FRIDAY- 4:30 pm
We drove to the scene in Ms. Jade's Nissan Pathfinder....
There was the car on the corner where Elizabeth Coleman was supposed to meet Blacknailer, Harvey Mallet... Harvey was slumped over the steering a wheel, a puddle of blood had developed outside the car...bliid that was pouring from his massive head wounds.
In death , he looked as though he was sleeping off a hangover...
Everybody in the car laughed..
The police arrived.... A crowd had gathered around the crime scene...
"Ouu, he was shot twice in the back of the head....He never saw it coming.."said a CSI Man..
Lieutenant Tragg put on his latex gloves and observed the body....
"I know this guy...Harvey Mallet...He's a big time gambler from Atlantic City...but mostly a two bit hood...This looks like it could have been a mob hit.. Hmmmmmm..He was sitting on this corner as though he was waiting for someone..."said Lt. Tragg, who noticed a folder on the back seat...
He picked it up and opened it.. His eyes got as wide as saucers...
"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!" he said.. "Come here boys,look at this." he said, as several uniformed officers gathered around him...
"THIS IS THE MAYOR!!!! OUR MAYOR!!! And do you know who that is? That's that woman that just won the election for Judge...Elizabeth Coleman...boy, she's got a body on her...and look at the Mayor..Ohhh Hoo Hooooo!" he laughed....
There were other photos..
That's Judge Michael King...Ohhhhhh boyyyy and this woman, Judge Elizabeth Coleman... whoooo
weee, she has an active sex life...I didn't know Mikey had it going on like this...VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!" laughed Lt. Tragg and a few officers viewing the photos..
He'd probably go blabbing all of this to the press and a lot of people would be in the hot seat tomorrow,
The victims ironically enough might have been better off with the blackmailer." she thought. She didn't put it past Lt. Tragg to try to use these photos as leverage for himself in some kind of way.
She and her workers put the body in a white body bag on a stretcher and strapped it to the gurney...
Lt. Tragg was snickering...
"Make sure I uh get the autopsy report by tomorrow morning...Uh Monday Morning is fine.." he laughed..
II-
Captain Eddie Cantrell and the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Alan Talbert entered Lt. Tragg's office.. Monday Morning.
''Artie, this is Alan Talbert, the Mayor's Chief of Staff." He said.
"Lt. Tragg, you have uh some sensitive photos of the Mayor and newly minted Judge Elizabeth Coleman.. I want them." said Talbert.
"This is evidence in a Homicide Investigation.." said Lt. Tragg.
"I believe you have other photos of Ms. Coleman with another man....I just want the ones with the Mayor.. I'm not asking you Lieutenant...If you refuse to comply...Your Deputy of Operations and the Police Commissioner will be giving you a call." said Mr. Talbert.
Lt. Tragg was livid... He gave him the three glossies of Mayor Cecil "Get Right" Brown and Elizabeth Coleman.
"Is this all?" asked Talbert..
"Good." he said.
He took a cigarette lighter and lit the three photos and tossed them into a metal waste basket...and watched them burn...
"Thank You Captain Cantrell and Lieutenant Tragg for your co-operation...The Mayor won't forget this favor." said Talbert as he and Captain Cantrell left...
Lt. Tragg realized that it had been foolish to go to the Mayor's house on Sunday and hint around about the existence of the photos and tell the Mayor that the Blackmailer was dead, murdered and that he was in possession of the photos...Perhaps if he hadn't said anything to the Mayor directly...he wouldn't have gotten a visit. He hadn't talked to Mike King about the photos...and now he didn't plan to.. he planned to keep quiet about it..
He had sent a team inside Mallet's apartment...They found only a laptop
a laptop with the hard drive missing. No negatives or roll of film.
They didn't have negatives or a hard drive. They didn't have Mallet's cell phone..That was missing. They had no murder weapon..All they had was photos of Elizabeth Coleman and Judge King..
This whole thing centered around her, reasoned Lt. Tragg.
Mostly small litigations...Office litigations..
"With pleasure my love.."laughed Kahlil.
"Hey Guys.... Hey Boss lady, got some news for you." said Jade.
