Silas Wilkins, accused of murdering his late brother's partner...A.C. Fromley sat in the 'Fishbowl" , the nicknames the detectives gave to the Interrogation Room and plead his case to us..
''Be Sure to thank Assistant District Attorney Page when you see her...I heard she's been removed from this case..Probably because she knows the truth...That I am innocent..I didn't kill A.C. Did I like the man? Hell No! Am I sorry he's dead? Not really...But I did I kill him? No ….I didn't.... But if you want to know who else had a motive and who wouldn't have mind killing him...The line could start at the door and lead all the way downstairs and around the corner and people would still be joining that line.." he said.
He understandably looked tired, weary, hungry, exhausted...
"Yes, our investigator, Ms. Jade Lee did a preliminary investigation and she saw the police report...Not too many people had anything good to say about A.C. In fact...NOBODY said anything good about him...but the 20 or more people both she and the police interviewed had an alibi..."said Ms. Yvette.
''We know you said that you were in the building late, clearing out your desk and getting client lists , but it is your misfortune that whoever killed A.C. , was also in the building at the same time..."said Bee Bee.
"Also unfortunate...The Access Cards you guys use only show when you access your office, I understand you only needed to show your Employee Photo I.D. to get in.." I said.
"The night guard was late that night...and so when the shifts changed...There was nobody at the desk..You walked in and so did A.C.'s killer...We are hoping we find security camera footage that will show everybody who came and went ,so we can talk to them..."said Sofia.
"I just got off the phone with the courthouse... We can have him arraigned in thirty minutes."said Kahlil..
"Let's try to get you bail and get you out of here.."said Ms. Jade..
"That is Music to my ears." said Silas.
II-
We hustled our client to the courtroom …...
We didn't get Judge Reynolds or Judge Elise Clemmons , who we would have liked and Lt. Tragg wasn't involved in this at all..Wasn't even in town..but we did get somebody the four of us knew..
Judge Harry Reisner...
He had taught us at Penn Law...One of the toughest Proffesors I recall having, but good...Hard but fair.. Bee Bee , Sofia, Kahlil and I were fortunate to walk out of his first class with a B.. That was second year...
In our third and final year... Bee Bee and Kahlil walked out with an A. Sofia and I got a B again, but still, It was good enough...
His eyes opened wide when he saw the four of us and I thought I detected a smile..
The ADA was Ron Harper, a credible enough Attorney.... who had the hots for Ms. Yvette
"Mmmmmmm ummmmmmph Yvette, you get sexier everytime I see you..Lawwwwwwwwwd!" he replied..
''Hello Ron.." sighed Yvette..
"You're my Shero….I wanna be like you when I grow up.....You be slayin these guys Ms. Yvette."laughed Bee Bee..
''It's not all it's cracked up to be...I'm just happy to slay one guy...The Right Guy...And it Looks like you have already slayed the right guy....You are already grown up Bee Bee..More than you realize."said Ms. Yvette, smiling at her.
"Yeah just get the right guy...So many women never find that right guy.." said Sofia ,looking at me and Kahlil..
Kahlil and I gave the opening arguments for the defense..
We argued that our client had no priors , was a middle aged man who had been very active in the community and was well thought of.. He was no flight risk and reasonable bail should be allowed.
Jade smiled and rubbed Silas Wilkins hands...He was clearly nervous...He had never been in any trouble with the law before..
We were all astounded when the Judge granted Silas a reasonable bail and he wrote a check covering it..
Just like that , he was a free man again...
"Thank you so much guys..." he said.
"I don't have to tell you to keep a low profile....I would stay with someone else...Just give us your phone numbers and address where we can reach you until we sort this thing out..."said Ms. Yvette..
Judge Reisner walked over to the four of us...
"Well I'll be damned...It isn't often that I see my former students.....But I was sooo glad and so proud to see you four...You all were always a tight crew, always together...I see you're still together uh?"said Judge Reisner..
