VENTURES: The Housekeeper

Lt. Tragg and his men had interviewed every employee of the Tony Hotel where the girls had had their Swim party and all of the housekeeping staff...

One house keeper,Hortense Jefferson, had told him about a rather loud argument, Raylene Quivers and the victim, James Logan had had many hours before his death and after the swim party ended..

Unknown to us...He had hauled Kayla and Jazzy down to Central Booking for questioning.

"I only saw him for like a few minutes and when I saw him..He was all over Raylene..Kissing her like it was nobody's business..He seemed friendly,pleasent...He spoke to us and then he left...We all got back in the pool for another hour and then we said our goodbyes and went home..That was the last I saw of either of them." said Kayla.

"If they had any argument..It was well after we all left..He was very pleasent and nice, a little flirtatious..He kind of uh kept his eyes on us a little longer than he should have and was a little flirtatious..but Raylene seemed okay and he slapped her on the butt and said he'd see her later..
It looked like everything was alright...She got in the pool with us afterwords and she seemed fine..
If they had an argument...we didn't see it." said Jazzy...

Lieutenant Tragg was imagining both of these women, Kayla and Jasmine in bathing suits and what a sight that must have been....He would have loved to have been there himself..He thought..

"Your other friend...Uh ms. Maya Restin,

She didn't answer her phone this morning and I haven't been able to find her....Would you say that her story would jibe with yours?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"Yes...and my cousin, Beverly West,

she was there too!...She'll tell you the same story."said Kayla..

''Yes, Beverly will tell you the same story...They were fine, Raylene was fine.." said Jazzy..

"I'll be talking to her later today.."said Lt. Tragg, who didn't relish having to deal with Beverly West, who he despised..Still he had to question her....

"You ladies are free to go...Thank You." he said..

Sometime later, he was in the "Fishbowl", the interrogation room with Raylene Quivers...
When they had arrested her , she was still in her night clothes, a baby doll.....
She was a very ravishing young woman...

She sat in the "Fishbowl " crying her eyes out... Not because she was accused of murder, but because she was mourning the loss of her latest boyfriend...Either another woman was stealing her boyfriends or something was happening that would cause them to break up with her...Now this one was murdered...They had just made love..Why didn't he stay in her bed?...What was he doing up in the pool? she wondered..

Lt. Tragg walked in...He had a box of tissues.. He gave her a tissue so she could blow her nose and wipe the tears from her eyes...He offered her a Soda, she refused, He offered her a Hot dog, some candy from the vending machine, a cup of coffee...She refused it all...

''What happened? The Housekeeper told us that you uh had an argument with Mr. Logan...after your girlfriends left...It was loud...You were angry at him for flirting with and ogling your girlfriends and you particularly didn't like him calling you "Fat girl" is this correct?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"Yes, but after that....we made up...He brought me a bottle of Champaigne from the bar and we both drank the champaigne in my room and we made love for hours...The last I saw him, his arms were around me and we were in bed...that's the truth.When I woke up, he was gone...I never saw him again!"said Raylene..

"Then you two went up to the pool, you seduced him , you two had sex and than you smacked him in the head with the pipe, killing him...You dressed him and you pushed him into the pool....Only thing, you forgot to put his boxers back on him....We know you two had sex...we found a pair of your panties in his trouser pockets and there are two large puddles of semen on the side of the pool."said Lt. Tragg..

Raylene didn't know any of this before hand...Had James met with somebody, right after leaving her bed??? He always took whatever pair of panties she was wearing after they made love, That was some sick hobby of his ....but who was he having sex with in the pool?Wasn't it closed?? Lt. Tragg could see the surprise in her face...

"That's not what happened.." she said quietly..

''Then Tell Me What Happened?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"I think it would be a good idea if I not say anymore until I have proper legal counsel."said Raylene.

"That's a good idea Ms. Quivers..and we are here to represent you."said Olivia..

"Hey Ray, How you doin?" asked Beverly...

"SON OF A BITCH!!! YOU GUYS ARE ON EVERY CASE...EVERY DAMN CASE WITH EVEN A HINT OF CONTROVERSY!" bellowed a frustrated Lt. Tragg...

"Oh My God!! Beverly, Olivia??? I didn't know who I was going to call to represent me...I'm so glad you guys came...I-I can pay you.."said Raylene..

"You won't have to..Somebody already did...They sent us a retainer ...They wired it to our account.."I said.

