A Key to It All

 THREE DAYS LATER-

I sat in Sam Mother's Diner... It had been three days since the double murder up in Little Norway of two men linked to Smiling Jack Sanders.. It looked like both men had shot and killed each other....but there had been a third man...and a woman....I knew that woman had been Penelope...and I had a feeling that she was dead and that she had been dead.....

It had been Three Days and I hadn't heard a peep out of her... I sat there drinking coffee and I thought of our first meeting. just a week ago..

A Beautiful young woman walked into my office....

"You are Mr. Kevin right?" she asked.

"That's right..are you here for Cable, Music or Television Streaming or is this about one of our Magazines or periodicals?" I asked.

''None of that...I know you are a Private Investigator...I found your email address, but I couldn't find the office for Morris Investigations listed anywhere...So I come here to speak to you...I'm Penelope Herring." she said.

"Okay....what can I do for you?" I said.

"You are friendly with law enforcement ,plus you know the streets... Do you know ''Smiling Jack Sanders?"she asked..

"I sure do...He is the present king of the Philadelphia Underworld..He's got the hot package on the street, he's got the fencing...in other words if a robbery goes down..The merch is done through his pawn shops...hes got loan sharking, gun running the works all under his thumb....He's the point man for Big Uncle in Detroit..what about him?" I asked.

"I was his Book keeper, His Accountant and his lover for five years....until he threw  me over for someone else... I had to leave my condo...He took my cars...Leaving me only with one and enough money to move someplace else.. but he make big mistake.." she said.

"YOU KNOW WHERE ALL OF THE BODIES ARE BURIED!" I said.

"Yes...I have names, adresses, phone numbers, off shore bank accounts all on record on a zip drive ehich I have hidden away in a safe deposit box... Enough information to take down his entire Philadelphia operation...I'm willing to trade that information if you can guaruntee my safety and a quick exit from Philly...I will give it to you and you can take him down."| she said.

"I have some friends who are very interested in Smiling Jack Sanders..I could take you to them..."I said.

"No!  I deal only with you....I will contact you in a few days and give you what you want..." she said.

"You got an address..a Phone Number?" I asked.

"I'll give you a phone number...It's a burner phone..untraceable...It's best I don't tell you where I'm staying, for both of our safety.... Call me tomorrow." she said.

She passed me her number.....

"I'll contact you tomorrow. Is there backstairs to here?" she asked. 

"Yeah, right outside the door." I said...

"Thank you." she said and silently slipped out of my office.

I shrugged my shoulders...

This Morning, I sat in Sam Mother's diner, All alone..drinking coffee in the early morning quiet.

She had never given me that all important key that I needed and I never got to give her the airline tickets I purchased for her...

 My phone rang.....

It was Hazel of all people.

"Kevin, this is me, Dr. Hazel Baylor....Come down to the Marina, I think we've found your friend." said Hazel.

"The thing I had dreaded for three days had come to pass....Penelope was indeed dead...but I had to go to the Marina to make sure...

 (A Red Herring-a clue or piece of information that is, or is intended to be, misleading or distracting.)

Penns Landing, an unusually warm day in Mid Winter.... 

The body of a young woman was being removed from the river....

I stood by somberly. I'm Kevin Morris...An entrepreneur by day.. I own and operate Morris Communications by day...By night, I'm a Private  Investigator...

Today, I was here because my client...My latest client, who vanished a few days ago...was found floating in the river.

"Is this her Kevin?" asked Dr. Hazel Baylor...

" Take a good look Kevin" said Dr. Marcy Templeton.

CSI people were snapping photos.....

"Her body is unusually cold...It's hard to tell how long she's been in the water....Cause of death appears to have been strangulation...manual strangulation..." said one of the men...

"What have we got here? Morris what are you doing here?" asked Lt. Tragg , who had been on the Marine Boat for close to Three Months...

"She was my client..... Sayyyy aren't you on the Marine Boat now? I haven't seen you in three months...I thought the mood around town was lighter, mellower...."I said mockingly...

"We've got this from here Lieutenant, Thank you and your crew for finding the body and bringing it in." said Hazel...