"We work for McCluskey/Cozen/Connor and Pratt and Associates your honor..." I said.
"Very Nice..Very Nice...Beatrice...You were always my prize student...Got the highest grade in my class ,You and Mr. Ahmed.. Sooo nice to see you guys , have you practicing in my courtroom.." said The Judge..
''So Nice to see you again..Do you still teach at Penn?" asked Bee Bee.
"I lecture occasionally....At Temple too.....but I've slowed down...….Sofia, how are youuuu?" he said ,hugging her and spinning her around..
"I'm doing fine your honor." laughed Sofia....
''Andddd Mr. Ahmed.. You look like you're doing well too..." said the Judge..
"I am your honor...I am....This is our supervisor, Ms. Yvette Jones...She's also a graduate of Penn Law School..."said Kahlil...
"Pleased to make your acquaintance your honor.." said Ms. Yvette...
"You've got a great bunch of guys and gals here Ms. Jones.. Keep em on their toes."laughed the Judge..
"Oh I try....They keep me on my toes most of the time.."laughed Yvette and we all enjoyed a good laugh..
III-
Jade and Ms. Yvette went back to the Highrise where the Brokeridge was and also the offices of the Brokeridge Firm...we met with Keith Barrow, The Defacto second in command and now the Interim director of the firm...
"It was most unfortunate that I got to take the helm of this firm under these circumstances...A Murder...My God... But it is what it is...The Founding partner was Mr. Wilkins brother...A.C. was his Mr. Wilkins Brother in law at the time they founded the firm...Mr. Wilkins sister was the first of his four wives... Silas, Mr. Wilkins younger brother was a partner too, But he ran into financial problems and A.C. bought his share out oh about three years ago....Those two always had bad blood.."said Keith Barrow..
He was being a lot more co-operative with Jade and Ms. Yvette than he had been with ADA Karen Page...He had refused to talk and had called District Attorney Garcetti and complained that ADA Page was harassing him..
Jade and Yvette asked him the same questions...Where was he at the time? Did he harbor any ill will towards A.C. and he answered freely...Told them more than they needed to know..
He even supplied an alibi...He was at the Fitness Center working out on the night of the murder..
''Well Thank you for being so forth coming..We have uh one more person to talk to and we'll be done here."said Jade..
''Yes , thank You.." said Ms. Yvette...
He stared at Ms. Yvette the entire time...Her legs...Her breasts...Her pouty lips...He was quite intrigued with her...
Jade left and headed for the elevators.
Keith Barrow pulled Ms. Yvette's arm..
"Ms. Jones...A word!" he said.. "I find you very attractive...In fact I couldn't take my eyes off of you the entire time we were talking...I wonder if you uh wouldn't mind stopping back by here later for some coffee? Quiet conversation...Perhaps I might uh ruh remember something else that could uh help you with your case.." he whispered..
Yvette did find him handsome and sexy....but she wisely said...
"I don't have anything else for today...If I uh think of something...I have your office number...I can let you know.." she said..
She noticed the huge bulge in his trousers...
"WOW!" she said..She didn't mean to make it that obvious...
"That's for you baby....All for you....." he whispered..
"I'm uh seeing someone....It's serious and I uh never mix business with pleasure.."said Yvette, who eased out of the door and headed for the elevators..
Jade questioned Dawn Richardson, one of the top brokers at the firm....She was on a fast track to possibly making partner.. She had also put out feelers to rival brokeridges..
Jade and I questioned her about that...
She was pretty and seductive... She like I had graduated from Howard University...She was a year ahead of me.. She was not as forthcoming as Keith Barrow had been, She denied even being at work the day of the murder...She said that she had put out feelers to other brokeridge firms but that all professionals tested the waters..The entire time she kept making goo goo eyes at me and crossing her legs...She did have nice shapely legs and her skirt was very short...
