He's Dead!

 

At our building The Next Morning after our civil court victory...

In The Front Office, Virginia and Jetty were enjoying a sweet kiss.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Ohhhhhhhh!" he moaned.

"Okay,Okayyyyy baby, you've got to go... I've got to work." said Virginia..

"Just one more kiss..Just one more.." said Jetty.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuu you're like a big baby..." she said....

"A Big Baby with a big......." he said.

"Okay...Okay...I get it....now go to work.." she said softly..smiling..

She kissed him one more time...

This time a little longer

"Okay....now go to work!" she whispered.

 and he waved and walked out of the suite.

Yvette smiled.

"You've still got that man wrapped around your finger girl...And you haven't been married that long..Wow!" she said.

"I think I'm turning him on a little too much sometimes. Oh yeah I should tell you this in case you don't know...There was a good reason, a real good reason why Jason Lockjoy wasn't in court yesterday....HE'S DEAD!! Somebody shot him six times at his loft around 5:30 in the morning...Hours before you guys came to court...He was dead when you got there...It's on the news...They discovered the body early this morning." said Ms. Virginia.

"OH MY GOD!!!! Well looks like there won't be a criminal trial...Call Melinda's attorney...Tell her there will be no need for her to come down here.."said Yvette.

''At least Melinda will get her money...His estate will pay it...I seriously doubt his attorney will appeal the ruling now."said Virginia.

Jade came in just then...

"Ms. Yvette, Did you hear?  Jason Lockjoy is dead...He was murdered yesterday morning." she said.

|"Yeah, Virginia just told me..We still need to go to our meeting this morning."said Ms. Yvette.

We all met in our conference room/law library for our end of case meeting.

"Well if you haven't heard, Jason Lockjoy was murdered yesterday...That's why he wasn't at the hearing." said Ms. Yvette starting off the meeting.

""We know...and guess what? Lt. Tragg has already made an arrest and guess who he arrested?? Melinda Jost. "said Sofia

"WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?" said Ms. Yvette, Incredulous...

"He got an anonymous call and he and his men found the murder weapon in a dumpster, a block from her condo,." said Beatrice.

"Lt. Tragg never does a thorough investigation, He almost always relies on neighborhood gossip and anonymous tips.." I said.

''As a former Homicide detective, I can tell you that sometimes neighborhood  gossip and tips can be helpful, but they can just as easily be nonsense...you still have to put the work in...fingerprints, forensic evidence, reliable witnesses, cold hard facts....You can't take the lazy way out like he seems to do all the time. said Jade.

''With No prints or DNA and the registration number filed off..He puts the gun through a ballistics test, it clears and since she lives so close and just happened to win a huge settlement...he arrests her for murder  on that alone. Unbelievabe." said Kahlil.

"It doesn't occur to this lunkhead that this anonymous tipster could be his killer.?" asked Jade.

"Why would she kill him?...She was hours away from winning a huge judgement....The man doesn't think." I said.

"When I met the man years ago... He was a Detective , who had just become a Seargent..I didn't understand that...He wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree even back then....but His Father was a Lieutenant and his Uncle Jack was a Captain... I figured it was Nepotism..They're both dead now... I keep wondering how he still has a job?" said Yvette in all seriousness.

"I just got a text...It was from Danny...He was trying to text you Ms. Jade...." I said.

"My Phone is on the charger in my office, What did he want?" asked Jade.

"He said Lt. Tragg arrested Melinda on First Degree murder charges and she's at Central Booking." I said.

"Oh for crying out loud!" said Bee Bee.

"Well we already knew that! What do we do now  Ms. Yvette?" asked Sofia.

''We don't do anything!..She has an Attorney...Let's wait and see if her attorney contacts us."said Ms. Yvette.

II-

THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY MICHELLE BATTLES-

ADA Michelle Battles was in her office doing her due dilligence...She was checking up on the Attorneys she would more than likely  be up against...She would prosecuting Melinda Jost on First degree Murder Charges...

She knew that Melinda's Attorney, Elizabeth Mint was not a Criminal Defense Attorney.

However these guys were-

 

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

" This feels like De ja Vu...I am once again up against them....Every Last one of them and their boss attended and graduated from PENN Law school..and from what I see here , they all have tried close to or over 200 cases...Ouuuuu they're good... I remember Beatrice and Sofia at Girls High..

