Monday, April 15, 2024

The Most Likely Suspect


 COURTROOM A-
Judge Dominic Ioconna was presiding...None of us knew him...

..."Good Morning Jurors and Attorneys....I am Judge DOMINIC IOCONNA..Many of you don't know me.....Welcome to my courtroom....Due to courtroom crowding of cases , we are going to bypass a preliminary hearing...We know that a crime, a henious crime has been committed so we are going to go straight to trial.. We will have Jury selection today...I'll be out tomorrow..So Wednesday  we will begin with trial." said Judge Ioconna.. "We will start today with introductions.." he said.


"Representing the commonwealth, Special Prosecutor Maureen Thomas your honor." said Maureen.


"Assisting the Special Prosecutor is Assistant District Attorney Maxwell Coates your honor." said Max Coates.


"Lead Attorney for the Defense,Mrs. Natalie Charles your honor."
"Co-Lead Attorney for the Defense, Mrs. Brooke Marks your honor."said Brooke..
"Attorney David Charles for the Defense your honor..." I said.
"Attorney Sean Marks for the defense your honor." said Sean.
Our client, Billy Billingslay sat next to us.... He looked over and glared angrilly at Lt. Tragg, the man he felt had ruined his life up to now.


Lt. Tragg sat next to Maureen.... His hands rubbed her legs and slithered up her skirt..rubbing her legs and palming her butt..... "Va Va Va VOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he moaned quietly.....


Maureen was having none of it...She removed his hands forcibly three times and looked at him..

"CUT IT OUT!! WE ARE IN COURT!" she said sternly as if speaking to a child .... Not drunk and not amused, She was dead serious when it came to practicing the law....

Lt. Tragg ignored her and slid his hand up under her skirt again... He was as red as a beet and had a pleased as punch look on his face.

She removed his hands a final time and got up and sat next to Max Coates...
Max Coates had no idea what was going on...but he simply stared at Lt. Tragg.


Lt. Tragg was irritated that she had gotten up and moved...He was irritated by the fact that Max Coates was even there in the first place.


"Good! Now that we are done with introductions, we'll have Voir dire....Potential Jurors are here." said Judge Ioconna.


Maureen Thomas was a good attorney....damn good.. She had some questions she had written for the jurors...good questions..

But my Natalie, My sexy, vivacious Natalie was more than she could handle.. Maureen Thomas had no idea that Natalie already knew all there was to know about the jurors and which ones she'd find acceptable and which ones she wouldn't...She and Brooke and I



 had carefully worded questions ready for each person he talked to...

And after a short while..Natalie  had an even dozen...All 12 of the jurors we wanted... and a surprise.considering we were up against a formidable attorney , who had up to now had only lost two cases.


"Alright...Excellent ,We have a jury and we've completed our Introductions... It is Monday People.. Day after tomorrow trial will begin here at 10:00 AM Sharp..Be on time and be ready for trial..Court is dismissed." said Judge Ioconna/

''Ever wonder why every Judge seemingly needs to take a day off in between the Introductions and Jury selection now with this rushed system?" asked Sean.
"That question has crossed my mind...but that does give us one extra day to work..."said Brooke.
"And an extra day to rest too!" said Natalie...
"Hang Tight Billy....This is close to being over...."I said to Billy as he was handcuffed and chained and led out by Baillifs...
"I hope so....I believe in you guys." he said.


Lt. Tragg walked over to us...

"You don't really think you're going to win this case do you? You've got nothing...and the only advantage he has over Drollinger is that you guys don't drink...but that's it...You got nothing!" said Lt. Tragg.
"Instead of bothering them you should be trying to get us more evidence..  Like on this mysterious Rudy person....Their investigator may have a line on him....What have you got?" asked Max Coates.....


"I run everything through Reenie...NOT YOU!!! " said Lt. Tragg.