Bee Bee did not like the attention she was directing my way and gently put her arms around me and rubbed my hands...She was kind of like marking her territory..I in turn squeezed her butt subtlely..
She smiled and blushed...
Kahlil asked her a few more questions about A.C. ,but she said she didn't have a problem with the man...She looked at him as a mentor...he had hired her and groomed her..
I could look at Sofia and tell she didn't believe her...but she kept quiet.....
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of any more help to you....I do hope you can get poor Silas off...I know he didn't kill A.C. The man couldn't hurt a fly..." she said...
With that, our day was done...We knew we had more work to do..
IV-
We dined at Mabel Jenkins Soul Food Joint that night..
We had Southern Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Corn On The Cobb
and we washed it down with some Ice Tea..
"That Dawn Richardson was hella shady...She was being very evasive and I don't have to be a psych minor to realize that.." I said..I minored in Psychology as an Undergrad..
"She was very flirtatious too...She kept making goo goo eyes at you and crossing her legs the entire time."said Bee Bee..
I pulled her to me and kissed her softly and slowly....
"My hands were on your butt the entire time babes... What I need with her and I got all of this?" I said as we continued to kiss..
"That's right.."said Bee Bee..
and we continued kissing....
"I did detect the green eyed monster of jealousy there.."laughed Jade... "The way you put your arm around him and kept rubbing his hands.." she said..
''Well Maybe a little bit...but I guess I had nothing to worry about.."said Bee Bee..
My eyes were on her and this sheer dress she was wearing all day...I couldn't keep my hands off of her...That kept her assured...
"We still gotta check her alibi as well as Keith Barrow's alibi..."said Kahlil..
''We can start on it tomorrow...Ouuuuuu, I can't eat like this every night...Bee Bee, Saturday..We hit the gym early..."said Sofia..
''Oh You know it girl.."laughed Bee Bee.
My Phone vibrated , It was Ms. Yvette...She sounded Frantic...She gave me an address..She told me to round up everybody and get to this address as soon as possible..
It was cool because we were just finishing our meal anyway..
We all arrived at the house in a quaint little neighborhood in East Oak Lane..
There on the floor in the living room was our client, Silas Wilkins, with the side of his head blown off..
Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic personell were snapping photos of the body and taking prints and checking for DNA...
The gun, a .40 Caliber pistol was in his right hand...And was still hot....smoking.. There was a hastily written suicide note next to the body that had been typed on a computer and printed..
Dr. Hazel Baylor, so relieved to be working with Lt. Danny Ho of Robbery-Homicide and not Lt. Tragg said..
"It looks like a suicide.."
"My guys checked , nothing appears to have been stolen...We found two suitcases in his bedroom, they were being packed or unpacked."said Lt. Danny Ho..
"Woww...Didn't you guys just bail him out this morning?" asked Gary Lockwood, Investigator for the D.A.'s office and Yvette's boyfriend..
"Yeah, We did.."said Yvette somberly....She looked shell shocked..
"This is his house...We told him to pack some things and to find someplace he could stay while we investigate his case and try to build a defense for him.."said Jade..
"In this Suicide letter, he confesses to killing A.C. and apologizes to us for wasting our time."I said..
"I-I can't believe it...I believed him when he said he didn't do this.."said Bee Bee, who was tearing up...
Sofia hugged her life long friend..
"It's okay Mami.." she said..
"Wowwwww!" said Kahlil as the body was put in a body bag and rolled out..
"Soon as our case began, It's over!" he said..
Gary looked at Yvette...He had never seen her like this before..As a Defense Attorney who had tried a murder case or two, he knew she was used to crime scenes, as used to them as he himself was.
"You going to be alright baby?" he asked.
"Gary....If I'm going to kill myself...Why would I pack two suitcases? I know I'm not going anywhere..I don't think Silas killed himself...I think he was murdered and I know he didn't write that letter either...Plus, he was a lefty.....Why was that gun in his right hand?" asked Yvette..
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