Lay Of The Land

Nelson and Beverly were standing outside enjoying a passionate kiss....

"Ummmmm baby last night was incredible..." she cooed..

"Oh My God... I don't know if I'll be able to concentrate on my work today.." moaned Nelson as they continued to kiss.

 Beverly's mother ,Alfreda, our office manager had just gotten off the bus.. She walked up..

"Do you two uh need a moment?" she asked and smiled...

"Hi Ms. Jay." said Nelson, kissing Alfreda on the cheek..and blushing a bit...

''Hi Mommy."said Beverly kissing her mother. She was blushing too!

"Good Morning everybody.." said Josie.

"Good Morning."said Bresha.

Josie and Bresha  had just walked up..

" Good Morning Everybody...I told Roscoe we'd meet him at Sam Mothers for Breakfast...and then come back here to work." said Olivia.

"You guys take the Navigator

Me and the girls will take my car." I said.

As Olivia, Josie and Nelson got in the Navigator

 

And  I got in the car with Bresha and Beverly.

Alfreda waved as we pulled off..

At Sam Mother's diner...

Lieutenant Tragg walked in. He ordered his usual..

"Hey Sammy, give me two fried eggs, some spuds, some sausages and a hot coffee.." he said.

"Comin up Artie." said Sam Mother.

ADA Susan Knight walked in and sat down next to him...She acted as if her slapping him senseless yesterday had never happened..

"Coffee and A Bagel Sam." she said.

Her Bagel and Coffee arrived..

"Lieutenant..It is very important that you go back over all the crime scene with a fine tooth comb...Olivia and Beverly just got handed that case and they came in winging it and made me look like a fool...They poked holes in all of the testimony concerning the rapes..They're good...If there is a tiny hole in the case, they'll punch a bigger one...I want all loose ends tied up..We've got two days...I want to be able to rest my case, before Jenkins can return and while we have a sympathetic judge...even though he's a sexist ,pompous jerk.."said Susan..

"Look, I gave you a decent case...There are no holes in it...Don't be fooled by Olivia and Beverly's stunts.You see the judge isn't..He's my kind of guy. He's not taking any guff off of them , He's not impressed with them and he's making them tow the line...I like that...They get away with far too much."said Lt. Tragg.

Just as he spoke.. Roscoe Jenkins walked in with Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Myself, Josie and Bresha.

"Order what you want..it's on me.." said Roscoe.

"I can't ask you to do that again...I have a corporate card...I'm putting all of our meals, including yours on it." said Olivia as a waitress came around and took all of our orders..

"Mr. Jenkins...We uh rarerly talk business in here." whispered Beverly...

"This place has ears...We'll flush out our defense strategy out with you when we get back to the office." said Nelson.

"Yeah...we plan to split up today...And right after we finish eating will be the perfect time." I said.

Josie leaned her head toward the counter..

So did Bresha.

Lt. Tragg and ADA Knight were conversing...They had both seen all of us..

Roscoe Jenkins saw them...

"Ohhhh I see...After the way she slapped the hell out of him yesterday...I am surprised that they are having a cordial conversation..

''He's used to it..He gets slapped a lot..She's not the first ADA who has slapped him.."said Beverly..

"He gets handsy...He likes to rubb legs and run his hands up ladies skirts, Especially Blondes..." laughed Olivia..

"Ohhhhhh I seee...You guys know all of the players and have the lay of the land...I like that." he said.

II-

Two of the three surviving rape victims said that they were assaulted in Queen Village sometime after two in the morning.. On Both of these nights.. Johnny Honeywell just happened to be making late night beverage deliveries to restaurants and bars in the area,,The rapes that occurred ,were along his routes.. 

Beverly and I interviewed the two victims , who swear their assailant was 5 foot six or 5 foot seven...kind of dumpy...overweight.. One woman said she was sure her assailant was white...the other woman said she was certain he was African American , but both women described a man no more than 5 foot six or seven at the most... Johnny ,although a registered sex offender because of his statutory rape conviction is 6 ft four  and muscular, athletic build..No way he could be the guy guilty of the attacks..

We talked to more people in the community and got statements about someone fitting that description that hung around... They said he was white.... 

The third rape victim said the same thing...Her assailant was five foot six or seven...and had an "Italian accent."

Since he had used a condom, there was no semen.....