"WRONG!!! YOU'LL BE RUNNING EVERYTHING THROUGH ME!! NOT MS. THOMAS AND THAT COMES FROM HER...IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT...YOU CAN ALWAYS LEAVE THE  TEAM...WE NO LONGER NEED YOU HERE!" said Max Coates...


Lt. Tragg wanted to punch his lights out right on the spot...but he thought better of it and just walked away without saying anything....We were glad he was off our case.



II-


It was a Monday Night and We didn't usually do this but Olivia and Beverly's wealthy client and friend, Rollie Rollerson 

had a piece of a new rooftop restaurant and bar...called "CLUB 5" and reserved 32 seats for her and her friends.. 

"I'm so happy you all could come tonight...I know it's a Monday Night and none of us usually goes out."said a very happy Olivia.

"For Free Food and drinks?  Of course we do."laughed Dabnis..

\
"What I love about you Olivia...You always share the wealth...This could have just been a night out for you and your staff...That you thought of all of us...is beautiful..."said Jazzy...

 
"That's my wife, always sharing the wealth." laughed Donnie Ray..


"Here comes our food..."said Beverly..As hot steaming platters of Asian Fusion dishes were placed in front of everyone..
"Ummmmmm smell this..." said Nelson...

"I know , right?" said Josie.
"This food is so hot, so good." said Paris...

"Isn't it though?" said Bresha.
"Yessssss!" said Tony....

"Ummmmmmmm I could learn to love this..." said Alfreda.

"Me too!"said Rockland.

"We are going to sleep good tonight baby."said Jazzy.
 
"I know...." said her husband, Dabnis..
"Rollie comes up with the best recreation...He and Stephan Bristol are my cousin's best clients..."said Kayla.
"Yeah they don't just take..they give."said Ray...



"This is soooo good." said Jessica.

"I'm so glad we live on the block with Olivia and Beverly.." laughed Chip as he enjoyed his food...


"You guys did good in court today , I heard." said Karen, whose husband was busy working at the TV studio and was not with us tonight.


'We got all of the jurors we wanted..I didn't expect a complete win like that."said Natalie.


"You're good.."I said, smiling and hugging her.

''Yes you are, face it." said Brooke 

''Yes...I was quite impressed...I'm betting Maureen Thomas ,Max Coates and Lt. Tragg were impressed.."said Sean.

"You think he's cruising through our neighborhoods, looking for us?" asked Zoey.
"Except for Oliva and Beverly, he's never come to any of our homes before.and he'd better not."said Lem.


"He's probably somewhere stewing...."said Renee.

"Nothing new..." said her husband, Tyrell. 

 ''We are here eating this good food and drinking these fantastic drinks..Who cares what he's doing?" said Yvette.

"That';s right." said Gary...
"I'm with you Yvette." said Natalie, High fiving her..
"Me too!"said Brooke, High Fiving her..



As more food was displayed....

"Oh My God ,This is sooo good." said Keith Jones..
"I know we'll sleep good because we'll be full and happy..." said Bee Bee..
"Yes indeed." said Sofia.
"You enjoying yourself Jade?" asked Kahlil..
"Oh Yes...This is like being home." she said, joyfully filling her plate..


Her husband, Danny, An American Born man was equally enjoying the food and glad that his friends were also enjoying it...

"Ummm this is sooooo good." moaned Virginia.


"I love when you moan like that.."said her husband, Jetty..





It was a great night of Food ,Drinks and Fellowship...a nice way to end a day in court and celebrate having a day off.

We had a wonderful night....


By 9:30, we all were safely at home.....

''What a great night and we have a day of rest at work tomorrow, with no trial." said Natalie.
''Yeah we do....what a nice way to cap off a great day in court.." I said.
We stood in the middle of the floor of our bedroom and kissed..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm this is always a great ending of a night for you.." she smiled as she gave me the kiss of life... "For me too! Ummmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm ,ouuu I'm feeling that HORSE!" she cooed..

"AWWWWWWWWWW NATALIE..." I moaned..

