Last One Laughing

TWO WEEKS LATER-

Regina walked out of her apartment complex and saw a familliar face...

"Pete...I didn't expect to see you.." she said.

"Of course....I was at every preliminary hearing...In the Spectators section...." he said..

"You Really Love me don't you?  You've always looked out for me...Ms. Olivia and Ms. Beverly

told me that you love me and that I ought not let a guy like you get away...They said a good man like you comes along once or twice in a life time..

and considering they both have husbands who simply adore them...I'M INCLINED TO BELIEVE THEM!" she said and winked..

''Allow this guy who simply adores you to take you to breakfast."he said.

Regina smiled.."I'd be honored." she said.

They walked to a corner restaurant at the end of her block..

They had a delicious breakfast of Pancakes, Sausage, Orange Juice and Coffee...

This had been Lt. Tragg's best investigated case...

He had left very few stones unturned... He had interviewed everybody we had interviewed to the point where it looked as though Regina was THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD HAVE KILLED VELMA!!!!.. She had a motive , she was caught by cameras at the scene..Her palm print was on an empty safe...

But she also had called the police and told them there was a homicide..Does a guilty person do that?

We argued that during the Preliminary..

Assistant District Attorney Chris Garcetti certainly thought that at long last he had a case that could put a loss in our column...He was very happy....Very Cocky even during the preliminary hearing...almost jeering at us..As we sat with our client and defended her as best we could during the preliminary..

"Look at him Niecey Poo, just strutting like a rooster." said Olivia with a smile.. "So sure he's going to get a conviction." she added..

"I just want to know how high he's going to throw his suit jacket up in the air when he loses." said Beverly..

Nelson cracked up laughing at his wife's remark.

"You guys are funny." said Regina.

''We have to keep it light...to keep our sanity." said Josie.

Bresha didn't say anything...but I could look at her and tell , she didn't feel that way...

.I was certain I knew who had killed Velma and could prove it....I was just waiting for our turn.

Judge Martika Anderson was forced to hold Regina over for trial...That was what had been going on the past two weeks.

''What could they possibly be laughing about? They're losing the case.." said ADA Chris Garcetti..

"They're just trying to spook us , that's all...They know they don't have anything." said Lt. Tragg...

Regina and Pete stood outside of the courtroom...

And enjoyed a soft sweet kiss.....Their first...

"Awwwwwww they're so cute..."said Beverly...

"Aren't Theyyyyyy?" said Josie...

"Okay Nelson, you know what kind of juror we need , we've talked about this." said Olivia.

"Yeah Liv...I surveyed the jury pool....I'll get us as close as I can.." said Nelson..

I had done work ups on every perspective juror like I always did...and had supplied Nelson with what he needed...

Nelson and Josie were valuable to us not just because they were decent attorneys but because they also had backgrounds in other things.. Nelson had a degree in Psychology as well and Josie had an MBA from Wharton in addition to her B.A. in Architecture....

Bresha walked over to me with an envelope..

"This is the DNA information you wanted from the M.E.'s office..Donnie Ray." she said.

"Thank you baby." I said.. I showed it to Olivia and Beverly. Now we were 100 percent certain of who had killed Velma.

Olivia and Beverly high fived and laughed..

Standing from a distance, Chris Garcetti was both worried and furious.."WHAT ARE THEY LAUGHING ABOUT?" he wondered...

As Regina and Pete continued to kiss as though they didn't have a care in the world!

II-

We usually ate in the courtroom cafeteria or at home on these trial days...To avoid Lt. Tragg and his rantings...but today...Olivia wanted to mess with both him and Chris Garcetti...so we decided to eat at Sam Mother's Diner..

"They've seen us laughing and high fiving...I know it's got those fragile egos fractured right now.."said Olivia.

"And if they see us in here eating...It's going to bother them even more.." I said.

"How high do you think he'll toss his suit jacket?" asked Beverly...

"I'm not even going to wager you on that Honey Bun." said Nelson hugging her and keeping his arm lingering around her waist..

"Me neither.."laughed Josie..

"You guys are too funny."laughed Bresha.

We all laughed just as Lt. Tragg and ADA Chris Garcetti was coming in the door..

"I don't know what you guys are laughing about, but I can tell you this...This is an open and shut case...Your client is as guilty as hell...The Jury knows it...I think YOU guys KNOW it...I certainly do." said Lt Tragg.

"Okay, you win....Now how about taking your Open and shut case to another table and leaving this one alone." said Beverly....

Josie and Bresha cracked up laughing....

"Laugh it up, Laugh it up....We'll see who is the last one laughing.." snarled a furious Lt. Tragg.