"This killer cleans up well..Whoever he or she is...they probably weren't in those photos..The hard drive is gone, his phone is gone, the negatives are burned up and all he or she left behind were those photos..Makes you wonder how many people this guy was blackmailing."said Yvette.
"Oh?" said Yvette.
"My contact at police headquarters told me that Lt. Tragg found an envelope in the backseat of Harvey Mallet's car that had photos of Liz and the Mayor and Liz and Judge Michael King in let's say uncompromising positions...but get this...They tossed Harvey Mallet's apartment.. Somebody had been there and had stolen the hard drive from his computer and apparently had burned whatever negatives he had and smashed his camera. Not only that...Harvey's phone is missing, no sign of it...and there is no murder weapon as of yet.." said Jade.
"Oh something else.. Tragg apparently took the photos he had of the Mayor and Liz Coleman to the Mayor's house and informed him that he was in possession of them and that they were evidence in his homicide.. Kind of like dry snitching or in this case blackmailing.." laughed Jade.
'Tell her she's no longer on the Hot seat." she added..
She didn't know how wrong she was.
The Police were outside her door..
Attorney Mark Avedon was protesting..
At this moment...at Elizabeth Coleman's house..
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS....YOU HAVE NO PROOF ...YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" he screamed to the top of his lungs..
"I HAVE A WARRANT COUNSELOR AND I CAN DO THIS... Judge Coleman, You are under arrest for the murder of Harvey Mallet. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, You have a right to an attorney, if you can not afford one, One will be provided to you...Do you undersatand these rights as I have read them to you?" said Lt. Tragg.
Elizabeth Coleman sighed... "Of course I do.." she said and hung her head as she was handcuffed...and led out of her house..
As policemen entered the house..
Naturally, with everything involving Lt. Tragg, there was drama.. The was magically a gaggle of media people, "Anonymously " tipped off outside the house, watching her do the perp walk , snapping photos..and asking questions to add to her humiliation.
"Don't worry Liz, I'll be down to get you arraigned.."said Mark Avedon...
"I want you to make a call for me Mark...Call Yvette Jones-Lockwood.. she's a criminal defense attorney...She's more experienced at this than you are..No offense darling.." said Elizabeth Coleman, who planted a soft kiss on his lips, before being put in a police car and whisked off..
He stood there and watched as the Police and the press all pulled off..
III-
Elizabeth sat alone in the "Fishbowl", the nickname the detectives gave the interrogation room..
Elizabeth hadn't said a word...
She sipped on a cup of coffee she had been given.
Lt. Tragg walked in with a manilla envelope... He opened it up and showed the lurid photos..He was leering as he showed them to her..Imagining her sexy body under her clothing...
"That's you and Judge King." he said.
"Soooo what? He's not married and neither am I...We were two consenting adults...It was six months ago." she said.
He then tossed two more photos on the desk..
"Know that cool guy? Harvey Mallet? He's a Gambler from Atlantic City and a two bit hood, a grifter..Why would he be talking to you at your swanky party?" asked Lt. Tragg.
That's you and the murder victim 48 hours before his death at your party...
You're talking.. He knew you and you knew him...and even though we don't have his phone...His provider gave us a list of phone calls he made... He made three calls to you and you made one call to him just two hours before he was found dead...We got you...We got you cold." said Lt. Tragg.
"I represented him twice when I was a Public Defender....Maybe he was there to congratulate me.." said Elizabeth Coleman sarcastically...She thought Lt. Tragg was an idiot and she wondered how he ever made Detective, Let alone a Lieutenant.
"Or maybe he was there to blackmail you....We don't have the hard drive to his computer or his phone or any negatives...I'm guessing he had even more on you that we may never see...But we know he called you and you called him and two hours later..He's dead...I think we have motive and opportunity, You might as well give it up Elizabeth, you've been a baddd girl and Mallet was puttin the squeeze on you. Personally I think you did the city a favor...Mallet was a two bit hood a grifter who won't be missed., but you can't go around killing people." said Lt. Tragg.
Just then Mark Avedon walked in..