They were Freshmen (9th Graders) when I was a Senior....I'm a little older than them....but I remember those two...Always together...If you saw one, you saw the other. The Pretty Black Girl and The Pretty Puerto Rican Girl.." she thought.

''Ummmmmmm and Keith, Beatrice's husband...LAWDDD! I remember him at Howard... He was a freshman , when I was a Senior..I might've stayed an extra year to get with him, younger or not." she thought....

And  this guy.,..Kahlil Ahmed..used to sell weed, good weed when I was in High school.. He went to Central...He was a Freshman when I was a Senior..  I had heard he did a year in Juvie..He obviously got himself together...Who would have guessed that this guy would wind up going to Temple and then Law School at PENN no doubt and is now married and an Attorney at an illustrious firm like McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt.... Imagine that!!." she said.

These four are good..

So is their boss...She showed me that last year when I tried a case against her.." thought Michelle..

"The rest of this case is a mess.. As usual, No Fingerprints, No DNA,No sensible motive

No tracking of his last hours..Not one witness that puts the suspect anywhere near him....I may have to drop the charges for lack of evidence.. At least last year he had a half assed motive....This woman was just hours from winning a 2.5 million dollar payday...Why kill him? If anything she'd wan to babysit this guy to make sure he was there to hear it..This is ridiculous...What kind of police work is this?" she thought. But then consider who the Lead Detective is

Lt. Tragg walked in her office with a plastic bag...

In it was a gun...He was smiling a snarky superior smile....

"This is the icing on the cake...It's the 22 caliber.. We pulled .22 caliber sluggs out of Mr. Lockjoy's body. I found this in the  dumpster  a block away from Ms. Jost's Condo..." he said, looking pleased with himself.

''Did this gun pass Ballistics?" she asked.

"It did...This is definitely the murder weapon....You know, my men did a thorough search last week within a 15 block radius of all of the dumpsters and trash cans and Condos, Lofts and Apartment dwellings in that area and they didn't find a thing. Then I got an anonymous call." said Lt. Tragg.

''And this gun was just magically there waiting for you to find it right?" she asked.. She couldn't believe how stupid and inept this man was...And he is a Lieutenant!!! Incredible she thought. "Did it ever occur to you that this anonymous tipster might be your killer? Any prints or DNA on the gun?" she asked.

"No, it was wiped clean...." said Lt. Tragg.

''Naturally  it was!  How about the serial number?" she asked.

"It was scraped off! Look we are on the same team here, aren't we?."said an angry Lt. Tragg. He didn't like being questioned.

''Yes I know and I'm asking all of the questions Yvette, Keith , Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil will be asking me in court. I've got to have answers to those questions or I look like a fool.."said Michelle.

"They aren't the attorneys on this case...She has another attorney...Her name is Elizabeth Mint..."he said, relieved that we weren't a part of this case.

"I have heard of her, She's not a Criminal Defense Attorney , She's a brilliant corporate litigator though.....Trust me...Melinda will be calling the same attorneys who represented her in the Civil Case."said ADA Michelle Battles.

Lt. Tragg stood there for a minute staring balefully at her, then he turned and walked out.. He could see He was not going to like working with this Assistant District Attorney once again,

Attorney Elizabeth Mint had already visited Melinda at the Fishbowl ...

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" said Lt. Tragg upon seeing Melinda's Attorney... He willingly gave them the room and

Brought them both Hot steaming Tumblers of Coffee from one of the trucks outside instead of the office coffee..

And nice warm Churros 

He shamelessly flirted with Elizabeth Mint as she was leaving, asking her out for drinks, dinner and "Quiet conversation."

She politely declined..

In court , Though she was not a defense attorney, 

Elizabeth Mint knew the law and was good enough to get Melinda released on her own recognizance..

"Ohhhh thank you so much Lizzy." said Melinda upon her release.

Melinda had to wear an ankle monitoring device.....but she didn't mind...She'd still be able to do her daily broadcast, which she hadn't missed since this thing began.

Elizabeth left her car in the court garage and took the train to our building...

Where she met with us...

"I got her arraigned and released....but I'm not a Criminal Defense Attorney...That is more up you guy's alley...So I brought her to you..." said Attorney Elizabeth Mint...

