Chasing a Ghost

 

 

KEITH JONES-

Born in Philadelphia PA. 

Mother, Nancy Jones, Court Stenographer

Father, Judge Keith Morrison

Graduated from West Catholic High School

B.A. Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre Law- Howard University

J.D.- University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish, French, German

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware ,New York, Texas, California

Associate Attorney- McCluskey/Cozen/Connor/Pratt

Married to Beatrice Evans

BEATRICE LYNN EVANS -JONES

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Philadelphia High School For Girls

B.A. -Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy ,Pre Law- Temple University

J.D.-University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish and French

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Deleware, Texas, California

Associate Attorney- McCluskey /Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to Keith Jones

SOFIA CARMELITA GARCIA-AHMED

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Philadelphia High School For Girls

B.A. -Administration Of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre Law-Temple University

J.D.-University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish and French

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware and New York, Texas, California

Associate Attorney -McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to Kahlil Ahmed...

KAHLIL ABDUL AHMED

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from Central High School

BA.- Administration of Justice, Trial Advocacy, Pre Law- Temple University

JD- University of Pennsylvania Law School

Speaks Arabic languages fluently, fluent in German and Russian.

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware and New York, Texas, California

Associate Attorney-McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to Sofia Garcia

YVETTE DENISE JONES-LOCKWOOD

Born in Philadelphia PA.

Graduated from North Catholic High School

BA-Trial Advocacy, Pre Law, Administration of Justice -Lasalle University

JD -University of Pennsylvania Law School

Fluent in Spanish, French and Russian

Passed Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Deleware , New York, Texas, California.

Senior Associate Attorney-McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Managing Partner- McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt

Married to District Attorney Investigator-Gary Lockwood

"Hmmmmm, the Defense is very astute...I'll need my A Game to go up against these five.Yvette and I went to the same High School and same College for undergrad...She's a little younger than me...about two years, plus she's Black...I wouldn't have known her then." she wagered.

ADA Brenda Young had googled us and was reading about us on her laptop...We weren't the only ones who commuted to work...She did too, but from the opposite direction...She didn't live anywhere near us..

She exited the train in Center City.. and headed to her office where she found fresh flowers and coffee..

THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BRENDA YOUNG

There was a bouquet of Red Roses

And a tumbler of Hot Steamy coffee...

"My way of an apology, I'm Lt. Arthur Tragg of Homicide..We'll be working the case together..." he said.

"No need for an apology Lieutenant...but if you want to grope me...do it in private...Not in open court." she said and smiled..

She locked her door and pulled the shades..

They embraced and kissed passionately....

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm thank you for the flowers and the coffee....Mmmmmmmmmm" she moaned..

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he moaned, absorbing her butter soft lips....

She enjoyed kissing Lt. Tragg....or any man right now.. She hadn't had sex for a month and was very horny at the moment...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.....

"Okay...Okay...That's enough." she said, Easing out of his embrace...Now let's talk about this case... I need you to go over the crime scene again....That shouldn't be hard....since it's right here in this building..See if your people can find prints, DNA...something more...See if there were any other people in either of the decedents lives who might have had a motive to kill either one of them.." said ADA Brenda Young..

"ANYTHING YOU WANT BABY!!! ANYTHING YOU NEEED!" he  said... "And how bout tonight, us going out for drinks, some dinner and quiet conversation?" he asked.

"Ouuuuuuuuuu that sounds nice." she giggled.

We were miles away in the safety of our building..working on the beginnings of a defense..

In the Conference room, Law Library.. Bee Bee and Sofia were studying  law cases simular to this one, looking up all available predicates and laws in general pretaining to this particular type of case..a case with the possibility of being a capital case.

Remember how Olivia and Beverly gave us a refresher course in doing research?" laughed Bee Bee, remembering their early days as attorneys..

''Yeah we thought we knew everything...We were fresh out of law school...They taught us some extra tricks, learned from years of experience...I was so grateful for them."said Sofia.

And in our media room. Kahlil and I were looking at potential jurors and working on trial strategy with Ms. Yvette.

''So we want an upscale juror...A white woman, a white educated woman..." I said.

"She doesn't have to be white, but a woman, a woman who is maybe divorced...Someone who's been cheated on..."said Kahlil..

