A Monday Afternoon....I was having coffee at a Coffee Shop with my wife, Sepia and her business partner, Bonita...
"My partners Clerow and Owen Todd spend more time with you guys than they do me now of days.."I joked.
"They're making money for us...Selling Houses, Renting Apartments, Lofts and Condos and Storage space.."said Bonita..
"Yes, things they were originally doing anyway before you co-opted them.."joked my wife, Sepia.."Besides...you have an agency now...you've got what 39 administrative assistants, five operatives plus Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom..You don't need them anymore.."said Sepia.
She was right...Clerow was married and had two small children, Owen Todd was married with a small child and a baby on the way...My line of work could get dangerous at times..Being a Private Investigator...I only called them in if I really needed them now of days...An extra gun, an extra wheel..
My main business, Morris Communications had 100 employees, managed perfectly by my good friend, Sheila Jackson, my second in command and her husband, Sean Jackson, who was my chief of staff and chief photographer and videographer...He too seemed to work less for me now of days...
My Investigative agency...Morris Investigations was housed in the sub-basement of my building..
with only my 39 employees and my 7 operatives having access... and all sworn to secrecy about it's existence...
It was where my real investigative work was done... I mostly worked for attorneys these days...Soft cases...but occasionally I danced with the rough underbelly of the city....
As we sipped our coffee, we got a very pretty and friendly visitor...
Attorney Jessica Sanchez...Now Jessica Burrows...She and
Attorney Charles "Chip" Burrows , her husband were also celebrating one year in their new home..
On the same street with friends of ours and across the street from others.
''Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Jessica.." said Sepia..
"Heyyyy Jessie, You're celebrating your one year anniversaty huh?"said Bonita...
"Thank You, Thank You..It's been wonderful" she said, Gushing..
"You guys plan on doing anything special?" I asked.
"We don't know just yet, we've been vacationing so much with our neighbors this summer. We all just got back from Rehoboth Beach"said Jessie.
"AI knowwwww, Olivia told me. I saw her in the market ,yesterday."said Sepia..
''Sit down, Sit down...Have some coffee.."said Bonita.
II-
"So you're all back from your summer flings and relaxed....What's New?" I asked.
''Naturally, I've got a client and I need your help Mr. Kevin.."said Jessica.
"Enjoying the new house? .as well as all of your neighbors?"asked Sepia.
"Yes , you live on a regular lawyers row.."said Bonita..
She was speaking of Jasmine Coley , Her husband, Dabnis,Kayla Bennett-St, Jacques and her husband Ray, Newly married Yvette Jones-Lockwood and her husband, Gary and Investigator in the D.A.'s office..Attorneys, Keith Jones, his wife, Bee Bee Evans Jones, Sofia Garcia-Ahmed and Kahlil Ahmed and their investigator, Jade Lee.. All newly established residents of the same street that Jessie and her husband Chip lived on..
Comsidering all of her neighbors are in the legal proffession, A lot of them are my clients..All of them my good friends..
Including her across the street neighbors..
Olivia Bennett-Alexander, her husband, Donnie Ray, a P.I. like myself, Niece and partner, Beverly West-East, her husband, Nelson East andmy former ward, newly minted attorney, Josie Boyd and their new attorney, Bresha Williams..
"Oh we love it there..It's nice and cozy and we love the playground right in the middle.." asked Jessica.
"Yeah, that's what sold it for the others."said Bonita..
"I've got to have you two over for dinner sometime."said Sepia..
''What about this case?" I asked.
"Oh the case.. His name is Duncan Clark...He's a 22 year old African-American male who was convicted recently and sentenced to 12 years for having sex with an underaged girl...The girl's name is Tammie Malloy...She's White.....and she was 16 at the time and he was 19...Neither of them was legal age to be in this bar...but they were.. She used a fake ID and he wasn't carded...
They got to drinking and talking and kissing a little bit and she left with him...They got in his car and drove a ways...and parked.. They kissed...They fooled around, but they did not have sex....They were caught by a state trooper...
She said that she was kidnapped and raped.... They did a rape kit...They found no semen in her..or in her panties...they found no semen in the car or spermicide...or discarded condoms anywhere..and yet and all white jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 12 years a few weeks ago....
His Mother and both of his sisters appealed to the Innocence Project...Chip and I are repping him...He is still here in the city at CFC...He hasn't been assigned a prison yet...