"What are you talking about???....I'm still the superior officer here..."bellowed Lt. Tragg.

"But you aren't Homicide...At least not right now.. I am.. I'm running Homicide and Robbery/Homicide for the time being.....This is my case... So thank you for finding the body and bringing it in..Lieutenant...That will be all." said Lt. Danny Ho..

"Well LAhhhhhhh DEEE DAH!" said Lt. Tragg mockingly...

Sgt Brice looked at me..

"You knew her Kevin?" he asked.

"Yes , she was my client, Penelope Herring." I said.. "She was up until three days ago...Then she vanished without a trace.., and here she is now.." I said.

"That will be all Lieutenant." said Danny Ho once again..

Lt. Tragg stared at all of us balefully and then hurried up to catch up with his companions on the Marine Boat..

He was livid!  This was a fresh homicide, the most exciting thing he and this unit had done in the three months he had been on this boat and he couldn't head up the investigation... He wasn't in Homicide for the rest of this month and even after his time off the boat was up...He had to go to therapy for 100 hours 

Sensitivity Training,  before he could return to Homicide..He was furious.

Once he pulled off in the boat....

Dr. Hazel Baylor sighed a sigh of relief...

"Thank Godddddddd he's gone...It's been such a relief working with real detectives these past three months and not having to hear his pontifications, his bragging and his overall nastiness...I wish he could stay on that damn boat forever." she said.

"Tell us how you really feel Hazel."laughed Marcy.

"Can we release the body Hazel?" asked Danny Ho.

"Yes...and I'll have the Autopsy Report emailed to you in a PDF  as soon as possible." said Hazel.

While they had been arguing with Lt. Tragg....I had kneeled down, looked at the body and snapped a safe deposit key off of the  bracelet on the wrist of the body...a key that could lead me to something important.

I watched as the body was put in a white body bag and strapped to a gurney and wheeled away

Not the ending she had planned for herself, but the ending she had to know was coming...

II-

It took my operatives very little time to find the safe deposit box that matched the key...

Wary of Another Bobby Trapped Safe deposit Box like the one that got Deuce and Snap, Me and two of my operatives wore Bomb squad suits..

But this safe deposit box was not booby trapped or wired...Lockpick Johnson came along and saw to that.

It was just a normal safe deposit box....

with the Zip Drive on it as promised.....

I took it back to my headquarters and we reviewed it...We had hit the jackpot... She kept excellent records... She had Names of people, Dates, Addresses ,Phone Numbers, Email addresses, bank accounts,off shore bank account numbers...Locations of warehouses that housed drugs and guns and weapons....and the names of people working there...The entire Philadelphia Operation and some places in Detroit..

Of course I made two copies and locked them in a safe...

I gleefully took the original to CID HEADQUARTERS....

Where Sissy and her crew rejoiced gleefully...

 "Oh My GODDDD!!! OH MY GODDD! Kevin, this is the best birthday present ever and it's not even my birthday." said Sissy.

"We had just begun looking into "Smiling Jack's operation...This will more than match what we have."said Carlotta.

"We can call our undercovers in."said Tyriq.

"Oh My God...This is six month's worth of work right here at our fingertips." said Jimmy..

''Sorry about your client.. I heard they found her in the river yesterday...She had been murdered." said Sirena.

"Yeah...She really wanted out of that gangster life....Now she is." I said.

"Yeah....but this is revenge for what they did to her."said Hop..

"She had a key on a bracelet that was still on her wrist.....I uh may have uh removed that from the crime scene...Anyway..it led me to the safebox with this Zip drive in it." I said.

"Hey you better be glad Lt. Tragg wasn't around."laughed Duke.

"Never admit to that again Kevin." said Angie, hugging me...

"That goes without saying."I laughed.

"I've got to call Carol...She's got to be let in on this.." said Sharon...

"I'm going to be up all night getting warrants ready and talking to Judges.." said ADA Keith Wallace.

Smiling Jack didn't know she had come to see me or what she'd given me...He just suspected she had done some talking to the cops...She and the late Marcus Cure..He had had both of them murdered and he figured his troubles were over....Deuce Jenkins had had more information on her movements.

I went home....It had been a good day...