We went to the bars Johnny Honeywell served.. and the restaurants..All of the Bartenders and managers said that on the nights of all three attacks.. Johnny's truck was six to eight blocks away and there was no way he was on the streets where those three women were attacked...And on the night of the Helen Green murder..he wasn't working at all.. His work log proved that..

"We've got to assume that Lt. Tragg targeted him because he was working on the nights of the attacks in this area and he has a prior conviction as a sex offender.." I said. "That's just sloppy police work...He's an easy target...a target a certain type of juror will believe is guilty." I said.

"All three women while giving different descriptions named a man five foot six or seven...kind of dumpy...While Johnny is six four and muscular and athletic...I think a woman, any woman would remember that...would know that." said Beverly.

"You're right...That lets him off for the rapes...He is definitely not the Queen Village Rapist , but we gotta find out about the murder.." I said.

"We have an appointment at the M.E.'s Office and Dr. Goggins, let's go."said Beverly..

At the Medical Examiner's Office

Dr. Hazel Baylor spoke to us..

"Lieutenant Tragg is the worst detective on the force..All of this information is in the crime scene reports from Special Victims Unit.. We didn't find semen, but we have saliva on three of the girl's bras...and taken off of their breasts  after they did their rape kits that's a genetic match to a guy named Wendall Spinolli.. a known sex offender..He's five foot ,six and a half and kind of heavy set...from South Philly...a born loser...Three convictions for sexual assault and known to hang around the Queen Village area...Lt. Tragg questioned him once.. He told him he didn't do it and that was enough for him.

Lt. Tragg never bothered to read the reports...or look at the evidence that said otherwise.  The detectives of Special Victims Unit arrested Spinolli hours ago and he confessed to the three rapes , but didn't commit the Helen Green  murder..He has an alibi for that..He was assaulting a fourth victim in Kensington that same night and he didn't use a condom and we have a semen  DNA  match...It's all in the reports..

Lt. Tragg never read it and was so big on combining the two cases and making it something it wasn't so that he could be the big hero that he overlooked all of the pertinent facts...The Detectives of Special Victims  Unit always thought that he had the wrong guy...They never paid any attention to him. He and the Lieutenant over there got into a screaming and shouting match the day he arrested Johnny Honeywell. 

They tried to tell him that they didn't like him for the rapes and the fact that he was working on all of the nights was pure co-incidence. He didn't fit any of the three women's descriptions." said Hazel.

"He is a butthead.. How does he keep his job? We don't have to go see Dr. Goggins after all.. Wait til we tell Auntay this, that three of the charges were dropped." said a jubilant Beverly.

"That will be good news...Good News for Johnny too..That's three charges off of him. He's not the Queen Village Rapist. Wonder how Bresha is doing?" I asked.

"Let's go pick her up."said Beverly.

Back at our home and office..

Roscoe was impressed with Olivia, Impressed with how astute and well versed in the law, Nelson and Josie were and how well Olivia had mentored both of them..

He was impressed with the entire set up..

Our law library, which they had been in all morning, studying predicates, trial transcripts, witness statements and affadavits and defense strategy.

Our modern equipmnt..

Computers, Monitors, laptops, tablets ,phones and portals..everything the modern law office needs..

He even got the grand tour..

Beverly and Nelson's domicile...

And Olivia and mine..

He was mostly impressed with Alfreda.. He couldn't take his eyes off of her..

She knew it..She caught him checking her out...She just giggled. She still had it, she thought..

We walked in just then..

"I know you guys have been working all morning and didn't hear the news.."I said.

Beverly finished the story for me.. "They caught the Queen Village Rapist...Detectives from Special Victims Unit arrested  a guy, Wendell Spinoli of South Philly...They got a DNA match to all three of the living victims...and he confessed...But he's not our killer..  The night that woman was killed, he was assaulting a fourth woman in Kensington and he didn't use a condom...They got a complete DNA Match...Wendell Spinolli is the Queen Village Rapist" said Beverly...

"That's great Honey Bunny." said Nelson, who kissed her passionately..

"Ouuuuuuuuu we are definitely going to have to take this upstairs.." Beverly whispered to him in between kisses.

"As a result.. ADA  Susan Knight

 is dropping the three Rape charges that were on Johnny, but she's still holding him for the murder of that woman." said Bresha..

We turned the Television on, ADA Susan Knight was standing with the Lieutenant of Special Victims Unit, Announcing that the real Queens Village Rapist, a suspect named Wendell Spinolli had been arrested and that she was dropping the charges from Johnny Honeywell, but she was still holding him for the murder of Helen Green, who was murdered during the time the rapes were occurring in the same area.