"Oh will this ordeal ever end?" asked Melinda Jost.....

"It will.....Elizabeth, thank you....You did the heavy lifting, now we can work on a defense..."said Yvette.

"All he has is a gun, the murder weapon, found two blocks from your condo in a dumpster."said Bee Bee.

"No fingerprints...no DNA....The shooter either wore Latex Gloves or he or she wiped the gun clean."said Bee Bee...

"Where were you yesterday after you left court?" I asked.

"I went out to dinner with a nice young man....I'll give you his name and address...but for now, please don't make him public if you don't have to....We went out to Dinner at Bottom of the C. Restaurant...There were several  witnesses...We were there until midnight...Then we drove around some and he let me off at my condo..He didn't come in...That was around 2:00 AM and I was there....I took a shower and I went to sleep...and I was there until I left in the morning at 8:00 AM to meet you guys at the courthouse....That's the truth..." said Melinda.

"I'm not trying to be an asshole here, but he let you off at 2:00 AM and you went inside...Not coming out until 8:00 AM... You were alone, Nobody saw you or knows if you went back out after that right?  Because the killing was at 5:30- 6:00 in the morning... I'm just trying to help you with your alibi." said Kahlil..

"I know....look this is Philly , Not New York....This city does sleep....No one was up when he dropped me off...It was 2:00 in the morning..I went inside and went to bed....You might want to know this...I don't even know where Jason Lockjoy lives....I never have.." said Melinda.

''If there was a concrete way to prove that, maybe we could use it....but he does live a considerable distance from you and I can check the mileage on your car perhaps...but I don't know how much that will help."said Jade.

''Why would I kill him?  I was hours away from winning a big settlement from him?" asked Melinda.

"You know, any sensible person, would say the same thing...but we are dealing with Lt. Tragg and once he gets an idea in his thick skull it is impossible to turn him away from this...Who is the ADA?" asked Yvette.

"Michelle Battles!" said Elizabeth Mint.

''We know her...Nice person."said Bee Bee.

''We tried a similar case against her last year."said Sofia.

''She dropped the charges for lack of evidence."said Kahlil.

''You think we could talk to her Ms. Yvette?" I asked.

''We can certainly try." said Ms. Yvette.

III-

At home Gary and Ms. Yvette stared at each other...

"Gary , this story should have been over quickly but I knew it wouldn't be.. I just knew it wouldn't..."said Yvette...

"I know....You got that slime arrested and charged criminally and then you guys won your civil trial...He's been murdered and that idiot Lt. Tragg has arrested the last person who would want him dead...I don't understand it...but I do understand something.." he whispered softly...

''And what is that?" whispered Yvette quietly..

"That I'm married to the most brilliant and sexy attorney alive  and I'm damn lucky for it.." said Gary...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW THANK YOUUUUUUUUU!"said Yvette, who rewarded him with a kiss.

They devoured each others lips...

"I know I say it a lot, but I love you soooo much Yvette Denise Jones-Lockwood.." said Gary...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU When you call me by my full government name I know it must be true..."laughed Yvette as they continued kissing....

He slipped her panties down and she kicked them off.....

They fell into the bed...and began making sweet love..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GARYYYY!" she moaned..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH VETTIE!" he moaned in return...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SWEET DADDY...OUUUUUUU!"she cooed..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, AWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWDDDD!" he moaned...

The Bed began to squeak and the headboard began to rattle as they made sweet love...

"GARY, I LOVE YOUUUU!  I TRULY DO!" said Yvette , getting emotional and tearing up...

"MS. YVETTE, I AM CRAZY ABOUT YOU AND I HAVE BEEN SINCE I FIRST LAID EYES ON YOU!" he moaned..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! " she said.....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GARYYYY!" she moaned..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH VETTIE!" he moaned in return...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SWEET DADDY...OUUUUUUU!"she cooed..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, AWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWDDDD!" he moaned...

EIGHT TO NINE HOURS slowly slipped by before they both climaxed.....

Yvette lie peacefully on top of Gary, just staring at him....He was looking up at her and smiling broadly...

She was still softly stroking his still rock hard penis...

He was moaning quietly....

"Want some more?" she whispered...

"WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT?" he said smiling 

She straddled him and began moving up and down on top of his still hard penis...He had a look on his face of pure joy!!