"Same person that told us you had been arrested."said Nelson...

"AND WHO WAS THAT?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"Now Now Lieutenant....You know better than to ask questions like that...We are under no obligation to divulge that type of information....but we couldn't in this case even if we wanted to..We don't know."said a bewildered Olivia.

"WHAT? WHO?" asked Raylene..

"We don't know, but you've got a friend who believes you are innocent...That's why we are here."said Josie..

''A friend with deep pockets." said Nelson.

"Beverly...I need a word with you after you are finished your interview...I had Jazzy and your cousin Kayla down here a few hours ago...I've already cut them loose."said Lt. Tragg..

Today there was no verbal sparring between the two...To everyone's surprise..Beverly quietly said.

"Okay...Anything I can do to help."

Even Lt. Tragg was surprised at Beverly's tone...She actually looked shook, upset ,disheveled for the first time.

II-

Nelson pulled out a Thermos and set six cups on the table..

Josie spread a small table cloth and put nice hot doughnuts, straight out of the oven on the table.

"You must be Nelson, Beverly's husband....Your wife and I were in Law school together..I'm a litigation Attorney..Oh My God those doughnuts smell so good!"said Raylene..

"I am Beverly's Husband and she has told me about you...Help yourself..." said Nelson..

"I'm Josie Boyd, Associate Attorney.."said Josie..

''Pleased to meet you! And you need no introduction...Beverly only talked about you ad nauseum in college..How she was gonna be just like you...Olivia Bennett-Alexander..."said Raylene..

"Yes..and we are here to get you out of this mess.."said Olivia, smiling.

"I didn't kill him...I swear I didn't..We had made love ,early into the morning...He was in bed with me, sleeping I thought...I had no idea he had left my bed and went back up to that pool to meet with someone else.."she said and began to cry..

"It's alright Ray...It's alright...He should have stayed with you.."said Beverly...

"I'm Donnie Ray Alexander, I'm Liv's husband and I'm their investigator, I used to be a Homicide Detective ,so I'm pretty good at this...We aren't going to talk in here..We are going to try and get you arraigned..After you make bail...We'll discuss everything okay?"I said.

"Okay" she said..

We ended our meeting a little while later and Beverly went to be interviewed by Lt. Tragg.

"I only saw him for like a few minutes and when I saw him..He was all over Raylene..Kissing her like it was nobody's business..He seemed friendly, pleasent...He spoke to us and then he left...We all got back in the pool for another hour and then we said our goodbyes and went home..That was the last I saw of either of them."said Beverly.

''Raylene didn't seem to be the least bit agitated? I have a Housekeeper who said they had a loud argument, about his flirtatiousness and his ogling of you girls in your uh Bikinis..."said Lt. Tragg.

"If they had any argument..It was well after we all left..He was very pleasent and nice, a little flirtatious..He kind of uh kept his eyes on us a little longer than he should have and was a little flirtatious..but Raylene seemed okay and he slapped her on the butt and said he'd see her later.. It looked like everything was alright...She got in the pool with us afterwords and she seemed fine.. If they had an argument...We didn't see it."said Beverly.

"That's the exact same story your cousin Kayla and Jazzy told me...So you girls didn't witness any discourse,,What about your friend Maya Restin?"he asked..

"You haven't talked to her?" said Beverly, who was surprised that Maya was the only one of them he hadn't located.

"Can't find her..That's okay, She'll turn up eventually....Thank you, you can go."said Lt. Tragg.

Olivia was waiting outside the office..

"Everything Alright Baby?" she asked.

"Yeah...He had Jazzy and Kayla down here...Our stories match....Funny thing...No one has seen Maya."said Beverly.

"I'm going to need to talk to her and this Housekeeper, Hortense Jefferson." I said..

"I got us an arraigment appointment.. It's in two hours..Guess who the Judge is... Reynolds."said an excited Nelson , who had just gotten off the phone.

"GREAT..We can get her out."said Josie.

And at the tony Hotel in town the girls had been in just the day before...

Maya was "entertaining" a young attorney in her hotel room...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OHHH
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he wailed..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" she squealed..

The Bed was squeaking out of control, the headboard was rattling..

"OHHHHHH GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME STRONG!!!" she moaned...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW..." he moaned..

They were kissing passionately and continuing to make sweet love.