I'm hoping to take this before the WRONGFUL CONVICTION UNIT and get this conviction tossed out before he is transferred upstate." said Jessica.
"Oh Nooooooo!" said Bonita..
"I hate to hear things like this...Kevin you've got to help her.."said my wife, Sepia..
"I do...and I will...." I said.
''Oh Thank you...The Innocence Project will pay part of your expenses and the City of Philadelphia will pay the other half.." said Jessica..
"Good, you say his accuser is a young girl named Tammie Malloy huh? I'm going to look into her.." I said.
''She works as a Documents Clerk at Cyclops Insurance...She's been employed there for about six months.."said Jessica.
"Interesting.." I said.
III-
While we sat there...our good friend, Bonnie Shay walked in and sat down with us..She was an Insurance Investigator who happened to work for Cyclops Insurance.., She was also an Attorney , who had been a Public Defender and an Assistant District Attorney in New York ,before returning to Philadelphia, getting a P.I.'s License and going to work along side her husband, Co Counsel, Ronald Shay at Cyclops Insurance..
We had worked together on several cases...
"Hi Kevin, Sepia and Bonita.." she said..
"Heyyy Bonnie..."said Bonita..
"You know Jessica Sanchez..Excuse me..Jessica Burrows now..She's married now!..She's an Attorney at the Innocence Project..."said Sepia..
"I do...we've met through both Olivia and Yvette..."said Bonnie..
"How are you?" said Jessica..
"My Husband knows your husband...They were in Law School together..."said Bonnie.."..Olivia was telling me about the nice reception you guys had in Ocean City last year.."laughed Bonnie.
"Thank Youuuuuu." said Jessica.
''So what is the deal Bon-Bon?" I asked.
"I could use your help Kevin..."said Bonnie..
"Look at this...I go for three weeks with no cases and today I get hit with two...What's up?" I asked.
''Well for six months.. Six of our well insured agencies have been robbed...These were high end robberies.. Over a million dollars in jewelry was stolen from each place. .Places we have insured... Highly insured..
In each case it was as if the thieves knew exactly where to go, where the alarms were to be shut off and everything...The alarms we placed in highly secretive places were shut off , the safes were blown and the merch stolen and the street and traffic cams were temporailily disabled..The theif or thieves escaped without a trace...No prints, no DNA, no nothing..." said Bonnie.
"You're not just dealing with an average Boxman or crew...These guys are good real good.."I said.
"You notify the police?" I asked.
"Robbery-Homicide and the Criminal Investigation Division are on it, but they are baffled.."said Bonnie.
"I'm glad they're on it and not that knucklehead Lt. Tragg….Haven't seen him in awhile..He get fired?" I asked.
"Haven't you heard? He's on The Marine Boat for a Month....Or he has been...
But I believe this is his last week...
He'll be back on the streets next week.."said Jessica.
''Wow! Who did he piss off?" I asked.
Sepia, Bonita, Bonnie and Jessica all busted out in raucous laughter...
IV-
" Jessica, I'll start digging into this Tammie Malloy and I'll meet you somewhere tomorrow.."I said.
"Meet me at this address, It's the Bridge...The new building near Penns Landing...Here is an Access Card so you can get up to the Conference Room...That's where ADA Karen Page and her Wrongful Conviction Unit is headquartered." said Jessica.
''Did you say Tammie Malloy?" asked Bonnie.
"Yeah, she has falsely accused Jessie's client of sexual assault and he was convicted a few weeks ago...I know she works at your place of employment..I was going to ask you about her."I said.
"That's what I was going to tell you tomorrow...I checked her out and a lot of things about her don't add up...She started working as a Document clerk for us six months ago right around the time these robberies started occurring."said Bonnie..
"What are you saying?" I asked.
"These thieves had a lot of information..security Information only we, The Insurance Company would have...They knew the entire schematic design of all of these places..They knew where the alarms were..They knew where the street and traffic cams were and they knew the safe combonations..These robberies were too flawless.."said Bonnie.
"Inside Job?" I asked..
"Most definitely and in her job, she would have access to a lot of that information...I've been watching her.."said Bonnie..
"Oh Wowwww!"said Jessica..
"Awwww suki suki now.."said Sepia.
"This sounds deep.."said Bonita..
"I think the three of us need to put our heads together."I said..
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