroke her......

"OHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GODDDDD!!!" he moaned...

We took Ms. Yvette's advice and stayed out of Sam Mother's Diner that night..Even Jade...

That was good because Lt. Tragg came in livid and looking to pick a fight..Only no one was there...Not one of the attorneys he usually baited was anywhere to be seen.

We were the dinner guests of our good friends, Olivia, Beverly, Donnie Ray, Nelson, Josie ,Paris and their new intern, Bresha..

''It's so nice to have you guys over for dinner.."said Olivia.

''We saw you guys in court a few days ago, you really made a fool out of Lt. Tragg."laughed Beverly..

"It's his own fault..relying solely on an anonymous source and not going back and checking the stories of neighbors which a lot of times turns out to be hearsay.."said Donnie Ray, himself a former Homicide detective.

"I imagine, even we would have caught a dressing down from him...Especially if he couldn't find you guys." laughed Nelson.

"You know he was on a roll for awhile, actually closed three good cases...and now he's back to his old self lousing up cases." said Josie.

Paris laughed..

So did Olivia and Beverly's cousin, Kayla Bennett-St. Jacques , who was also here with her husband, Ray..

"Nothing New there!"laughed Ray, who couldn't stand Lt. Tragg.

''And the same ADA that we both just finished thrashing..Curt Loader..I'm certain he is furious with Lt. Tragg too!." said Bresha Williams, their new intern.

''We went to law school with him...We know him quite well and he knows us." I said.

"He liked me and Sofia ,when we were in law school."said Bee Bee.

"He didn't care too much for either Keith or Kahlil...He told me once that I could do better than Kahlil..who wasn't even my boyfriend yet, not officially,...It was all I could do to keep Kahlil from punching his face in.."laughed Sofia.

"The Judge knows him too...He caught him screwing his daughter in the backhall at a party given just three days before we all graduated.. Needless to say the Judge, who was one of our professors at the time was not enthused with him then and not enthused with him now."said Kahlil..

"Thank you guys for inviting us over.."said Jade..as the food was placed on the table..

"You guys are family...You are always welcome.."said Olivia.. It was quite obvious that both Olivia and Beverly liked company and loved to entertain.

It felt nice , eating a meal with friends in the comfort of their home and away from Lt. Tragg...

We weren't the only one's eating elsewhere ..Ms. Yvette, Gary, Dabnis,Jazzy, Jessica and her husband, Chip were eating at a new restaurant...

with great food..

"Ummm Dabnis...This food is delish!" said Ms. Yvette..

"Yess , everything smells and tastes so good, "said Gary...

"Ummmmmm Ayeee Mios dios...I love it here.."said Jessica.

"Where did you hear about this place?  We've got to get the rest of the guys here.."said Chip..

"One of his clients owns this place... He blackmailed him of course into letting us all eat here for free tonight." joked Dabnis's wife, Jazzy.

Dabnis laughed.. "Nah...He just opened this joint a few weeks ago...He owes me big.. He said a good word from us will bring more business his way." laughed Dabnis..

IV-

Yvette began our defense...

"Our client is innocent and we are going to prove it...almost beyond a shadow of a doubt.."said Yvette.

"Yeah right?" said ADA Curtis Loader...sitting back..

Lt. Tragg sat back and folded his arms...He was furious...

Bee Bee and Kahlil pulled out a 50 inch monitor......and cued up time stamped Street Cam video...

I called a person from the Medical Examiner's office who stated that the time of death for Stanley Beamer was murdered in between 4:15 pm - 4:30 pm...

Bee Bee and Kahlil showed Anson leaving the lot of the dealership at around 2:00 pm...They called the Dealer, who testified he had sold Anson the car..

They showed a time stamped photo of him driving up to his house..with the time collapsed.

It shows Anson leaving his home at 5:00 pm.

"This brand new car was here from 2:00 when he left the lot until 5:00 when he got into it again...Notice there is no gun or anything else in his hands...

He's at Sam Mother's Diner....

and look where he winds up? At Amy St. James's house....And look who gets in hiscar and she's carrying a pocketbook.. Amy St. James...