"Her attorneys are here Lieutenant...I think you should leave."said Mark.
"You'd better watch it pal...JUST WATCH IT!" snarled Lt. Tragg as he left the room..
"We brought you some nourishment.."said Sofia.
She and Bee Bee brought a Thermos of Hot Coffee and Doughnuts and Bagels with Cream Cheese and jelly..
They laid it out on the table..
Kahlil had wet wipes...he wiped the table off first...
"They need to mop this place with some Pine Sol and let it air out...It smells like old gym socks , bad breath and body odor in here." I said.
"Don't take a deep breath if you can help it.." she said.
"You all are dolls and life savers...Thank you Mark, thank you for getting them..." she said..
"We just want to get you out of here." he said.
TWO HOURS LATER..we were in court..
It was extreme irony that Judge Michael King was the presiding judge..
He looked at Elizabeth..
And remembered nights of sensuous pleasure.
Of her driving him to near delirium...
Of making love to her seemingly endlessly...
He had heard that she was being blackmailed....He was being blackmailed too! By the same guy she had been accused of killing. He had paid him ten thousand dollars already..He was glad the little creep was was dead. He was in a new relationship now and up for retention as well . The last thing he wanted was any controversy... Plus he couldn't bring himself to believe Elizabeth Coleman could kill anybody...She wasn't violent.
Yvette argued that she didn't want to argue the particulars of the case now, just that Elizabeth Coleman has been a stalwart officer of the court ,has no prior record and no record or history of violence whatsoever.."
Judge King released her on her own recognisance and ordered that she wear an ankle bracelet..
It was better than paying bail....
"Un believable...He's bangin her that's why he let her off so easy." said Lt. Tragg...
"Just like you're still banging my ex-wife." said Jumpshot Jim..
"Yeah, somethin like that.."smirked Lt. Tragg, walking away... There was no love lost between him and Jumpshot Jim...The two men despised each other..
"Liz, maybe you should check into a hotel under your own name for a few days."said Yvette..
"We'll let you know everything going on with your case , everyday...as though you were at work."I said..
''All of your phone conversations will be with us...through this phone..Don't call the office at all."said Kahlil.
"Yvette, your associates are very well trained...They're a well oiled machine." laughed Elizabeth.
"Yes they are...We've learned over the years that our communications can be compromised..We learned it the hard way, so we deal with a lot of our clients like this..We have them go radio silent..
"I see why Elizabeth told me to call you guys.....I have confidence, she'll be in good hands.."said Mark Avedon...who glared at Lt. Tragg, who was watching us all from afar..I could imagine that eating in Sam Mother's this afternoon would be hell on earth for us..
We all filed out of the courthouse through the side door, avoiding the press.
The Press pilloried Lt. Tragg for a comment, which he was more than glad to do.
"We have a pretty strong case against her....I uh won't go into detail here..It will all come out in the trial...That's it boys...No more comments...That's all for today." he said , flashing that made for TV smile. Naturally...Every hair was in place.. His suit and shoes were immaculate and he was heavily made up...For a TV quote or sudden photograph.
Elizabeth and Mark appeared to have left the building....They hadn't..He pulled her into the Judges Chambers and locked the door..
"Ohhhhh Mark, are you that horny for me? OUUUUUUUUUU....NO...we can't do this in here." she said as he hiked her skirt up.
"YESSSSSSSS!" he moaned..
"OHHHHHH MARK!" she said..laughing and excited at the same time.....
"OH MY GODDDDDDD!!! OUUUUUUU ELIZABETH!" he cried out!sliding her panties down her legs and off...along with her heels..
"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SWEEET BABY!" he moaned.
He lifted her up and entered her slowly.....
"OHHHHHH MYYY GODDD!! OHHHHHHH MY GODDD!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUU MARK!" she moaned.
As he screwed her silently in the corner..
The dozens of reporters and cameramen had no idea what was going on just a few feet from them..They silently filed out and dispersed..
Lt. Tragg looked around . "Vettie and her snot nosed youngins got Judge Coleman out of here fast, didn't they? He thought as he left..