"Despite the great job Jade did on breaking down the jurors, do either of you think you're going to find the prototype perfect juror?? You want empathy....Jurors who can empathize with the defendent... They can be Black ,Puerto Rican, Asian, Male or female...We are looking for emphathetic jurors."said Ms. Yvette.

'Wow, you're right...What would we do without you?" I said...

"You'd probably lose a few cases and learn what I'm teaching you the hard way." she said and smiled at me..

"Good Ole Ms. Yvette."said Kahlil..

"Ouuu don't say it that way Kahlil...You make me sound like an old woman.."laughed Ms. Yvette.

She walked into the conference room and checked up on Bee Bee and Sofia's work..

"Ummmm you girls are making a lot more sense today than your male counterparts next door."she laughed..

"Thank you Ms. Yvette."said Bee Bee.

"Thank you Ms. Yvette."said Sofia.

And out in the outer office..

"Okay Jetty, that's enough..."said Virginia ,trying to ease out of her husband's embrace..

"I'm trying to make up for not keeping you company yesterday."said Jetty..

They began kissing passionately some more.....

"Well thank you."said Virginia, who was getting into it more and returning his passion..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm Jetty...you just don't have any work to do today.." she whispered...

''No...I don't... Ummmmmmmmmmmm! I'm handling this business right in front of me...OHHHHHH!" he moaned as they continued to kiss..

Downstairs in our building's large conference room...ADA Karen Page and her new staff ,The wrongful Conviction Unit/ Conviction Integrity attorneys, Natalie, Brooke and David were hosting, Olivia, Beverly,Nelson, Josie, Donnie Ray and Innocence Project Attorneys ,Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband, Chip on a very controversial Wrongfully Convicted case...Lucky for them, it didn't involve Lt. Tragg and the entire case was being heard here in this building...

Judge Elise Clemmons was their special guest judge, who was hearing the case..

It was a great morning...

II-

THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY ROCKLAND CAMBRIDGE-

Gary and Ms. Jade were recanvassing the crime scene....

"I know the lab boys didn't find any prints or DNA, other than the two dead people...but I have some equipment for lifting prints and extracting DNA too..."said Gary...

"Find anything?" asked Jade.

"No....The killer obviously either wore gloves or he and she wiped down the door knobs..It took just a minute to open the door and shoot them....That time of night ,practically everybody was gone for the day...They slipped in and slipped out...Like shadow and glass."said Gary,.

"No clues, No prints, No DNA... but...there are building cameras...Now the crime scene reports say they looked at the camera footage and there is no one speedily exiting the building after the murder."said Jade.

"This building is old and has many tunnels...The killer didn't have to leave from the building..They could have exited through the subway exit...Never been seen." said Gary.

"That's right."said Jade.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?" came the voice of Lt. Tragg.

"THIS IS MY OFFICE, I WORK HERE!" said Gary...

"WELL IT'S A CRIME SCENE...YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO WORK....WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" he sneered at Jade..

"Probably what you're doing here...I was recanvassing the crime scene.. I do work for the Defense Attorneys you know,."said Jade.

''She wanted to recanvass the crime scene, so I let her in here."explained Gary..

"Well, I'm ordering you both off as of now!" said Lt. Tragg.

"I was just leaving...Wouldn't want to get accused of obstruction."said Jade sarcastically.

"I'll leave you to your recanvassing."said Gary as both he and Jade left...

Back at our building....

We had a robust lunch that featured our office reunited and all of our friends and neighbors..

"Ohhh this is so much better than eating in Sam Mother's and hearing that maniac, whine and complain..." said Gary...

"You have a building pass...You can eat over here anytime you feel like it Honey Bunny... Besides..I like having my honey eat lunch with me." said Yvette.

"We've finally got our jury picked...or at least the idea of one..How are you girls doing?" I asked Bee Bee.

''We're ready for the preliminaries right now.... We've looked at discovery...They have next to nothing."said Bee Bee.

"A typical Lt. Tragg case now of days, based on heresay and a lot of nonsense..no real evidence."said Sofia.

"Exactly....a whole lotta nothing at someone else's expense and discomfort...He's a menace."said Kahlil.

"He's actually recanvassing the crime scene..He came over there and ordered us off his crime scene.The only reason why we left is because we were finished...We didn't find anything."said Jade.