"You look like you had a good day today?" said Sepia , smiling...

''Oh I did...We located that safe deposit box and it had the Zip Drive, with all of the information Penelope said it would have and more...I made copies and locked em in my safe and then I gave the originals to Sissy and her detectives..They can do the most with that information...ADA Keith Wallace is drawing up warrants tonight...This is the end of Smiling Jack....."I said..

''Deuce, Smiling Jack....It'll be somebody else tomorrow..."sighed Sepia..

I took her in my arms and held her...

"Yes...but today it's them...Today, the streets are going to be free of those parasites...and I'm glad I could help." I said.. "Say where is my little crumb snatcher?"  I asked, smiling..

"Kevin!!! Don't call my baby that!!" she laughed.. "She's with Robert and Bonita tonight..." she giggled.

"This calls for a celebration." I  said.

"Ummmmmmmmmmm" she cooed as we walked up the stairs to our bedroom..

We began kissing in the doorway..

The kissing got hotter , steamier...

It wasn't long before I was unhooking her bra  and slipping her panties down..

''Oh My god....I didn't know you owned these.." I said.

"You're slipping Kevin, you used to know every pair of panties I owned and every bra..." she whispered and giggled.

I placed her on the dresser drawer and spread her legs and entered her.....

"OH....OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM." she moaned...as her legs began to shake..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW GIRRRRRRRL!" I cried out...

I had her legs spread a little while longer and entered her doggie style..

"AWWWWWWWW OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU NASTY DOGGGG!! OUUUU!" she screamed out, her head turning from side to side, tears streaming down her face and her body trembling like crazy....

In a little while, we were on the bedroom floor really going at it...

"AWWWWWWWW OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOU NASTY DOGGGG!! OUUUU!" she screamed out,

we finally made it to the bed, kissing each other slowly and softly as she moved up and down on me...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SEPIA, I AM LOSING MY DAMN MIND!" I said.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...OUUUUUUU HUSBAND!" she cried out...

She rode me slowly and softly on top of the bed....

and things got crazier........

I finally flipped her over and entered her missionary style...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS I CAN TAKE!!" she cried out..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GIRLLL!" I moaned...

"OHHHHHH HUSBAND, OH MY GODDDDD!" she cried out...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" I moaned.

We made crazy love for the next ELEVEN TO TWELVE HOURS......neither of us was going to work the next day..

Sepia cuddled up under me and dozed off on my chest....I wrapped my arms around her waist...

III-

There was a Funeral for Penelope Herring...

Sepia and I were there.. and to my surprise...so were the girls and their husbands, who had gone to Girls High with her.

Jasmine Coley, Olivia's niece, Beverly West-East, Olivia's cousin, Kayla Bennett-St. Jacques and Natalie Charles and Renee Cantrell- Jones....had gone to the Philadelphia High School for Girls with Penelope and knew her...They were here with their husbands to pay their respects...They looked shell shocked...that someone their age, someone they went to high school and college with was dead...

"I hadn't talked to Penelope too much after Temple... I believe I saw her one time in passing...at the mall." said Jazzy.

Her Husband, Dabnis hugged her...

"Me and Josie and Bresha ran into her last year in Aqua Bar and Stoleys...and once in Bridget's store."said Beverly.

as her husband, Nelson quietly stood by.

"I saw her  in Bridget's store too...We talked for a little bit." said Kayla..

Ray stood by quietly too...

"You won't believe this...but she was at my wedding...She saw all of you there too...She came up and spoke to me briefly and then she and her boyfriend left.."said Natalie.

''WOWWWWWW!"said her husband, David.

"Last time I saw her was Christmas...We were both doing last minute Christmas shopping, the last time we took a Saturday trip to the Bayside Mall." said Renee.

"I remember you introducing us..." said her husband, Tyrell.

It was indeed a small world.

It was a nice funeral as funerals go...

Also there was the man responsible for her death..., Smiling Jack....he arrived with a bouquet of multi-colored roses.

He didn't kill her personally...He'd never get his hands so dirty...but he ordered her killed.. and he was going to pay dearly for that...Sooner than he knew.

