Wife On The Run

 

MOINDAY MORNING!

''Auntay!! Donnie Ray, it's in all of the papers..  Cecil Butts, Some girl he was with and the other woman claiming to be his wife, named Grace or something or other were all found shot to death in a private plane, Saturday Afternoon... That was just a few hours after we saw them in Bridget's lingerie store." said Beverly..

"What? Let me see that!" said Olivia.. Beverly had a newspaper..

"Yes...I want to see that too!" I said.

Sure enough on the cover there was the Northeast Airport...Philadelphia's smaller airport 

and the private jet the three were slain on as well as the gruesome photos of the bodies..

and the story...

GRISLY FIND...THREE PEOPLE FOUND SHOT TO DEATH ON PRIVATE PLANE AT NORTHEAST AIRPORT!!

The bodies of Cecil R. Butts, an Investment Banker and his assistant, Cecilia Bridges and his estranged wife, Grace Bridges were found shot to death by the Pilot who was supposed to fly Butts and Bridges to Miami, Florida for a short business trip...They were scheduled to return Sunday...

Assistant Coroner and Forensic Investigator Dr. Hazel Baylor stated..

"Both Mr. Butts and Ms. Bridges were shot, while seated..Two shots to the chest for each...Their seatbelts were still on and Mrs. Butts was shot in the back of the head..Apparently, she was not on the travel manifest...It is not yet known why she was on the plane.."

"Right now we don't know if this was part of some crazy love triangle or what..but we've got a cold blooded , mad dog killer on the loose and I won't rest until the person responsible for this is behind bars!" said Lt. Arthur Tragg Jr. of Homicide, who is heading up the investigation for the triple murderer.

"He's always got to over dramatize everything, like he's on a television show or something."said Nelson angrily...

"I wonder about your friend Karissa, Where is she in all this?" asked Josie..

"I know..." said Beverly.

We didn't have to wait too long for an answer....Karrisa walked into our office...

"Bev, she uh says she knows you."said Alfreda..

Karissa looked like she hadn't slept or ate in a day or two..Plus she had been crying...

"Beverly...You were the only one I could come to for help." she said in tears.

II-

Her car was outside.. I instructed her to drive it around behind our house and park it down the driveway..

She had an overnight bag, toiletries and a change of clothes..

Olivia took her upstairs to our apartment..allowed her to shower and change her clothes..and fixed her some breakfast..

An Omelette

Bacon

Hash Browns

and hot coffee..

"Thank you soo much Ms. Olivia." said Karrissa...

"Oh you're welcome baby...You look like you haven't slept in days...After you finish eating..Lie down awhile and get some sleep...We have a spare room." said Olivia..

"Rissa, you know my Auntay or of her...Olivia Bennett-Alexander..

This is my husband, Attorney Nelson East...

My Auntay's husband, Donnie Ray Alexander, he's our investigator...

Associate Attorney and my bestie, Josie Boyd...

And My Mother, Our Office manager, Alfreda Johnson." said Beverly...

''WOWWWW, Talk about a family business...You guys are really close knit...And you work out of this office and most of you live here too...Niceeeeee." said Karissa.

"But you're in trouble aren't you? You looked as if you hadn't slept or ate for days....What's going on with you?" I asked.

"My husband was killed over the weekend...Cecil Butts...We got married six months ago...I have strong reason to suspect that I am a suspect....I didn't kill him...I swear I didn't kill him..I had no idea he was even taking a plane out...I didn't know he was dead until around 11:00 pm when I was in Josie's and it was on the Television Monitor... I drove to my house and I saw several police cars around it..So I drove away...I had a girlfriend of mine pack me an over night bag  and meet me at another friend's house a few blocks away...I've been driving and sleeping in my car since Saturday Night..This is the first meal I've had since Saturday Afternoon.."said Karissa.

''Do you want us to represent you Karissa?" asked Olivia.

"Yes....I can pay you!  I swear...I didn't kill Cecil, I loved him.."said Desiree.

"Karissa, you know there was another woman claiming to be his wife...She was in Bridget's store with us.."said Beverly..

"Beverly, I don't know who that woman was...I never saw her before in my life...Cecil and I got married in the Bahamas six months ago...It's a first marriage for me and from what he led me to believe, a second marriage for him...He told me he was divorced..."said Karissa.

"Karissa, your husband lied to you..You are in fact, HIS THIRD WIFE!!!!  I know or knew your husband years ago...I represented him twice..He was a client and on retainer...Before I married Mr. Alexander here...Cecil was trying to date me...I was just about to go out on a date with him when I discovered he had a wife...Her name was Barbara...I don't know what happened between him and Barbara...but now I hear he's married to you and this Grace person...I don't know.."said Olivia.