So the only person other than our client who got in that car and who could have placed a gun under the front passenger seat, where it was found hours later was..Wait for it...AMY ST. JOHN!" said Sofia.

"I STRONGLY OBJECT!!! I OBJECT!!!" screamed ADA Curtis Loader...

"On what grounds counselor?" asked Judge Green...

"Well I...I...I .." mumbled ADA Curt Loader..

"Ohhhhh put a sock in it counselor.."said the Judge.

And to his surprise, after only three days, Yvette rested the defense's case right there..

We had supplied enough compelling evidence to present reasonable doubt anyway...

We never called Amy back to the stand...We could have and really nailed her for lying about a sexual relationship  with our client and possibly Stanley Beamer..but we didn't need to..we just proved that our client couldn't have murdered Stanley Beamer..

We never used the phone or the damning conversations on the phone that Beamer was obviously blackmailing Amy with either... The trial was not about her..Just our client..We were confident we had established reasonabe doubt.

Plus with Lt. Tragg on the rampage...He would have demanded to know how we got it.. JAde instead turned it over to her boyfriend, Lt. Danny Ho of Robbery-Homicide.

THREE HOURS LATER-

We all stood in the courtroom...The Jury had come back with a verdict!

"I don't know what to make of this...Juries are kind of funny.." said Yvette.

"Ahhhhh, I think you guys did great!"said Anson...

''We had so much more we could have used."said a skeptical Ms. Jade.,

"Hey, our job was just to get Anson off and at any rate, we were playing it close to the vest."said Kahlil..

"I know...Did you see Amy sweating bullets?" asked Sofia.

"I knowwwwwwww....but we didn't call her and we didn't reveal any confidences."said Bee Bee..

"What confidences? She didn't tell any of us anything..Nothing that violated Attorney client priviledge anyway.... If we get Anson off...It's win win.."I said.

"Bailiff ,has the jury come to a decision?" asked Judge Berkley Green...

"Yes your honor, they have." said the Bailiff , who passed him the verdict..He read it..Smiled and passed it to the Bailiff...

"Read it." he said.

"IN THE MATTER OF STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA VS ANSON GILBRON ON THE CHARGE OF MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, WE THE JURY FIND THE DEFENDENT, NOT GUILTY!!!"he said.

"Oh My GOD!!! THIS IS FOUR CASES I HAVE LOST!!!  DAMN IT!!!!!" said a very upset ADA Curt Loader, who grabbed his briefcase and sullenly walked out of the courtroom without looking back..

"Always nice to see four of my favorite students again..I understand you all have recently gotten

married eh?" said Judge Green.

"No Grass Grows under your feet Proffessor Green..Yes, me and this guy got hitched a short while ago.."said Bee Bee.

"Yeah it was time." I said.

"I'll bet...I remember how you were always up under her in law school, Always sitting next to her in class and studying with her...I'm not surprised..And Sofia..Sofia Garcia...That's Mrs. Ahmed Now...huh?" asked Judge Green..

''Yes...We got married a short while ago too..."said Sofia..

''I made an honest woman out of her."said Kahlil..

"HA! She made an honest man out of you!.. Mrs. Lockwood, you've got a great bunch of lawyers here...And I see you've trained them well.."said Judge Green..

"Oh I know, they never cease to amaze me." said Yvette..

A few feet away at a press conference, our client, Anson Gilbron was fielding questions..

"I don't know who killed Mr. Beamer..I didn't know the man..." he said.

"So did you and Amy St. John have somethin goin on?" asked another reporter..

"It's not polite to kiss and tell.." laughed Anson..

'What do you think of Lt. Tragg?"asked another reporter..

Before Anson could Answer, Lt. Tragg walked over..

"Ya know Lou...You just couldn't leave well enough alone could ya? Could Ya?" said Lt. Tragg who rushed at him with fists flying..

Tables were knocked over, fists were flying, Uniformed Police tried to get in between Lt. Tragg and two reporters ,who were taking turns beating the hell out of him..

"What the Hell?" said Judge Green.

"Follow Me Judge ,Out this side door. Come on Bee Bee." I said.

''Right behind you honey."said Bee Bee

"I'm right behind you guys...Come on Mamasita."said Kahlil..