He had been with her the past SIX TO SEVEN HOURS.... He finally came and came hard....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed..

He lie between her legs, catching his breath...

'Wow, that was great baby" he said,....They had met just this morning at breakfast...Found out that had met briefly in Chicago a few months ago and started a conversation...a short conversation that led to them coming up to her room, making love...

The thought that one of her college girlfriends was in jail for murder had slipped her mind completely..

"You gotta go love....I've got to get dressed and I've got things to do." she whispered to him as she played in his hair..

"Shower? Together?" he asked..

"Okay...but then you really have to go.." she laughed..

They took a nice long shower together and then they dressed and bid each other goodbye..

Maya got dressed and smiled...

The Housekeeper came to her room...She let her in...

"Hi My Name is Hortense....This cop came by this morning looking for you...I told him I'd tell you he was looking for you when I saw you...Here is his card...Lieutenant Arthur Tragg, Homicide...I told him you were in...He knocked on your door and there was no answer....I suspect you just didn't want to talk to him huh?" said Hortense.

''Why would I not want to talk to him?" asked Maya, a little perturbed that this housekeeper was getting so personal with her..She usually didn't talk to the help when she stayed at a hotel..Not any lengthy conversations..

She emptied the waste baskets...two condoms fell out...She smiled...

"Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have been pretty naughty huh?" she laughed... She saw a pair of men's boxers on the floor...she looked at Maya and smiled..

"Your uh gentleman caller may be back for these. He's that uh Attorney from Chicago on the fifth floor....Ummmm pretty nice! " she laughed..

''Would you just finish cleaning?" said Maya.

"You know , That was you and your friends who rented the pool and the bar out on the roof yesterday...You paid for everything....You must have a lot of money...What kind of work do you do?" asked Hortense.."If you don't mind my asking?" she said.

"I DO MIND!" said Maya.

"Shame about Mr. Logan getting murdered yesterday.....I understand he was seein one of the gals that was at that swim party with you guys....I told the cop I seen em arguing right after the party was over..The other three girls left, but she was staying here, just like you...but I think they made up...I seen him goin into her room about an hour after the argument witha bottle of Champaigne and I uh heard them kissing and giggling and the bed squeaking...I came by a few hours later , Lawd they was carrying on for hours..I guess they made up." she said..

She passed Maya a bra.

"I think this is yours...Your girlfriend is a little more busty than you....I don't think she got out of bed again Certainly,not after the hurtin he put on her in that bed!...Nah I think Mr. Logan was up there with someone else...That's what I think...but I didn't tell that cop that....He's probably gonna stop by here again with more questions...I may bring that up. Did that cop talk to you yet? Mr. Logan asked me where your room was earlier that afternoon.I thought maybe you and him met up sometime after the little shindig you gals had, but maybe I was wrong....or uh was I?" asked Hortense..

"Hortense...I think you talk too much....Instead of gossiping you should spend more time making these beds and cleaning up."snarled Maya.

III-

We got bail for Raylene and we quickly took her to our diner away from home in Camden...

"I can't believe my bail was so low...$800.00 dollars?" said Raylene..

"The Judge likes us.. We defended him successfully two different times he was accused of murder and the arresting officer was the same person who arrested you..Lieutenant Tragg, who he successfully sued for false arrest also..So anytime we come before him and Lt. Tragg is the arressting officer...He sets the bail as low as possible." I said.

"We figured we'd bring you here away from anybody we know and from prying ears.."said Olivia.

"Ray you've got to tell us everything...Everything and don't leave anything out.."said Beverly.

"I met James in Stoleys about two or three months ago...we hit it off right away and he bought me drinks all night and wanted to dance with me all night...He wouldn't let anyone else dance with me...
We exchanged numbers and addresses...but I wouldn't go home with her or let him go home with me.
He called me several times the next week and sent flowers to my job...And he asked me out..We went to the movies and then to Aqua Bar...A few days later, he took me to breakfast....Then that night we went to Aqua Bar and Stoleys...A few weeks later we met for Brunch and we went to the gym and worked out together...Then we went to another movie..

I let him come over my house after that and well, He spent the night...

He told me he was working at that Ritzy Titsy Hotel and when Maya contacted me, as she did you all talking about she wanted to get together and was in that hotel...Well I jumped at it...That's why I took a room there..." said Raylene.

"Raylene..uh was uh James faithful to you?"asked Nelson..