''UMMMMMMMMMMMM DAVID!!!OUUUUUUUUUUUUU" she moaned as we kissed and I ran my hands up her skirt and down into her panties...


We lay on the bed kissing for a few more minutes..

"David?" she cooed quietly...

"Yes Natalie?" I answered..

"Finish taking the rest of my clothes off!" she said..

"With pleasure." I said,laughing raffishly...


''UMMMMMMMMMMMM DAVID!!!OUUUUUUUUUUUUU" she moaned..

"AWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWD NATALIE!" I cried out...

unsnapping her bra and slipping off her panties...



I placed her on the dresser, spread her legs....She was shaking and sweating with anticipation...

"JUST PUT IT INSIDE ME DAVID...ALL OF IT!" she said.

I slowly entered her soft , wet center and she gasped....Her legs shaking, her arms flailing...and her whole body trembling....as was mine..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU NATALIE!" I moaned..

"OH MY GOD!! DAVID!" she cried out...

I lifted her and walked her to the bed....
and slowly and softly entered her again....

"JUST PUT IT INSIDE ME DAVID...ALL OF IT!" she said.

I slowly entered her soft , wet center and she gasped....Her legs shaking, her arms flailing...and her whole body trembling....as was mine..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU NATALIE!" I moaned..

"OH MY GOD!! DAVID!" she cried out...



"OUUUU NATALIE....I AM LOSING MY MIND AND IT IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOUUUU!" I cried out..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.


 She gasped....Her legs shaking, her arms flailing...and her whole body trembling....as was mine..



We made slow passionate love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!



Natalie rested on top of me..

"Ummmmmmmmmm thank you Natalie....for feeling so damn good.." I said as I drifted off..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu you're welcome...." she said.


While next door....
''What a great night and we have a day of rest at work tomorrow, with no trial. At least I have a restful day." said Brooke.
"I'm going to stop by my office and check , to see if I have any pending case work.. I passed some of my caseload, which wasn't much to uh some of the other Federal Public Defenders..with less seniority.
"That must be nice..."said Brooke softly....

"Know what would be even nicer?" asked Sean smiling raffishly..
"I can't imagine.." said Brooke softly...

They began kissing passionately...
"Ummmmmmmmmmm...ouuuuuuuuuuuu husband...my sweet sweet husband..."moaned Brooke.
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW VANILLA!" he moaned as they kissed on the bed...


"Take my clothes off"she cooed.

"I thought you'd never ask." he said.


He slipped her bra and panties off with ease....

"JUST PUT IT INSIDE ME CHOCOLATE DADDY...ALL OF IT!" she said.

Sean slowly entered her soft , wet center and she gasped....Her legs shaking, her arms flailing...and her whole body trembling....as was his..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU VANILLA!" he moaned..

"OH MY GOD!! SEAN" she cried out...


Sean and Brooke made passionate love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!!



"UMMMMMMMMM THANK YOU VANILLA....OUUUUUUUU!" said Sean as he drifted off..

"UMMMMMMMMM ANYTIME DADDY!" said Brooke,lying on top of him, trying to catch her breath..

Unknown to either couple...We had a late night visitor....
We had no idea that outside our house an unhinged Lt. Tragg was listening to the sounds of lovemaking coming from our two homes...Particularly Brooke and Sean, which he found very upsetting...

"JUST PUT IT INSIDE ME CHOCOLATE DADDY...ALL OF IT!" she said.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU VANILLA!" he moaned..

"OH MY GOD!! SEAN" she cried out...

He cringed , hearing their voices.....That should be him, inside of Brooke, he reasoned...


He finished off his bottle of whiskey and left the empty in front of our house..


He got in his car and angrilly pulled off.....perhaps headed to listen at Maureen Thomas's window!!!





III-


COURTROOM A- TWO DAYS LATER-

The Trial began in Judge Dominic Ioconna's courtroom.....