"OUUUUU....OHHHH...OHHHHH OHHHHH OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU MEOWWWWW!"
While in the judges chambers.
cooed Elizabeth..
"OHHHHHHHHHHHH AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW UMMMMMMMMM...."moaned Mark
as they made sweet love throughout the rest of the afternoon!
''Girrrl, we haven't talked in weeks... You know what my schedule has been..The Flaherty Case,Both my girls, Bree and Josie getting married...I did see you then..Then The Arkady Case in Federal Court and The Toppler Case and of course...AUSA John Stevens... phew we have been busy..."said Olivia.
''But girl, we live right across the street from each other..This is the closest we've lived in proximity since we were in law school..I don't ever want to grow apart from you again like we did a few years ago..
"Ohh Me neither... I've been busy too.. After your big case..We defended that young attorney Mary Flowers and that Celebrity Chef and Oh yeah, Nicky Jordan...we've been busy too...But we should never be too busy for each other.."said Yvette..
"It's a date." said Yvette..
Olivia and Yvette went to the new coffee shop across the street from the laundromat...
And they appreciate Jade's thoroughness...
"Haven't they?" laughed Yvette.
''So what are you doing the rest of the night....I'm going to finish off a bottle of wine I have left over and then make love to my husband the rest of the night."said Yvette.
"I'm not a cop any more Mikey...What do you want me to do?" asked Curley..
"Talk to Artie...You knew his father...He listens to you...Tell him not to put this in the press and to try and keep those photos confidential..Please Curls...I don't ask for a favor too often...Now I'm askin."said Judge King.
"He comes in here from time to time..I'll pull him to the side and talk some sense into his head.."said Curley..
"Thanks Curley.."said Judge King.
IV-
I don't know why it was so overcast lately...
The Laundromat... Yvette was meeting with her good friend Olivia Bennett-Alexander, finally having that laundry date they talked about..
"I know... I've seen you guys on the news and in passing."laughed Yvette..
"Next time I have a dinner, You and your whole team have a standing invitation." said Olivia. We've got plenty space.." she said.
''So you guys are defending Elizabeth Coleman huh?
Wow..,She just made Judge...I remember her when she was a Public Defender..Very good Attorney , always prepared..She told me "One thing you don't want is a surprise in court... Never fully believe your client...Get yourself a good investigator and have them look at your client and everything else." I never forgot that....it's what I live by...I drill it in Beverly, Nelson, Josie and Bree's heads
and thank god, I have good investigator in my husband, Donnie Ray.
"said Olivia.
"Girrrrrl you aint never lied...I learned that the hard way over the years...but I drill it in Keith ,Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil's heads too.
and they see it..They see the look on the ADA's faces when we present something they totally overlooked...or never knew!
And speaking of Elizabeth...Tragg really doesn't have much of a case against her.. The victim's laptop was robbed of it's hard drive, his phone is missing ,there are no negatives and the Mayor's Chief of Staff burned the photos of her and him up...So all they have are the photos of her and Judge King.. They've got a photo of her nd the victim talking at her party and a record of three or four phone calls made between the two leading up to the murder.. They don't have a murder weapon , no fingerprints on the car, nothing." said Yvette.
"How did he even get an indictment? You know...Over the years...His flimsy cases have been good for both our careers.." laughed Olivia
Both women laughed loud and long as they drank their coffee and dished.
They returned to the laundromat and folded their clothes...
"I don't have any wine...but the making love to my husband the rest of the night is not a bad idea at all. It's the perfect night..Overcast, rainy.."said Olivia as both women laughed...
In another part of the city...
Judge Michael King was talking to Curley, the bar's owner..
"Curl's you gotta help me out..I'm up for retention, plus I'm bangin a new broad kinda regularly...I can't have this get to the press.. I hear he's got some pretty explosive photos of me and that new judge, Elizabeth Coleman...We uh had a little thing, but I swear it wasn't until after she tried a case in my court, not before or or during trial..This could have me on the hot seat with the retention board.. and the Legal Ethics Board if they want to run wild with it... Bad enough that little bastard Harvey Mallet got $10 large out of me to keep those photos on ice." he said.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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