IV-

The Beginning of the end for Smiling Jack began that same morning of the funeral... The Coast Guard, along with the Philadelphia Marine Police...Led by Lt. Tragg

and co-ordinating with DEA Regional Special Agent in Charge, Carol Redding shut down his Mexican Drug Connection, arresting nearly 250 people and seizing enough drugs, Heroin, Cocaine, Opiates to juice the entire city....This essentially put him out of the Drug Business...

That same morning, The FBI and the ATF, led by Special Agent in Charge, Sharon Hopkins raided his warehouses and seized weapons, more drugs and made 28 more arrests....It was a major cou.....

The next morning, Sissy and her detectives arrested 49 of Smiling Jack Sanders associates......

 

The Raids were quick and well planned....

Frightened of a major indictment...Smiling Sam ordered the murders of three top associates he didn't feel could handle the pressure before they were arrested...

His entire Philadelphia Operation was gone....just like that....He knew that the only person with THAT much information had to be Penelope.....and even in death, she had passed off the information to Law Enforecement...Not just the locals, but the Feds...

When we arrived at his condo....It was empty...He had emptied his safe and left...

 ''He's Gone! And his safe is empty...." said Sissy.

''He saw the writing on the wall and went underground." said Carlotta.

"Doesn't matter...His entire organization is gone...We took it all from him...The drugs, the weapons, the pawn shops, the loan sharking...all of it..."said Tyriq...

"Even his legitimate businesses were forced to close down."said Jimmy..

"These people will get to naming names and cutting deals, which some of them are already doing and he's basically toast." said Sirena.

''Yeah, but he's still out there...Loose." said Hop..

"That's okay...it's a big city...a lot of room to run and nowhere to go." said Duke.

''We can only hope.." said Angie.

"I think I know where he'd go...Call Danny, tell hm to meet me at the airport...and to bring some troops." I said. "Come on Walter, let's go." I said.

"Right behind you boss man." said Kool Kat..

At the Airport....

Smiling Jack sat at the bar drinking a Mojito...

I sat down next to him...

"Always good to have a good stiff one before getting on a plane.. OR GOING TO JAIL!!" I said.

"Hey Man, I don't know you and you obviously don't know me, so if you know what's good for you, you'll get up and leave me alone.." said Jack.

Kool Kat sat on the other side of him...

"Yesterday , you were somebody....You were the man...Today, you're nobody..." he said rather menacingly....

"I don't know who you guys are with, but I'm leaving town, you'll have no trouble out of me." said Jack, who was beginning to look a little worried.

"You killed my friend Penelope Herring....We laid her to rest day before yesterday....but she's very much alive...Her ghost was walking with the Feds and with the Police as they made each arrest...."I said.

"You guys are cops!" he said.

"I AM! I'm Lt. Danny Ho, Robbery-Homicide....and Jack Sanders, it gives me great pleasure to place you under arrest for Conspiracy to commit 7 murders, and several RICO charges...You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law...You have the right to an attorney, If you can't afford one, one will be provided to you...Do you understand these rights as I'm reading them to you? Of course you do....Alright Boyz, hook him up..."said Danny.

He was arrested and handcuffed and taken into custody.... He and all of his associates were eventually convicted of an assortment of crimes and given long ,long prison sentences..

For Tonight anyway....Philadelphia was quiet, safe from two Kingpins...The Late Deuce Jenkins and incarcerated Smiling Jack Sanders... It was a good night.

EPILOUGE-

THE NEXT MORNING-

Sepia and I sat in Sam Mother's Diner enjoying our breakfast...

"It's been so nice and quiet and peaceful lately, I could get used to this ." said Sepia.

"Well don't...You know who should be coming back off the boat next week...but I agree, it's been a great three months with him not around." I said as we enjoyed Steak and Eggs and Hash Browns..

and hot cups of coffee...

"As peaceful as it's been for everybody....he's probably been miserable..." said Sepia.

"Yeah how about that?" I laughed...

I looked at the doorway....and there she was....Penelope....waving.....and smiling....

"You alright Husband? You look like you've seen a ghost.." said Sepia.

I looked back at the doorway....There was no one there....I smiled.. I thought of Penelope...I wished her safe travels in the world beyond!