''Here I come..Let's get out of here Ms. Yvette."said Sofia as we exited..

Ms. Yvette was running behind us..

"Don't have to tell me twice.." she said.

Ms. Jade was running behind us, but she stopped to laugh loudly at the melee'

It was another day in court for us!

EPILOUGE-

The Home of Amy St. James..

Three police cars were on the premises.

The grounds near her water fountain were being dug up...

Detective Sgt. Sam Jones of Missing persons called to a worker..

"Got Anything..?" 

"Yeah...A woman!" said the man..

A little while later...A woman's mummified remains are put in a white body bag and carted out..

"WE GOT ANOTHER ONE OVER HERE SARG!  THIS LOOKS LIKE A GUY!" said another worker..

The mummified remains of a man were put in a white body bag...and carted off..

"HEY SARGE, WE GOT ONE MORE!!" said another worker... "LOOKS LIKE IT COULD BE A WOMAN!" he said.

The third body, a woman's remains were removed and put in a white body bag..

"That's it...that's all there is...The first woman was Lana Cohen, my husband's whore...I shot her , buried her early in the morning.. I shot my husband that same afternoon...buried him... A newsy neighbor saw what I was doing, asked too many questions..I shot her too.. her name was Gladys Griffin..

Shot her that night...buried her..."said Amy rather matter of factly..

"They've all been out there right under my water fountain, all these years..."said Amy rather dryly with no trace of emotion..

"He was going to leave me..I would have lost everything..I'd of had to get a job,live in a cheap apartment after living in the lap of luxury all these years.. I was spoiled I guess." she explained to ADA Keith Wallace..

"You got enough Siss?" he asked.

"More than enough...Read her her rights and get her out of here."said Lt. Sissy Van Buren.

Detective Carlotta Wallace read Amy her rights.

Detective Tyriq Pile handcuffed her..

Detectives James Barlow, Sirena Pile and Tony Hopkins escorted her

 out to a waiting Police Car..

"Damndest case I've ever seen.."said Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

''She was sooo cold..so unfeeling." said Detective Angela Belton -Barlow.

 

''She's a damn serial killer, what do you guys expect?  She helped me clear three missing persons cases..,that's all I know." said Detective Sgt. Sam Jones.

"I'm just glad you guys dealt with this case and not you know who."said Dr. Hazel Baylor.

A Few days later in Sam Mother's Diner..

Ms. Yvette and Gary and Jade and Danny Ho were having breakfast..

"You must be psychic Vettie, you kept saying that Water Fountain at Amy St. James's house creeped you out..You were right..They found Brian St. James, Lana Cohen and another woman buried under the water fountain...Isn't that something?" said Gary.

"What's eerie is here I was probating that woman's husband's will, just me and Sofia,alone with that monster..She is a serial killer..That's what's so creepy!"said Yvette.

"Oh yeah, she confessed to killing Stanley Beamer and framing Anson  Gilbron...She faces four counts of First Degree Murder. She'll most definitely get the death penalty."said Danny Ho.

''And the best thing is..Sissy and her guys got the collar, not you know who." laughed Jade.

"Jade, don't talk him up." said Ms. Yvette.

As four platters of Pancakes and sausages were placed in front of us.

Just as they began to eat, Lt. Tragg walked in, furious as usual.. Lt. Sissy Van Buren , Sgt Sam Smith and CID detectives had solved his murder case and uncovered a triple murder from seven years before.. He had arrested the wrong suspect..He was once again the laughing stock of the department..He knew that somehow Jade had uncovered a clue from that apartment that day he caught her and one of Yvette's snot nosed attorneys fooling around in there..but he didn't know what and he couldn't prove it..

At any rate it wound up with Sissy Van Buren and her detectives and Sam Smith and they made the collar of the year!...Skunked again...That should have been his collar, he fumed.

He saw Yvette and Jade..They were with Gary and Danny..He didn't want to pick a fight with them this morning..

"I'm tellin you, you're psychic baby...Bet'cha don't know what's on my mind right now..?" said Gary..

"Me!" said Yvette...

"See?  I'm telling you...You're a magician!"laughed Gary.