Special prosecutor, Maureen "Reenie " Thomas was good.. She was good at weaving a very believable story and motive, even if the whole thing was very speculative...

ADA Max Coates was better...He bored the jury for two days straight with large glossy photos of 
Daisy's empty car with only her drivers license , her iphone and her car keys on the front seat as well as photos of her empty apartment, which was just the way she had left it...With dishes in the sink and panties and bras strown on her unmade bed and on the floor...

All of this was a bunch of nothing..

The two of them paraded five so called witnesses ,who lived in her apartment complex and saw the comings and goings of her male friends...

One describing it as a "revolving door"

Not one of them recalled ever seeing our client, William Billingslay in the building at all, And of the 28 guys identified as her paramours ..They only identified 17.....


Brooke eviscerated three of the witnesses....Getting them to admit that on the night Daisy vanished...They didn't see anything or anyone at all..
On cross, One witness admitted that he didn't personally know Daisy and that the two had only spoken to each other in the hallway...He had never been in her apartment  and had never seem William Billingslay.
On cross, Natalie totally destroyed the credibility of one witness, finding out that he had a number of DUI's and was one DUI away from losing his license and that he had made a deal to testify for the prosecution with an un named officer....An officer that just happened to work under Lt. Arthur Tragg.
ADA Coates glared angrilly at Lt. Tragg..
He was Beet Red, angry with Natalie for her cross examination and furious at Coates for brow beating him..



Sean made a motion for dismissal of all charges on the grounds that was no evidence, forensic or otherwise that put our client at the scene of the crime...



The Judge was seriously considering it...but he said he wanted to hear what compelling new evidence we had.



MISSING PERSONS- The DESK of SGT SAM JONES-

"Hi ya Milt...What brings you to these parts?" asked Sam Jones....
"There was a girl, another girl who vanished without a trace a few months before Daisy Parker right?
A Stephanie Strand, correct??" said Private Investigator, Milt Lewis...

"Yeah, she was a barmaid at Stoleys's...left work and never returned....No action on her credit or debit cards or bank account , mail piled up at her door...Finally her landlord had her apartment cleared out and rented to another person that's still an active case. Case went cold and then Daisy Parker took over the news.....I guess a Blonde trumps a Brunette huh?" said Sam Jones..

"I found a common denominator.... Rudy Getz......"said Milt Lewis.

"Rudy Getz....Yeah that name kept coming up....Daisy Carter filed two harassment complaints against him.. Two squad cars visited him....He wasn't home one time and the second time he convinced us it was a simple lovers quarell...By the time I looked at him again for Daisy Carter's disapearence...He was upstate in a mental institution." said Sam Jones..

"Yeah well the manager at Stoleys told me Rudy Getz used to bother Stephanie Strand...She went out with him a few times...Wasn't impressed at all..One afternoon they were both at Stoleys...They quarreled something fierce and she clocked out...She never came back to work, not even to get her last check...but he came back...He fixated on Daisy Carter...Same thing a few dates and she broke it off with him...and just like Stephanie Strand...Daisy walked out of her apartment a year ago and into the darkness..."said Milt Lewis.

"So you like Getz for both huh?? I see what you're getting at you old hound dog....but where is he? He's dropped out of sight." said Sam Jones...He renenbered when Milt Lewis was a Homicide Detective...He was a  dogged pursuer...who always got his man...He retired around the time Sam was putting on his Gold (Detective's) shield.


"I got an address for him..A Work address and an apartment address...Both are in Bayside..." said Milt...

"First things first....I got his last known Philadelphia address.....Let's check that out first.." said Sam Jones..

And in court.....We began our defense.........

Natalie and Brooke hammered home that there wasn't a bit of evidence, Eyewitness, Forensic or otherwise tying our client to the disapearence of Daisy Carter....There was no proof that she was even dead...


I showed the jury the last calls she made on the night she vanished... It was to our client..William Billingslay...They were supposed to hook up...I showed the texts he sent.....begging her to hurry up....
"Doesn't sound like a killer does it?" I said slyly.....