"To an extent..he was...but like a lot of guys...He had a wandering eye and he was very ,very flirtatious as you well saw Beverly...I didn't like how he was leering at you and Kayla and Jazzy and then called me "Fat Girl" and slapped me on the butt in front of you all and I told him about it.. That was our first quarrel , the one Hortense, the housekeeper saw in the hallway...It was after you, Jazzy and Kayla left Beverly." said Raylene..

"But you weren't still mad at him were you?" asked Josie softly..

"Nooooo, He came up to my room an hour later with a bottle of Champaigne and we drank the entire bottle and smoked a little weed and then we wound up kissing

and making out and we made love in my bed for hours...

We both drifted off to sleep...

I was snuggled up in his arms when I drifted off..That was around 3:00 am.. That's all I remember...When I woke up...He was gone...That's the truth...I never went back up to that pool..."said Raylene..

"They found a pair of your panties in his trouser pocket.."said Olivia..

"He had this sick habit...After we would make love...He would take whatever pair of panties I was wearing and keep them..."said Raylene.

''That can get to be an expensive habit." joked Beverly..

" I know right?" Raylene giggled.."That was no surprise...but I wasn't up there with him...I don't know who he was up there with...Lt. Tragg told me whoever killed him dressed him and tossed him back in the pool without his Boxer shorts on..."said Raylene, holding her head down...starting to cry...

"Don't cry Ray, this isn't your fault...The cops said there was a bra up there too by the bar..Blue and white striped that one of the officers forgot to grab and when they came back, the bra was missing..along with a section of piping..."said Beverly...

"I don't own a Blue and white striped bra...That belongs to whoever he was up there screwing...I thought he was...I thought he was a good guy...I thought he was into me..He was just a dog...That's all I meet..""said Raylene..

"You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet Prince Charming baby." said Olivia..

"Auntay always used to tell me that.."said Beverly...

"It's so true.."said Josie..

"So what is this Housekeeper's name?" I asked..

"Hortense...Hortense Jefferson...She was a real blabbermouth..."said Raylene.

"Here comes our food."said Nelson.

Six Cheeseburgers

and Onion Rings for the table arrived..

and a Pitcher of Ice Tea...

I wrote down the name...

"Hortense Jefferson...I've got to talk to her and while you're at it...your friend, Maya Restin...I need to talk to her too." I said..

IV-

A crowd gathered in the streets outside of the hotel that the girls had had their swim party in...

''Wow, this is the second time in two days we've had to come to this place."said one of the Crime Scene Investigators..

"What happened here?" said Hazel, kneeling down with latex gloves and looking at the body...

"Either she jumped or was pushed..but she fell from the roof of this building...That's a long way down...a 25 story fall.."said another Crime scene Investigator..

"Broke every bone in her body...My goodness, what a way to go.." said Hazel.

We were driving up just then..

"Liv? what are you guys doing here?" asked Hazel..

"We are defending the young lady accused of killing the young man at the rooftop pool here yesterday...We came to talk to a material witness in the case...A housekeeper."said Olivia..

"Yeah...what is this, a jumper or was she helped off the roof? "I said, still not realizing who the victim was.

"What's the matter Ray?" asked Beverly..

"OH MY GOD, THAT'S HER!!!!THAT'S HORTENSE, THE HOUSEKEEPER!" said Raylene..

"That's her??" asked Josie...

"Awww Nuts." said Nelson..

He was talking about the two police cars that pulled up, facing each other..

It was Lieutenant Tragg..

He saw the body of the woman lying in the street...He looked up....Then he snarled at us...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk to the Housekeeper , Hortense Jefferson."I said.

"That's who I came to see." said Lt. Tragg..

"That's her in the street..She either jumped or was helped off the roof.."said Beverly...

"I was having lunch with my attorneys...We just got here."said Raylene..

''She's telling the truth"said Olivia.

"Guilty Conscience Liv? I believe you."said Lt. Tragg, looking at the body in the street..

"Geeez, that was quite a drop " he said ,looking up....

We all looked up...It was quite a drop and if she was thrown over the top, it was a horrifyingly cruel way to die!~

"Uh ruh Lieutenant...Isn't it strange that in two days, two murders have occurred in this same hotel? Isn't it possible that whoever killed Mr. Logan early this morning...may have killed this housekeeper who was seen talking to you...And since our client was with us...It's obviously not her.."said Nelson..