"If Johnny's  not the Queen Village Rapist..Chances are he's not the murderer of Helen Green either...He wasn't even working that night."said Olivia.

"That's right..He was nowhere near there.."said Josie.

"That's not how they are going to play it...They've been embarrassed...They've got to save face...They are going to ride this murder charge as far as they can take it.." said Roscoe Jenkins.. He was right!

III-

We all sat around the conference room table.. Bresha had the floor...we gave her our rapt attention...She had done a little digging into the good Judge, Merlin Merkins activities since we had last tangled with him..

"Bree, you have the floor baby." said Olivia.

''What did your great investigation turn up today?" asked Beverly. Bresha had said she wanted to wait and tell us all together when she got in the car today..

''As the girls say...Dish baby girl..Dish." I said.

Nelson laughed...

So did Josie..

Roscoe went from being impressed with everything, The Office/Home set up, the astuteness and professionalism of everyone involved to being aroused by all of the hot young women in this office..

And even an older one...

Alfreda, who he kept taking peeks at as she walked from room to room..

"The good Judge has been busy since you guys last tangled with him...He didn't just stay on the bench out of dedication...HE HAD TO STAY ON THE BENCH...he needed the money.!" she said,.

He went through a nasty divorce....His second and she and his lawyer hit him for a lot of cash..

but here is where it gets cute....He was apparently suspended for six months, two years ago 

without pay after the Legal Ethics Board

issued an opinion concluding that his “repeated, clearly improper conduct,” which included wrongfully jailing multiple people and failing to be impartial, was “blatant and inexcusable.” 

''Wooowww , No Kiddin?" said Josie.

Nelson and I chuckled...

Bresha continued.

"In a succinct six-page ruling, an eight-judge panel on the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline said that Judge Merlin Merkins abuses of power, repeated demeaning of people appearing before him, and overall interference with litigants’ rights was unprecedented “because of the extent of Judge Merkins misconduct in these areas.” Witnesses brought before the board“testified to the havoc Judge Merkins had wreaked in their lives with his imperious actions,” the ruling said, noting that on two occasions Merkins baselessly ordered people jailed “when such treatment was improper under the law.” 

The Court views this case as the most egregious one involving rude demeanor, failure to timely proceed and imperious action it has seen,” the order stated. “In considering the cases where the Court has removed a jurist from office it is important to note that such an extreme penalty has generally involved a criminal conviction, or at least clearly criminal conduct on the part of the offending jurist. The few exceptions involved the removal of judges with a multitude of violations who also had essentially stopped working. Accordingly in this case the Court imposes the most severe sanction it ever has handed down short of dismissal.”

According to a report from The Legal Intelligencer, the tribunal’s attorney portrayed Judge Merlin Merkins as an “out-of-control tyrant who separated children from their families without allowing them to speak, and who threw people in jail for contempt without legal justification including a grandmother for not knowing the whereabouts of her adult daughter.” “That grandmother, identified in the court proceedings as Hilda Reid., testified that she was traumatized by Merkins contempt ruling, which the state Superior Court later overturned after holding the judge ‘exhibited a pattern of conduct of holding people in contempt and ordering their detention, without conducting a contempt hearing.’said Bresha.

''Why is he still on the bench.?..You see what happened to him two years ago hasn't changed him?" said a clearly angry Beverly...

''Some people we know have a class action suit against him for his behavior... Jessica Sanchez-Burrows, her husband, Chip Burrows, Dabnis Coley, Jasmine Coley, Cousin Kayla Bennett-St, Jacques, Ray St. Jacques, Kahlil Ahmed, Sofia Garcia Ahmed and Joannie Wong have filed a Racial Discrimination suit against him in Superior Court claiming that they personally and their clients as well were mistreated and talked down to by the Judge on account of their race... They filed this action just three weeks ago...He's scheduled to appear before the Legal Ethics Board to answer these accusations after this trial is over.

and now you guys are fighting his contempt suit on top of that....He is just about devestated.." said Bresha.

"With the exception of Joanie Wong...All of those Attorneys live right across the street, They  filed that suit while they were working here a few weeks ago."laughed Olivia. "I was privy to that...In fact, my girlfriend, Yvette Jones Lockwood is the lead attorney on that case.. She is being assisted by two of her associates, Keith Jones and Beatrice Evans-Jones and Investigator, Jade Lee..