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YOU ARE THE BEST VETTIE!! THE ABSOLUTE BEST!" he cried out...

"I know " she said and smiled...

For the Next  TWO HOURS as they enjoyed each other...

The Next Morning...

Yvette walked into the office looking very happy..

"Good Morning All..." she said.

''Ouuuu somebody got some last night...I KNOW I DID!"laughed a giddy Virginia.

"Oh I KNOW YOU DID FRESHIE.....You come very close to getting some here at times.."laughed Yvette.

"I knowwwww...it's awful isn't it? How much our husbands love us."laughed Virginia...

"It is isn't it?"laughed Ms. Yvette.

Jade walked in....

"Good Morning Virginia, Yvette...I've got some news for you...I tracked Jason Lockjoy's Smartwatch and his phone, which he had on him... He was at Barrett Pinkston's house from 7:30 pm until 4:30 AM the night before he died." said Jade.

"I know Barrett Pinkston- He's a Private Investigator." said Yvette...

"Yeah , he was in Lockjoy's employ...probably spying on us...but here's where it gets cute. Pinkston was in Atlantic City on another case that night. 

This is his wife." said Jade.  "Paige Pinkston"

"I know her...She's an Attorney..."said Yvette...

"Rumor has it ,that whenever Barrett is out of town on business and Mrs. Pinkston can't sleep...Guess who has been known to keep her feet warm?  And He was with her all night..Leaving at 4:00 in the morning and returning home... An Hour later...He was shot to death!!! Co-incidence?/" asked Ms. Jade..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" said Ms. Virginia.

"WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! " said Ms. Yvette, her eyebrows arching!

Bee Bee and I were doing research of laws pertaining to cases like the one we were about to try, Predicates and laws and motions frequently used in such cases by prosecutors against the defense...

Sofia and Kahlil had just returned from court..

''We just looked at discovery....This case is weak...Not one witness, little to no forensic evidence..You might as well say none.. No Motive...Only a murder weapon found three blocks away in a dumpster and an anonymous call." said Sofia in disgust..

"I don't even know how this relegated an indictment and an arrest warrant...If Lt. Tragg wasn't such an asshole..I'd ask him."said Kahlil.

"If he wasn't such an asshole...there wouldn't be an arrest."said Bee Bee.

''Yeah how about that?"said  Sofia.

"Hell maybe we'll get lucky and this can be won in the preliminary." I said.

"Or Maybe it won't get that far." said Ms. Yvette.

IV-

COUPLES NIGHT AT CURLEY'S BAR-

Where each couple gets two drinks free for every two drinks they buy...

Curley himself was ecstatic...The place was packed and his favorite customers were out in force tonight...The Lawyers...They always spent a lot and tipped well...He loved it when we were here.

We had 16 small tables and they were all near each other, so that we could talk to each other and drink and eat...It was very cozy....

'Vettie it's been quite a few weeks for you...You got an acquittal in that big Murder trial and you won that Civil Suit....2.5 million....That was a nice payday for you as well huh?" said Olivia Bennett-Alexander, Yvette's best friend and neighbor.

"Yeah , but I hear you're going to be representing Melinda Jost now that Lt. Tragg has arrested her and charged her with murder."said Donnie Ray.

"I'm hoping I can present the Prosecution a proffer, to drop all charges...They haven't got a case..."said Yvette.

"That seems to be a thing with Lt. Tragg now of days....very little evidence in his cases." said Gary.

"But the thing is...His High profile clients make great headlines...and it puts him in the spotlight...That's all he seems to care about."said Beverly..

"Then he's in the wrong business...He needs a Television show, kind of like B.L.'s show "HARD BOTTOM!" said Nelson.

"The difference is.. B.L. covers stories...He doesn't make them up." said Bee Bee.

She was sitting in my lap, sipping her drink...I was holding her tight..

''Didn't he used to be a co-star on HARD BOTTOM, years ago?" asked Sofia.

"Nah he was uh what you call a frequent contributor." said Kahlil...

"Yeah ,I remember that...He goofed up a recent case...They almost got sued....And they cut ties with him.."said Josie.

"Yeah I remember that....I can't remember the case, but he never appeared on the show as a regular contributor again." said Paris.