"I don't envy you having to deal with him."said Virginia...

Jetty squeezed her tight...He really didn't have any work to do today...Not with the Legal Ethics Board or the Wrongful Conviction Unit, but he hated being home doing nothing.. He liked being around his new wife, Virginia...

"This is nice , all of us here together this week.."said Jazzy..

"At least meal time is fun."said Dabnis.

"I don't get to see my cousins, Olivia and Beverly often enough..."said Kayla.

"Yeah and we live right across the street from them."laughed her husband, Ray..

"It's always a pleasure and a learning experience to work with them.."said Jessica.

"We are enjoying you guys being here this week Liv."said Chip.

''We 're enjoying it too...It's like a mini vacation."said Olivia.

"Yeah, we get up in the morning and we have somewhere to go, other than court."said Donnie Ray.

"Much nicer, working here."said Beverly...

"That's for sure and eating here...Not dealing with that unhinged Lieutenant."said Nelson..

"Oh thank God." said Josie, who was sitting on her husband's lap..

Paris was in hog heaven...

So was Bresha, who was sitting on Tony's lap..

Tony knew that in Sam Mother's Diner, they could never enjoy a peaceful lunch like this...

"It is nice having all of this company this week."laughed Karen Page, "My two besties from Law school, Yvette and Olivia.." she added.

"I'm just laughing imagining you three in Law school.." said Brooke..

Her husband Sean was imagining the three of them himself... A much more x-rated version of all three of them in their dorm room... He smiled slyly to himself.

Natalie sat in her husband ,David's lap...

"What are you smiling  about?" she asked

"You!" he said...smiling deliriously.

''Awwwwwwwwwwwwww" she said,,

She gave him a sweet kiss..

Judge Elise Clemmons was our special guest today...

"Nice place you guys have down here..Didn't know so many of you guys worked here..Me likes."she said.

"Since I'm so close...I can have lunch with you guys and still keep a low profile."said Cindy...

"Just be careful Cindy.."said Ms. Yvette.

III-

After Lunch we met upstairs in our conference room..

''So you guys found nothing at the crime scene?? Dang!" said Ms. Yvette.

"Nothing in my office either.. No Prints, No DNA and no eyewitnesses ,because everybody had gone home for the day that day...Those two were obviously working very late and had planned this... Who knows how many times they had had these late night trysts in the office?" said Gary..

"We looked at the Street Cam and Building camera footage..There is no one seen entering the building or leaving the building... We are thinking...The Killer was already in the building and exited through the subway exit...The Building is old and full of tunnels..."said Jade.

''When I was very young..Kintergarden, First Grade..My dad used to take me to court with him...When the courtrooms were still in City Hall...He'd take me down to that subway exit and try to scare me..Play hide and go seek with me." I said..Remembering some of the few good childhood memories I had with my dad.

"Awwwwwwwwww that is so sweet..."said my wife, Bee Bee.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwww, bonding...."said Sofia....

"That building is old and connected to a couple of tunnels...The killer could have escaped a couple of ways."said Kahlil..

"Okay...Now you guys are scaring me.."laughed our client, Attorney Cindy Lawrence.

Virginia walked in with a treat...

"Churros" she said. It had been 3 hours since lunch.. Almost dinner time..

"Awwwwwww, I love you Ms. Virginia."said Sofia, hugging her...

Hours later...We were all on the train and headed home....

With all of us gone, That left Cindy, who wasn't ready to go back to her room...Having a drink with Karen, who was waiting for B.L. to pick her up..

They had a Lemon Martini and a Citris Martini...

"You're supposed to be keeping a low profile.. but I suppose you are.. Nobody knows you're down here."said Karen..

"It gets pretty lonely once you guys leave to go home for the day.... I can't believe they all live in the same neighborhood and they all work here...wowwwwww that's too much togetherness. "laughed Cindy.

"They mostly live on the same block....My three guys live about 5 or 6 blocks away...but they all hang out together..They come here on Saturday for Brunch...and some Friday Nights, they all drink here after work...Me and my boyfriend stay with Olivia and Beverly some weekends and we all go to Bayside, to their mall and skate at their roller skating rink..We are all ,a tight knit group."said Karen..."Oh there is my boyfriend.." she said.

"Heyyyyyy I know who you are...Yvette's client...After this is over...I want you on my TV show, "HARD BOTTOM" said B.L.