Sean showed them photographs taken of William's apartment that night...The running bath, the new sheets....

"This was a man waiting for a woman to come over, for sex....Not to kill her...There is no motive here.." he said.

The Jury agreed.




Brooke and Natalie brought up the several blocked number calls....made late at night and early in the morning and introduced the name Rudolph Getz.....They showed his mug shot and the written complaints about him harrassing women....They showed the jury the complaints Stephanie Strand filed against him...

"Stephanie Strand is missing too!" said Natalie...


"OBJECTION!!!! RELEVANCE!!" screamed ADA Max Coates...He knew that he and Reenie were losing the case...These lawyers were sober and far more aggressive than Wally Drollinger had been.


Reenie Thomas sadly looked at the floor.....They had tried their best....but this case was going nowhere.




"Sustained....but this case lacks sufficient evidence of this man's guilt.....In fact it lacks ANY EVIDENCE AT ALL of this man's guilt.....and for that reason....I am throwing out this conviction and suspending all charges.....Mr. Billingslay you are free to go." said Judge Ioncanna.
"WHAT? YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" screamed an irate Lt. Tragg..
"I'm afraid he can and from what I saw...It's a wonder he didn't throw it out the first time."said ADA Max Coates...who grabbed his briefcase and exited the courtroom..


"How bout me and you going someplace quiet and having a few cold ones?" he asked Maureen Thomas.


"How bout some other time? I'm tired." she said and grabbed her briefcase and also exited the courtroom...

"I'm FREEEE!!!!!! OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!" William Billingslay said.
He grabbed Brooke and kissed her in the lips...
"HEYYYYYYYYYYY!" she said....stunned..
He grabbed Natalie...
and before she could stop him.... He kissed her in the lips..
"HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" she said..

"No disrespect guys....I'm just so happy to be free..." said an exuberant William Billingslay...
''Yeah well don't get too happy that you get disrespectful." said Sean, who's facial expression let him know he didn't appreciate his gesture..
"Yeah, just watch it son." I said.

I suspected he had wanted to kiss Brooke and Natalie since day one , when he met them in the prison
visiting room. 




IV-

In East Oak Lane...A Day later!

Detective Sgt. Sam Jones and Private Investigator Milt Lewis got a search warrant and went into Rudy Getz's last known address...


An empty room that smelled so bad....The landlord was not able to rent it...

"This was Rudy Getz's last known Philadelphia residence..." said Private Investigator Milt Lewis..
"This place smells horrible." I said.
"I know that smell...from when I was an Assistant District Attorney and visited crime scenes with the detectives." said Natalie.
"I do too...The Detectives called it the smell of death and that's why they wore Gardenia's or some small flower on their lapels, to ward of the stench of sudden death." said Brooke.
"You're both right...this is a smell of death..."said Sean..
"It seems to be emanating from that middle room..."said Karen...
"The wallpaper is lumpy..." said Elaine Young, who had come with us....
"Right over there and right over there...Alright boys, knock it down.." said Detective Sgt. Sam Jones.
The policermen took crowbars to the walls....



Lt. Tragg barged in just then....

"What are you doing here Sam? Please tell me you have a search warrant." he snarled.



"Of course .I'm following a lead on a Missing Person's case....Stephanie Strand...." said Sam Jones..



"Oh because I thought it was Daisy Carter and I ordered you off of that case...It was my case..." said Lt. Tragg.



''And as usual, you loused it up...Arrested the wrong man a year ago....and the trail went cold...."said Natalie..


"YOU KNOW...I DON'T LIKE YOU AND EVERYTIME YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH, YOU GIVE ME ANOTHER REASON NOT TO LIKE YOU EVEN MORE!" he snarled.


"The feeling is mutual." said Natalie..


"Sarge ,Over here! We got a body!" said one of the policemen...They were pulling a body out of the wall..