"That's right....See if you guys are laughing when the jury brings back guilty verdicts." said Chris..

"Is that what you really believe Chris? Or are you wishing?" asked Nelson..

The question caught him off guard and exposed his vulnerability...He wasn't sure he had a slam dunk case...He had thought he had a slam dunk case against Bresha..

A green Attorney who had just passed the bar a year ago...Who had just finished interning...Who was trying her first case by herself..And Bresha had surprised him by being prepared in everyway and for everything and handing him a whopping defeat in what should have been a pedestrian case for him.

Now he was facing, Auntie and Niecy themselves...

More experienced and better prepared....He had a need to defeat them...An almost obsession..

In court...On Voir Dire,

Nelson ran rings around Chris...

Chris was out of his depth in understanding the psyche and motivation of the jury pool....

With help from Josie, who he was training the fine art of juror selection to.. They got an even dozen...They got all 12 of the type of juror we wanted...Young, urban, working class, open minded..

Olivia, Beverly and I nodded our approval...

Bresha explained to Regina why we had scored a major victory before testimony even began....

All while Lt. Tragg glared at us....He needed this victory too!

III-

Chris Garcetti, I gotta hand it to him had a brilliant strategy.

He weaved a story of  an over the hill former Olympic Champion and failing business woman who needed a big score a publicity stunt to get her name out in the open again and restore part of her floundring empire...She came up with the perfect plan, employ a somewhat look alike to swim in her place part of the way...

He showed a 60 inch photo of Regina in a very risque Bikini... The Males in the audience were tantalized..

Some in the visitors section were barking..

"ROWLF! " "WOO WOOO!"  "YOWSAAAA!!!"   "WELL DAMN!!!!" and making other noises..

Regina was mortified....

Josie, Beverly and Olivia vehemently objected to such objectfication of their client and demanded the picture be taken off the screen...

ADA Chris Garcetti smiled but took the picture down...It had served his purpose...

Lt. Tragg looked at the picture with pure lust... "VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!" he said under his breath...

He kept taking sneak peaks at Olivia, still seeing her in that Black Bikini...

and admiring her pretty, shapely legs..and sexy body...

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!! " he said..

As much as she and her team annoyed him..A good looking woman was a good looking woman he reasoned.

Judge Anderson called for order....

"ORDER!!! ORDER!!! THERE WILL BE NO MORE WHISTLING OR CAT CALLING IN THIS COURTROOM...OR YOU WILL BE REMOVED!!!" she said sternly..

He called Velma's husband, Floyd Rathbone, Captain John Sparks and her sister Victoria Davis and they explained how they all conspired to have Regina swim part of the chanell ,

 fasley making people think it was Velma and at some point ,Velma was to jump in the water and swim the rest of the way...

But somehow, someway, Velma went rogue in a way , none of them suspected.

They had no idea, they said that she spiked the Hot Broth with Barbituates designed to make Regina drowsy and eventually drown and her body possibly be washed out to sea..

Or that Johnny Sparks pride and joy...His Boat..was laced with Dynamite, Dynamite and a timer ordered  by Velma Davis on line a week before.

 

Blowing it to bits....and would have blown him to bits...Had he not jumped off the boat to save Regina's life at the last minute and had they both not been rescued by Pete Marino..

who unknown to everybody had followed them on a small boat..

It was a fantastic story...We couldn't have told it better... We didn't question one witness....We sat back and listened.

Chris's plan was to take away all of our possible talking points....

Victoria Davis, sister of the deceased admited to having a long running affair with Floyd Rathbone, her brother in law...

They told him and tthe jury what they had told us about making love on the Yacht all night and into the morning and how they didn't know about the murder or Boat Explosion until the next day...

How they had Breakfast at a Seaside Grille and didn't return to Philadelphia until late in the afternoon..

Peter Marino was subpeoned by Chris and testified that he drove Regina and John Sparks back to Philadelphia immediately...and that they both were furious...They realized that they had been pawns, patsys and that they both nearly lost their lives..

He dropped John Sparks off at the Hospital and then drove Regina home..

She said she was tired , so he didn't go up he left...

He spent the rest of the night at the Mermaid Crabhouse...

He subpeoned Attorneys Dabnis Coley, Jazmine Coley, his wife, Ray and Kayla St. Jacques ,who testified that they had been with Pete Marino in the Mermaid Crabhouse from 10:30 - 2:00 am...

He and Lt. Tragg smiled..They took particular satisfaction  that our four close friends were testifying  for the prosecution......