"Oh My!" laughed Cindy..

"He's always trying to get guests for his show....Come on Goofball..I'll see you tomorrow Cindy."laughed Karen..

"Nice meeting you."said B.L.

"Have a good night."said Karen as they left.

Cindy paid her tab and walked back to her hotel...

IV-

At Curley's Bar....Lt. Tragg ordered a second bottle of Tequilla.. He and ADA Brenda Young had gone to dinner...They now were chasing their dinner with Tequilla.

He poured her three more  fingers of Tequilla.....That made nine for the night..

"Lieutenant you weren't lying about those steaks...They were incredible and that Baked Potato was so soft...the butter just melted right down it...Ouuuuuuu." she said..

"Thinking about the meal they'd had a little while ago...

"I told you....heh heh heh..." he laughed.

"Now about the case...Did you recanvas like I asked you?" she asked him..

"I did...I didn't find anything, fingerprints, DNA, nothing....The killer used gloves I suspect....It was easy to slip in and fire a few shots and then slip out...It was late...Mostly everyone was home...It was the end of the work day...She planned this well...probably escaped through one of the subway exits...We watched many hours of Street cam footage and building cam footage...We found nothing...No one..It was as if we were chasing a ghost."said Lt. Tragg..

"You keep saying she.....There is absolutely no physical proof, no forensic or DNA  or fingerprint proof linking her to the crime...I know...it was her husband, sleeping with her own sister and as abhorent as that is...She had put the man out a month before and was starting divorce proceedings...I just can't see her killing him...What would be the need? She stood to get a considerable amount of liquid cash and stocks in the divorce...She's an Attorney, she knew that." said Brenda Young.

"Trust me, it's always the wife in these situations....I've been a Homicide detective for years....I've seen this a thousand times....and the other woman being her own sister?? She must have went into a rage."explained Lt. Tragg..."This was pre-meditated murder." he emphasized...

A man named Matthew Fagin, a bond Attorney who works in City Hall was sitting a table away within an earshot of Lt. Tragg and ADA Brenda Young..He listened intently to their conversation...He was somewhat amused. "Neither one of them has a clue." he smirked.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm enough shop talk....I'm ready for some action." Brenda Young whispered...

She and Lt. Tragg kissed passionately.....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." she moaned.

She was as horny as hell, She unzippered his trousers at the bar and began fondling him...He had his hands up her dress, deep into her panties....both of them were moaning to the point that other patrons unaware of what they were doing were looking at them.

He was trying his best to control himself, but he couldn't.. he had to firmly remove her hands and fix his clothing..

"Let's take this back to my place?" he said,laughing slyly..

" This is so inappropriate...''Okayyyyyyyyyy...." she slurred.

And gave him a sloppy kiss..

"Those two are closer to getting in the bed together than they are to solving this case...What a bunch of boobs."  laughed Matthew Fagin..

"Looks like you're getting lucky tonight..eh Artie? "said Curly, smiling..

Lt. Tragg had a pleased as punch look on his face, which was as red as a beet. He smiled.. He didn't say anything..

They retreated to Lieutenant Tragg's house.. She followed him in her car to his house.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Lieutenant! " she moaned as they kissed passionately....

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he cried out.

"Ummmmm you're a nasty boyyyyyyyyyy!" she cooed..

"Yeahhhhhhhhhh...Yeah....Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhh" he hollered...nearly delirious.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GOT YOUR DIRTY LITTLE HANDS ,ALL DOWN MY PANTIES!" she moaned..

"Yeahhhhhhhhhh...Yeah....Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhh" he moaned....

He helped her out of her dress 

He slipped her panties down....

"BRENDA...OUUU YOU ARE A NAUGHTY GIRRRRRL!" he said.

He bent her over the sink....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.......OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GODDDDDDDDD!" she moaned. She was having an intense orgasm already! Her body trembling...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he moaned.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.. She was passionate enough when sober, but drunk she was even more horny and more passionate..

They were on his kitchen floor really going at it....

She was prone to do things she had never done before...They sat on the side of his living room couch and she moved up and down on him and kissed him passionately...

"ARTHUR...OUUUUUUUUUUUUU I REALLY SHOULDN'T BE DOING THIS! " she said.

"WHY SHOULDN'T YOU?   " he moaned..