Inside the wall they found not one, but two mummified remains of females....

"They've both been dead for over a year.....and it looks like the cause of death was manual strangulation."said Dr. Hazel Baylor...

"We are going to have to take them to the morgue for proper identification..."said Dr. Marcy Templeton...
"This room is bone clean." said a CSI man. as another man snapped photos..



"This looks like a double homicide....That makes this MY INVESTIGATION!" snarled Lt. Tragg.


"Oh No, let another detective handle this...You'll just screw it up." said Natalie.





Brooke, Karen,Elaine, Myself and Sean burst into loud raucous laughter.....


but before Lt. Tragg could retort...
Private Investigator Milt Lewis remarked...

"Relax Artie...We have a suspect.....I made a call to Bayside...They got our guy, Rudy Getz.....You may have heard the name, during the Daisy Carter investigation...You never followed up....Sgt. Jones and I did.  He's in custody as we speak.." said Milt Lewis.


Rudy Getz was arrested by Homicide Detective Barbara Hutton

and a tactical squad in Bayside without incident...


Rudy Getz was arrested on Suspicion of Murder charges and later upgraded to Two counts of first degree murder in Philadelphia.


It took two days for both bodies to be positively identified as Stephanie Strand and Daisy Carter....The Mystery  of both women's disappearances was finally solved..


Detective Sgt. Sam Jones 
and Private Investigator, Milt Lewis, a former Homicide Detective  were given credit for cracking the case...


B.L. had them on his TV show-"HARD BOTTOM" the next week, along with the attorneys who Represented  William Billingslay, who languished in prison for a year falsely accused of the murder of Daisy Carter...

He appeared along with myself, Natalie ,Brooke  and Sean, the attorneys who successfully defended him...






And in Curleys....



Lt. Tragg sat fumming....Not only was it apparent to everybody that he had arrested the wrong suspect when the most likely suspect had been staring him in the face, but Sam Jones of all people and that old rummy, Milt Lewis were getting credit for cracking the case....and those pesky lawyers had once again out did him...

He was livid..


He downed beer after beer until he was sloppy drunk that night.





EPILOUGE-



Rudy Getz confessed to the murders of Both Stephanie Strand and Daisy Carter to save himself from the Death Penalty..He got two life sentences, no parole.


THURSDAY NIGHT- COUPLES NIGHT IN CURLEY'S BAR-

As usual, we were in our usual area tonight... enjoying cold adult beverages..

''A Celebration...and congratulations to our building mates and neighbors for not only getting their client off, but to solving a year old mystery..." said Jazzy...
 
"I heard the guy confessed to both murders." said her husband, Dabnis.


"That will probably save him from getting a needle." said Kayla.
"Oh yes....it will...He saved the state the cost of a trial..." said her husband, Ray...



"The important thing is...An Innocent man is out of jail."said Jessica.

"Yeah and a truly guilty one is behind bars." said her husband, Chip.


"I'm so proud of you guys....It gives this office more shine and when I go to ask for more funding..It'll be hard for them to refuse me..."said a very Happy Karen Page.

"You guys were great last week on my TV show...My ratings went through the ceiling said her husband, Attorney/Podcaster and TV show host...B.L. Benz.



"I'm Happy it's over and equally happy the guilty party was caught by a real detective..."said Natalie.

"Here Here...I second that."I said smiling...

"Sam Jones and Milt Lewis. They were the real heroes." said Brooke.

"Sam Jones should have never been ordered off the case...Lt. Tragg was in over his head on this one."said Sean.

"From what I hear, He's in over his head in every case he's on.."said Zoey.
Her husband, Lem cracked up laughing.


So did Renee


and her husband Tyrell as more drinks arrived..


Milton Lewis was with us tonight...He was laying back, enjoying the drinks..

Lt. Tragg walked in...and naturally, he walked over to our area where we were enjoying drinks...