"Which is why he hates B.L."said Bresha.

"That and B.L. has his dream girl..Karen Page...He's really got it bad for her."said Tony.

"YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT??" asked Jade ,laughing...

''Everybody knows about that."said her husband, Danny.

"I didn't know about that."said Alfreda..

"Yeah well I did...He's been crazy about her since day one and she hasn't given him the time of day."said Rockland.

''Shows she's got good sense and class." said Virginia.

Her husband, Judge Jetty Dukes cracked up laughing.

"You guys are rough."laughed Zoey...

"Aren't they though?" said Lem.

There was plenty of beers and drinks to go around and fried chicken and fried shrimps to boot..

"Ummm they came with a little extra tonight...Fried Chicken and shrimp..."said Dabnis.

"Yesssss....Ummmmmmmmmm this is good."said Jazzy...

"Tonight is good, so mellow."said Kayla..

"Yeah, it is..."agreed her husband, Ray..who put his arms around her waist and hugged her.

Jessica devoured the Shrimps, while sipping her drink...

She was sitting in her husband's lap,leaning her head against his chest....

"Ummmmmmmmm , you look content."said Natalie to her husband, David.

''Oh I am...a low caseload..Tomorrow is Friday...What's not to be content  about ?"said David.

Brooke and her husband, Sean were kissing passionately in the corner...

ADA Michelle Battles walked in...She was by herself... She walked over to the section where we all were..

"How is everybody?  Yvette, we need to talk...How Pathetic am I? I come in here alone on "Couples Night." but girl, I needed a cold one, it's been quite a day....I closed a big case today....I need to talk to you about the Melinda Jost case..." she said.

"I want to talk to you  about this case too! Me and my associates were coming to visit you tomorrow..."said Yvette.

"You know what? That's a good idea... I don't want to talk shop in here and I know you don't either..I want to get drunk or at least buzzed..."said Michelle Battles..

"I know that's right girl." said Yvette, as both women cracked up laughing...

No one had seen Lt. Tragg arrive, but he had and he had seen all of us sitting in one area and had seen ADA Michelle Battles sharing a laugh with Yvette.  He yanked her to the side..

"TAKE YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF OF ME...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? HAVE YOU TAKEN LEAVE OF YOUR SENSES??" asked an enraged Michelle Battles.

"I believe I told you this before..You are wayyy out of line counselor...You should not be fraternizing with the attorneys you are going to be going up against in court...This is unheard of... I happen to be friends with District Attorney Garcetti and he is going to hear about this and the blatant disrespect you have been showing me throughout this case., now let's go." he said and grabbed her by the arm..

She slapped him so hard the entire bar heard it and the entire bar got silent...

"DON'T YOU EVER AND I MEAN EVER PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME AGAIN...MY FATHER'S NAME IS MICHAEL BATTLES, ATTORNEY AT LAW THE LAST TIME I CHECKED AND HE'S A BIT DARKER THAN YOU....I WILL TALK TO AND OR FRATERNIZE WITH ANYBODY I FEEL LIKE FRATERNIZING WITH, YOU GOT THAT? NOW GO AWAY..YOU SHOULD BE OUT TRYING TO FIND MORE EVIDENCE..TRYING TO GIVE ME A REASON NOT TO DROP THESE CHARGES AND THIS WEAK CASE INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT WHO I'M TALKING TO OR FRATERNIZING WITH!!! NOW GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!" she bellowed.

''Artie let's go....Either buy something or get out...Come on now."said Curley ,diplomatically..

Lt. Tragg walked toward the bar...He turned around...

"ALL YOU HIGH FALUTIN LAWYERS BETTER NOT BE DRIVING AFTER ALL OF THE DRINKING I SEE YOU'RE DOING." he snarled..

"WHY? YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS DRIVING DRUNK AND TOTALED YOUR CAR!"shouted Dabnis..

The entire bar exploded with laughter....

Thin skinned Lt. Tragg , who hated being the butt of any joke, stomped his foot and angrilly stormed out....

It was met by claps and cheers....much to his chagrin.

At this very moment...

Attorney Thomas Dylan delivered an envelope to the Night Desk Receptionist...

It was addressed to

MRS. YVETTE JONES-LOCKWOOD -ATTORNEY AT LAW

(CONCLUSION NEXT)