Finally they called Dr. Timothy Brady, who admitted that he and Velma had been having a year long affair that was both sexual and of a business nature.. That she had embezzled funds to pay off his gambling debts and funded his stay in Rehab..He admitted that the two of them were planning to skip town with a quarter of a million dollars in cash that Saturday night.. He called her a half dozen times and she called him up until about 9:00 pm, then he never heard from her again... He had a couple of drinks and then he waited at the Airport for her until 3:00 am in the morning..Then he went home..he said.

In closing, Chris said..

"EVERYBODY HAS AN ALIBI...EVERYBODY EXCEPT REGINA...SHE WAS FURIOUS AT BEING A PAWN, AT BEING ALMOST MURDERED AND OF NOT GETTING THAT ONE MILLION DOLLARS...I GET THAT...I DO!!!  She went home, showered, changed clothes..

Got dressed , got her gun and as you see here, she went inside...Shot and killed Velma Davis ,called the cops and then hastily left...She's the only one who could have killed her.. Her palm print is on the safe and we know she was there...FIND HER GUILTY PLEASE....SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD HAVE DONE IT!!!" he said triumphantly...

"It looks bad guys...I have all 12 to convict..." said Nelson..

"Well Nelson...It's our turn next.."said Olivia.

"I can't wait.." said Beverly...

"Me neither.."said Josie..

"Here is a case where science is going to trump everything else Bree..Watch and learn."I said.

"I can't wait.." said Bresha..

"I'm afraid Olivia and Beverly have finally taken on a real loser, a client that is indefensible..I got rid of all of their talking points...At this point, I expect them to make a proffer and soon.."laughed a jubilant

Chris Garcetti..

The Press snapped photos of him...and laughed along with him..

Lt. Tragg laughed loud and hearty as he addressed the press..

"We left no stone unturned into this investigation...She's as guilty as hell..." he said..

How wrong he would turn out to be..How Wrong they both would turn out to be....

IV-

Olivia looked good..She strode up to the front of the court...She looked at the jury and smiled.

"All last week you heard a fantastic story from the prosecution...It was all mostly true..We interviewed these same folks, so I won't bore you by going back over that...As I said, everything the prosecution said was true except one thing..My client, Regina Jordan did not murder Velma Davis..She went back there to get her money...Only Mrs. Davis-Rathbone was already dead and that safe was already empty..

If you are patient...we will prove to you who killed Velma Davis Rathbone..You can't beat facts or science.." she said..

"We call John Sparks to the stand.." said Beverly...

He looked a little perplexed but he strode up to the witness stand..

"Liv is off her nut...He's got an airtight alibi.."said Lt. Tragg..

''She's up to something...I know it."said Chris.

"Johnny, when your boat exploded...you were furious weren't you? You sunk a lot of money into that boat didn't you?"asked Olivia.

"Yeah....I was...Anybody would." he said.

"In fact, you and Ms. Jordan were furious..both of you realized you'd both almost been murdered..She almost drowned under the influence of Barbituates...and when you jumped in the ocean to save her...Your boat exploded...And it was a good thing Pete Marino just happened to be following you two or you both still might have died...You were unconscious, had a gaping head wound.. and Ms. Jordan was still drowsy... Pete Marino saved you both, didn't he?" said Beverly..

"Yeah he did." said Johnny Sparks..

"Sooooooooo when you all got back to Philly, you guys had mostly cooled off.. You had a gaping head wound...Your blood is all over these towels " said Nelson, producing the towels... "Regina and Pete suggested you go to the hospital, so they dropped you off at about a quarter to nine isn't that right?"asked Nelson..

"Yeah that's right." said Johnny Sparks.

"They pulled off..They didn't take you inside to check you in did they?" asked Josie.

"I wasn't unconscious...I was good enough to walk inside." said Johnny Sparks.

"Then how come you didn't check into the hospital until well after midnight?? I have your check in sheet right here.."said Olivia.

"The CSI guys missed it the first night, but they came back and they found a trail of blood up the back steps and out into the alley where there was no camera.. The DNA was not a match for Regina Jordan, Velma Davis-Rathbone, Peter Marino, Tim Brady , Victoria Davis or Floyd Rathbone..It is a match to you... We gave these bloody towels to the M.E.'s office and it came back a 99.9 percent match to you..." said Bresha.

"Your Blood had no business being there... Oh and it was in the UBER you called that took you there..and the UBER you called a few blocks away that took you back to the hospital..." said Beverly..

"The police using a warrant of course entered your apartment.. They found a quarter of a million dollars in cash in your mattress. and this..

a forty caliber hand gun...A ballistics match for the murder weapon... You want to talk about it, get it off your chest?" asked Olivia..