"WELL LOOK AT THIS.....THE HIGH FALLUTIN ATTORNEYS and their new hero, an alcoholic ex cop, turned P.I., who they've given new life to.." he snarled.



"Maybe, but he actually cracked a case...What's your excuse?" said Natalie...

The laughter was deafining.....

 

 Yvette ignored Lt. Tragg, instead she turned to her husband..

"Liv has got another mini-vacay in the planing...We are trying to decide if we are going to Nelson's two beach houses at the shore or somewhere else."she said.


"We could all use it..after the past few weeks."said her husband, Gary..

"Well this weekend, we are all going to the Bayside Mall.right?" asked Keith Jones.
"Yeah....you're going too?  Thought you'd be hanging out in the bar with the guys."said his wife Bee Bee.

"I got a few things I want to purchase." said Keith Jones...


"Ouuuuuuuuuu I love to see Men shop."laughed Sofia.
"No different that when women shop.."said Kahlil.

"Oh there is a big difference."laughed Jade.

"Yeah, we know what we wantand we go right to it...We don't take two hours on one thing." said Danny Ho.

Their section burst into laughter....

"That's soooooo not true Danny."laughed Virginia.


''Yes it is...I agree with Danny."laughed Jetty as more drinks arrived.



Elaine Young was also hanging out with us tonight...and ignoring Arthur Tragg, hoping he would leave..



"SO THIS IS IT ELAINE?  THESE ARE YOUR NEW FRIENDS??  YOU REOPENED A CLOSED CASE, CAUSING ME INTERNATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT BECAUSE OF THESE PEOPLE??" he bellowed.

"It doesn't bother you that you locked up an innocent man?  You took a year out of his life and it could have been worse?  Meanwhile a guilty man, who you wouldn't even bother to investigate was right under your nose..." said Olivia, outraged at his attitude.
 
"Seems to me like you just wanted a quick arrest so you could make the evening news..." said Donnie Ray.


"Oh you too Donnie Ray?" he smirked.


"Somebody needs to say it....You've nearly ruined a number of people's lives with your faulty arrests...And then you have the nerve to blame us for doing our jobs...Shame on you...You should apologize to every last person you've arrested falsely..." said Beverly equally outraged...
"Alright Bev...come on...let's enjoy our night.." said Nelson...

"She's telling the truth after all."said Josie, equally angry.....
"I'm in law school right now....and frankly buddy, your ethics stink!" said her husband, Paris.

"It doesn't bother you that you locked up an innocent man?  You took a year out of his life and it could have been worse? You're just worried about embarrassment caused to you, because it was revealed you arrested the wrong man and didn't bother to check several credible leads.." said Bresha , who was also angry....
Her husband Tony laughed long and hard...



"OLIVIA MUZZLE YOUR JUNIOR PARTNERS!! MUZZLE EM!" Lt. Tragg warned..

"Or what? What are you gonna do? Falsely arrest them too?" said Alfreda..

 Rockland glared at him angrily as more drinks arrived.







 "All these beers and drinks...It would be a shame if you got written up for DUI tonight?  Are those buses coming?" he asked.

''Why don't you come up with a new line? It's the same thing with you every week."snapped Natalie.
"You sound like a broken record...Why don't you just go away?" said Brooke.


"Yes Arthur, go AWAY!" said a disgusted Elaine Young...



He had never been hit with such vitriolic condemnation and from so many at one time.....He liked it better when they simply ignored him and let him pontificate on...Not tonight...Everybody had something to say...

He walked away.....



The Buses came and every one of us got in and pulled off, safely driven to our homes...



Milt Lewis left a little early, before Lt. Tragg could get to the parking lot to see his car...


But Elaine Young boldly left after all of us had left...


She knew she was going to be followed....To her surprise...She wasn't....



Lt. Tragg felt empty, disconnected inside...


We had gotten to him tonight. He hoped there wouldn't be too many more nights like this..




FOR SASHA C.