"And Saturday when we saw you...This Grace person looked pretty angry...And pretty sure you were talking about her husband."said Beverly..

"She sure did."said Josie.

"What did you do after you saw Beverly and Josie Saturday?" asked Nelson.

"I called him at work...He had to go in to work Saturday...I told him about what had happened and he assured me that he was divorced and that this Grace person was crazy..Off her meds...He told me to meet him for dinner at Sam Mother's diner...at 5:00...I had no idea, he was planning to take a flight to Miami overnight...None at all...I waited in Sam Mother's Diner until closing at 7:30 pm and he never showed...He never showed.."she said in between tears....

''Did you know the girl he was with, Cecilia Bridges?" I asked.

"She was his Administrative Assistant...We weren't friends...I thought she dressed inappropriately for the office...Her dresses were too tight and too short...and she always wore things with her boobs practically out, where you could almost see her bra...She was very flirtatious..but Cecil said she was an awesome assistant."said Desiree..

"Did it occur to you that uh He might have been uh having a fling with Cecilia? I mean they were booked on that flight together to go to Miami overnite...For Business? On a Saturday Night?? To return on Sunday??" said Olivia.

"I'd feel some kind of way about my man being on an overnight flight with a girl like that and not telling me." said Josie.

''So would I.." said Beverly....

"Of course I wouldn't have liked it...I'm no fool...but I didn't know about it...I had no idea where he was.."said  Karissa.

"Where did you go after you left Sam Mothers?" I asked.

"I went to his job, Butts and Collins Investment Futures...

but the office was locked up....No One was there...

Then I went to Stoleys....he hangs out there...

and Aqua Bar and finally

 Josie's...

None of his friends and cronies had seen him....I had a couple of drinks and cried a little..because I didn't know what was going on and then on one of the monitors...I saw the news about a grisly triple homicide out at Northeast Airport and that Cecil, that floozy he works with and that crazy woman claiming to be his wife were all shot to death on a private plane...

I went to pieces...thats when I drove home and saw all the cop cars around my house... I've been on the run the past 48 hours..."said Karissa.

"Okay, here's what you're going to do...You're going to get your rest for now..I want you to take a nap...Then I want you to find a hotel...Register under your real name and use your real credit card or whatever and stay put until we can figure this thing out..."said Olivia.

"Ohhhh thank you Olivia, Beverly.." she said and hugged them both..

"You're welcome baby."said Olivia..

"Take it easy Karissa."said Beverly.

III-

THE NEXT DAY-

I walked into the office with two old friends..

Attorney Arthur Trout

and 

and Attorney Zoey Easter , who we had just seen a few days before at our dinner..

"WELLLLL HELLLO ARTHUR, Hi ZOEY!" said Olivia, who was genuinely surprised to see the both of them...Attorneys who specialized in divorces...

"You guys are just in time for lunch..." said Beverly..

"Have a seat.." said Nelson..

"Have some of this good Chilli, you too Tall Dark and Southern." she said to me..

"You don't have to tell me twice.." I said..

Alfreda set a place for all of us and a nice heaping bowl of Chilli was placed in front of us..

"Ummmmmm Ms. Alfreda...It's delish!"said Josie as we all sat down and chowed down...

"Donnie Ray tracked me down because uh...I handled Mr. Butt's divorce from his first wife, Barbara...I represented her... You had left town for vacation Liv...I believe you went to New Orleans...This was shortly before you left the firm altogether...I recall him having another attorney to represent him at the time..Anyway....Barbara Butts had hired a private investigatior and she had more than enough evidence of Cecil Butts many infidelities...I mean the man was insatiable...He made your first husband look like a virgin.."said Arthur Trout...

Beverly laughed so hard she nearly choked..

Nelson rubbed her back to make sure she was alright...She rubbed his hands softly...

She rewarded him with a kiss...

"Still on their honeymoon huh?" said Zoey, observing the two in a passionate kiss.

"Three years after the fact !"laughed Olivia.

"Hey you two, come up for air."laughed Alfreda..

as Beverly and Nelson broke their embrace finally and looked around at everyone sheepishly..

"Oh...Uh sorry."said Beverly, who was blushing..

"Uh yeah."said Nelson, who was also blushing..

"I won her a huge settlement...but unfortunately...She was very very depressed..She told me she had left avery good man at the altar to marry Cecil and Cecil was horrible.. Her depression was very bad..I tried to get her some professional help, but it was too late...She was found hanging in her home a few weeks after the settlement..A suicide.."said Arthur Trout...

"He married again , about six years ago...a Grace Bambry...That was the uh second woman, killed along with him...Because of his cheating...I represented her...They were legally seperated last summer..He sent her some papers from the Bahamas saying that they were divorced...I checked into it..Their Bahmamian divorce was not legal...and not recognized by the state of Pennsylvania, so technically he actually WAS still married to Grace, though they were seperated...I didn't know he got married again.."said Zoey...