Two of the attorneys involved in the suit , Kahlil-Ahmed and his wife, Sofia Garcia- Ahmed are her associates... 

After they both had run ins with the Judge, a conversation with the other attorneys involved resulted in this suit..

Joanie Wong had already filed a seperate suit against him..They met with her and joined together ." explained Olivia.

''You mean other lawyers work here?" asked Roscoe, incredulous.

"Just our friends...They live across the street...When they feel like working remotely from home..Our place is like a safe haven, they can come and work, have a cup of coffee, dish...whatever..They're not here everyday and we don't charge them, because they're our friends.."explained Beverly..

"I like you guys more and more ,the more I hang around you...Joanie Wong is my uh daughter's niece..her half sister's daughter...A Sweet young lady...She was an ADA."said Roscoe.

''We know..We tried a case against her once...That's how we met your daughter, Honorable Judge Julie Wong."said Olivia.

''She's No longer with the D.A.'s office.. She's working with a private firm....All Asians...I'm happy for her...She's practicing the kind of law she always wanted." said Roscoe.

"Wowwww, good for her."said Nelson.

''She was always very nice." said Beverly.

"Yes she was...I think I was still a Para-legal when you guys tried that case against her."said Josie.

"Welllll today was a very productive day folks... I think we should head out to Sam Mother's Diner..I'll bet the conversation there is pretty interesting.."I said.

And at this minute at Sam Mother's diner. Assistant District Attorney Susan Knight was livid and loud.

"YOUUUUUUUUUU IDIOT!  I asked you when you brought me this case if you were sure..if you could tie him to the murder and the rapes...Except for them all happening in Queen Village..and a lot of very circumstantial evidence...it looked pretty damn weak...You assured me that you had the guy , the right guy... Well the detectives from Special Victims Unit arrested the guy earlier today...Wendall Spinolli, he's a DNA match to all three rape victims and he confessed to all three rapes and a fourth one on the night of the murder..." said Susan Knight.

Lieutenant Tragg was as red as a beet...

''Are they..Are they sure?" he asked.

"They are sure! I dropped the three rape charges on Johnny Honeywell ...He's only charged with the murder of Helen Green... I don't like being embarrassed....I want you to go over that murder scene again and get me some damn evidence..Do you realize..what Olivia and Beverly can do with this?  They can argue that if he's not the Queen Village Rapist, then he's not the murderer of Helen Green either and I wouldn't blame them...I'd do the same thing if I was them...If you'd concentrate on your work ,rather than worrying about what color panties I'm wearing we would have known this....OUUUUUUUUUU YOU ARE THE WORST!" she said and angrily got up and stormed out.

Lt. Tragg looked around..

Olivia and I, Beverly and Nelson, Josie, Bresha and Roscoe were all sitting at a big table having dinner, laughing and talking..

He couldn't even be angry with us...His own police department had made him look like a fool today by actually capturing the "Queen Village Rapist" He paid his bill, got up and stormed out of the restaurant..

IV-

It had been an interesting and productive day...

Olivia was quite happy....

''Donnie Ray, get over here and get out of your clothes.." she said..she was standing by the window in the kitchen ,looking out at the moon.

"With Pleasure." I said ,practically salivating...

I pulled her to me and dropped my trousers...Hiked her babydoll up and bent her over the sink..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she moaned as I entered her.. "You've been wanting to do this all day haven't you?" she said.

"Yesssssssss!" I moaned as we went at it hard for about  AN HOUR!

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" I moaned...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" she cooed softly..

"YES.....YES....YESSSSSSSss..OHHH YESSSSSS!" Olivia cooed as we wound up on the living room floor for another HOUR....

I lifted her petite body up and began long stroking her..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....UMMMMMMM...OHHHHH DONNIE RAYYYY...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she moaned..gasping for breath... Another HOUR passed by..

She took me by the hand into our bedroom where we undressed..

We sat on the side of the bed, kissing, while she moved up and down on me..

and then for the next SIX HOURS, we were in bed ,making slow, sweet love..

Downstairs, Nelson and Beverly

were on the couch kissing until they couldn't stand it anymore...

Clothes came off and he lifted her petite body up and long stroked her in the corner...Beverly's loud howls of pleasure resonated outside the window..

They never made it to their bedroom , they wound up making slow and sweet love on their living room couch for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS....

Productive Day and Even more Productive Night!

(TO BE CONTINUED)