"REALLY, I SHOULDN'T...." she muttered...but continued kissing him....

"OH HELL, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE AND I NEEDED THIS....I'VE BEEN GOING CRAZY FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS....OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she said.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WE SHOULD'VE MET SOONER!" he cried out!

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!" she said...but continued moving up and down on him...

They went in his bedroom and made sweet love for the next NINE TO TEN HOURS.

She admired his stamina. He admired hers...She was driving him to near delirium...He was doing the same to her....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.......OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GODDDDDDDDD LIEUTENANT!!" she moaned. She was having another intense orgasm! Her body trembling...She was riding him like a surfer rides the waves.......

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WEEEEEEEE!" he screamed out, cumming so hard, he felt as if he was going to die..

"Ummmmmmmmm that felt so good....Just what I needed...Ouuuuuuuuuuu, but really ,I shouldn't have...and with him!!! " she muttered to herself.

She got up, got dressed quickly  and left his home..  He was lying across the bed, nude, with his tongue hanging out...

 It was daybreak.....

THE NEXT MORNING!

Since Cindy Lawrence was in a Hotel so close to us...She was over our building practically everyday for Breakfast ,Lunch and Dinner... and naturally for a face to face meeting with us on the progress of her case.. This morning, she was to get some strange news..

"I don't know how to tell you this...but uh the trial is being delayed up to two weeks... ADA Brenda Young sent me a letter yesterday...but I didn't see it until this morning.. She apologized profusely...She's going to Las Vegas, to get married. So she'll be gone for at least two weeks.. The Preliminaries will begin the week after she returns...Which is when they would have begun anyway....She just wanted the defense to know she'd be away in case we wanted to contact her for a proffer or anything else.."said Ms. Yvette.

"WOW! She's getting married...This is highly unusual."said Cindy Lawrence.

"It blew us away too! but she explained that her wedding date was already set when this case came up...and there was no one who was willing to take it on for her.." said Yvette.

"You believe that?  I know Gil Carcetti...He'd of ordered someone to take it.. Let's see, she gets married in Vegas next week...then spends her honeymoon there and returns just in time for the preliminaries.." said Cindy...

"Woww that's cutting it close." said Bee Bee.

"I'll say....I would have hated to return from my honeymoon and jump into a big case." said Sofia.

"Unless like us, she's probably been working on it already...Which she probably has... She's pretty good I've heard."said Kahlil.

"It's a Lieutenant Tragg case, how much work does she have to do?" I asked.

The whole room burst into laughter....

"I'll tell you one thing...She 's managed to get him to do something none of the other ADA's have managed to do.. ReCanvass...He was at our crime scene.,..He was over the M.E.'s office the other day..

He's been talking to people who knew the couple and to friends and associates of your late sister, Patti...

Same as we have...in some cases and this is rare...He's been on the scene..before Jade and I have gotten there."said Gary...

''Wow she lit a fire up under him or she was lying beneath him.."smirked Ms. Yvette.

"Ouuuuuu Ms. Yvette, you are sooooo baddd...Gary, get your wife.." laughed Bee Bee.

"Didn't you say she is getting married?" asked Sofia.

"Well it's the week before her wedding...She can't see her groom to be... She had one last fling. Of course you guys didn't do anything like that to my girls did you?"laughed Ms. Yvette..

''Are you kidding? I was so backed up by my wedding night , I was about to explode." I said, remembering that painful week of being without Bee Bee and regular sex.

"Same here." said Kahlil..

"I know, cause I got good people...Girls, you got good husbands.." said Yvette proudly.

"Oh We know that!" said Bee Bee , smiling 

"We know that!"laughed Sofia..

"These four are so cute."laughed Cindy...

"Aren't they?"laughed Ms. Virginia, who had just walked into our conference room.

"At Any Rate...It gives me more time to Investigate." said Jade.

THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY  BRENDA YOUNG

Lt. Tragg walked down the hall with a smile on his face...whistling....He had had a really good time last night...ADA Brenda Young was a sexy woman...She really knew her stuff in the bedroom...He definitely wanted another taste of that , he thought.

When he got to the office...The lights were off and the door was locked...She definitely was taking off today....He had really worn her out, he thought to himself and laughed...

He had no idea he had been ghosted.

(TO BE CONTINUED)