"He married my girlfriend ,Karissa in Nassau six months ago..."said Beverly...

"Well that marriage is not valid...He was still technically married to Grace...Unfortunately...She can't claim anything from his estate, because she's not his legal wife."said Zoey.

"Poor girl.."said Olivia..

"What a low down nasty dog!" said Alfreda.

"Provided your friend Karissa isn't indicted for these murders, this is the best thing that could happen to her, she can start over with a clean slate." I said.

"Yeah.."said Nelson...

"For Sure." said Josie as we all continued chowing down..

IV-

LATER ON THAT AFTERNOON- THE OFFICES OF BUTTS AND COLLINS-

Cecil Butts had only been dead 72 hours and his partner, Tony Collins had already taken his name off the door and replaced the markee with a new one- COLLINS INVESTMENT FUTURES-

He looked up and smiled..

"Oh Wow... Myyyyyy goodness...to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" he said ogling Olivia, Beverly and Josie..

"You Remember me Tony, I'm Attorney Olivia Bennett Alexander and this is my Niece ,Attorney Beverly West." said Olivia.

''We are representing Mrs. Karissa Butts." said Beverly... These are are other associates,

 Attorney Josie Boyd, My Husband, 

Attorney Nelson East and My Auntay's husband, 

Investigator, Donnie Ray Alexander."said Beverly..

"Sooooo you got married again huh Liv?  I didn't hear her say you were married sweetness."said Tony Collins, leering at Josie..

Josie ignored him completely...

''What can you tell us about Mr. Butts's activities on Saturday afternoon , the day he died?" asked Josie..

"I told all of this to the cops.."said Tony, smiling..

"Well Tell us."said Nelson..

I smiled..That was exactly what I was going to say..

"We worked this past Saturday from uh 9:00 am until 2:00 pm when he left...He had a business trip planned for Miami..and he had a private plane waiting for him at Northeast Airport.." said Tony..

"A business trip? On a Saturday Night?? In Miami Beach...Really Tony?" said Olivia.

"Olivia,,,,I remember you now!...Back in the day before you got your own practice...You used to represent Cecil...You know he likes to party....He used to have a thing for you....Didn't you two have business meetings late at night ?" asked Tony slyly..

"NEVER!  All of the hours I spent with Cecil were billable hours between 9:00 to 5:00....He had a little thing called a wife , remember? Barbara..."said Olivia..

The mention of her name changed his entire demeanor...He suddenly got serious..

"Yeah, I remember Barbara...He married again , some crazy broad named Grace...They were seperated a year ago and he told me he got a quickie divorce in the Bahamas and married Karissa, but Grace would call here like they were still married and they would argue...."said Tony.

"Both women called here Saturday afternoon didn't they?" I asked.

"Grace called first, but she talked to me...I told her he wasn't here...but Karissa called and she was crying..and so I made him talk to her..He told her to meet him at Sam Mothers...but that was just to get her off the phone...He had me call the airport and tell them he was running late...Him and Cecilia  then caught an Uber and headed to the airport."said Tony...

"Was he and uh Cecilia , you know?" asked Beverly..

"Doing the Hibbity Bibbity???...

Oh yes... Cecil was a dog....He really loved the ladies...I used to ask him why he bothered to get married..but he liked being married...Go figure huh?" said Tony.

"Yeah, go figure." said Olivia..

"I made the plane reservations...and they left...That was the last time I saw either one of them." said Tony..

"Did Grace know about the flight to Miami?  She wasn't on the Manifest." I said.

"No...I don't know how she wound up on that plane..Karrissa didn't know and he lived with her..I don't know how Grace knew , that is a mystery..." said Tony.

"They weren't really going to Miami for a business meeting were they?" whispered Nelson to him.

"Like your boss lady said ,Business Hours are Monday Thru Friday ,9:00 to 5:00, everything is...well you get the idea." laughed Tony..

"Yeah, we get it.."said Josie..

Tony slipped Josie a business card...

"I'd like to do some business with you sweetness...Call me!" he said and winked.

"Thank you Tony, you've been very helpful.."said Olivia..

"Always a pleasure and uh for what it's worth...I don't think Karissa did this...She's no killer."said Tony.

"We don't think she did it either." said Beverly..

We all walked out of his office and headed for the elevators..

"Tomorrow we got to look at the Autopsy and Police reports."said Nelson

and create the timeline between when we saw Karissa and when the murders occurred and everywhere else she went."said Josie, who tore up Tony Collins business card and tossed it in the trash can at the end of the hall.

(TO BE CONTINUED)