"Velma and I had been sleeping together for a year...It was me she loved.. We were supposed to go away together...After my boat blew up, I realized she had planned to murder me....That she had been using me.. And when I got to the Swim club...She was changing her clothes and I saw the Passport..Made out to Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Brady. I lost my shit then... I pulled my gun out and I shot her....You shoulda seen the shocked painful look on her face when I shot her...Like she couldn't believe I'd really do it..She slipped and fell in the pool...

I took one last glimpse of her floating in the pool, her lifeless eyes staring at me..." he snarled..He seemed as if he wanted to unburden himself..

Two Homicide Detectives, Reed and Malloy were there..

"Thanks again Donnie Ray.." said Reed.

"Thanks buddy." said Malloy..

I smiled at them both.....

They read Johnny Sparks his rights, handcuffed him and walked him out..As he left , he looked at me.

"You're good man, damn good..." he said and left with the police..

And with that, the trial was pretty much over!

Lt. Tragg looked like he'd swallowed a canary....

"You Guys are the best...I knew if anybody could get me off . you guys could.." said Regina, hugging each of us..

"You're welcome baby."said Olivia..

"No More get rich quick schemes.." said Beverly..

"That's right." I said..

"They still owe you money...You have a contract...We can go after them," said Nelson...

"That's right..We can.." said Josie..

"Wowwww, this case has legs on it." said Bresha.

An angry and frustrated ADA Chris Garcetti tossed his suit jacket up in the air again...

''Well, there it goes "said Beverly..

Josie, Nelson, Pete Marino, Regina ,Bresha,Olivia and I busted out in gales of laughter.....Looks like we were the last ones laughing...

While the press gave Lt. Tragg the business once again..

''Well Artie that's Auntie and Niecey 199, and you-zilch!" said a reporter..

That remark was met by a room full of laughter....

"ALLLLLRIGHT LOU..THAT'S IT...I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!!!"screamed Lt. Tragg as tables were turned over and fists were flying and punches landed...

What was a trial without a melee at the end???...

EPILOUGE-

John Sparks was sentenced to 15-30 years for 2nd Degree Murder...

We didn't have to go after them...Floyd Rathbone wrote Regina a check for 2.5 million dollars and he paid the rest of her legal fees...

Regina  and Pete split the money and they got married...It was a nice piece of change to start their new life together. Today, Regina teaches swimming...While Pete has diversified his portfolio into another business...Selling women's swimsuits and diving gear...He has a small outlet store that does  quite well.

We were all in Sam Mother's Diner enjoying breakfast...

"Well guys...We have a little down time hopefully..." said Olivia..

As I put my arms around her waist and hugged her tightly....

"I think I'm done with the shore for awhile.."laughed Beverly...

"Yeah Me too." laughed Nelson...

"Not Me.. Paris and I would like to go to Rehoboth Beach, maybe next weekend.."said Josie..

"It sounds and looks cool..Guess we all won't be going huh?" he said sadly...He liked it when we all hung out..

"Me and Tony might go with you.." said Bresha.

"Yeah,It might be fun.." said Tony...

"Yeah, Liv, Bev, come on....We won't be on any exploding boats..." said Dabnis laughing..

"Yeah, let's see if we can find an Air BNB, a group of them that we can all hang out in that's close.."said Jazzy.

"One last Summer fling."said Ray..

"Yes, I'm down if you guys are." said Kayla.

"Me too!" said Jessica.

"Yeah Me too!" said Chip...

"Welllllllll the water was beautiful and the beaches..wow! I guess I could go back.."said Olivia.

''Yeah..I could too...I just bought a new string bikini that I hadn't even worn yet.."said Beverly..

"Oh then we are definitely going."said Nelson..

I cracked up laughing....

Ms. Yvette and her crew walked in just then...

''Hey you guys...I am so glad you are here.....A very grateful client of ours just gave us  several Air BNB  residences we can use at Rehobath Beach....12 units... That's enough for all of us..How about we go down next weekend? It would be a great last summer fling." said Ms. Yvette.

"Yeah Liv...If you could get your bus service to supply two buses down...It would be great..."said Gary.

"And we guys will supply all of the food." said Keith Jones.

"It'll be so much fun." said Bee Bee.

"Yeah...I hope you all can go." said Kahlil.

"Yeah for real." said Sofia

"It would be so cool.."said Jade.

''Well Niecey Poo, we are out numbered..." said Olivia..

"Yup and for once, I don't care....I'm in!" said Beverly...

We all clapped and laughed...

At the counter, Lt. Tragg sat brooding..

"Look at em ,laughin....Mocking me....All of em... Their day will come, just wait.." he brooded..

Looks like for now...We were the last one's laughing.