Naked and Dead

 "Olivia, Lenny is dead! He was murdered....I didn't do it!  I didn't kill him!" she blurted out..

"Wait What? Lenny?? Your Husband Lenny is dead? Murdered?" said a shocked Olivia. "Calm down Angie, tell me what you're talking about...You were with Me, Donnie Ray and Frankie last night."said Olivia.

"That phone call I got...The one that caused me to leave abruptly....That was from a woman...I didn't recognize the voice, but she sounded young, like a teenager...She called me from a blocked number...She told me that my husband was not in Los Angelas..but that he was here in Philadelphia at the Bottom of the C. Restaurant with another woman and that if I came right away...I'd catch them..Normally I would have thought this was a crank call...but the woman knew my phone number and knew my name and knew that my husband had told me he was in Los Angelas...I had to go and see for myself..If you want to know the truth...I've long been suspicious about all of Lenny's so called business trips...but I could never prove anything ...So I went to the restaurant.."said Angela.

"That's where my husband and I saw you...We were at the table across from them.."said Beverly..

"Yes." said Nelson..

"I thought that was you, but I was so hurt, so angry...I didn't bother to speak...Anyway...He was there with another woman..A woman who claimed to be his wife...She was not the voice I heard on my phone.. I was furious...I poured his drink on his head....So did the other woman and we both told him to find someplace else to sleep for the night...and I left."said Angie..

''After you left, where did you go Angie?"asked Olivia.

"I was upset....I went to the Trestle Inn...I cried myself to the point my ribs hurt...Six years of marriage and it was all a joke, all a lie...Here he was married to a whole nother wife...In another state ,with another house..I stayed there until closing...Then I went home.."said Angie.

"I take it you went home after that?" I asked..

"Yes....and you won't believe this...HE WAS THERE....IN OUR HOME...BUTT NAKED!!! WANTING TO HAVE SEX, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??" she sobbed..

''I can believe it" sighed Alfreda.

Beverly smiled and shook her head..

Josie cracked up laughing...

''What happened next? You two didn't?"asked Olivia..

"NOOOOOOOO, NO WAY!!!  I told him to put his clothes on and to get out...I said if he wanted sex to go to his other wife's house in Cherry Hill and sleep with her... He begged and pleaded and said that she meant nothing to him that I was the only one he loved...I told him to put on his clothes and get out..He refused...So I grabbed a few things and put them in an overnight bag and told him I was leaving.. He asked me where I was going...I told him to take his hands off me...We quarrled...It was pretty loud..A lot of yelling and screaming..I eventually left....That was around 3:00 am....He was there , still alive and butt naked...but he was alive.." she said..

''Where did you go after that?"asked Olivia..

"Ohhhh Olivia....Someplace I shouldn't have gone....." she sighed..

Olivia smiled... "Frank Attaway's house?" she asked..

''Yesssss...It was the only place I could go at such short notice...I woke him up out of his sleep, but he let me in....I was sobbing and I told him what happened and he of course told me that he told me so for years that Lenny was no good... He fixed us some coffee and I cried and talked and the next thing I know..

We are kissing....and

 we wound up  making love right there in the kitchen....

I had a feeling he had been waiting years for just such a moment....

We wound up in his bed ,making love for the rest of the night and early into the morning...He went to sleep with a big smile on his face.." she said.

"I'll bet he did!" said Nelson...

''NELSON!!!"said Beverly....

Josie and Alfreda cracked up...

I smiled slightly...

"What happened next Angie?" asked Olivia..

"He was still sleeping soundly when I got up....I showered and got dressed and I drove back home , hoping Lenny was gone.." she said,

"When I drove up, I saw a crowd of people and lots of police cars..

and I saw the door of our first floor condo open...

and Lenny being wheeled out on a stretcher...dead!!!!!I got out of there in a hurry....This was the only place I knew to come.." she said..

Our doorbell rang again...

"I'll get it!" said Alfreda...

II-

It was the Attorney, Frank Calloway....

He looked around...

"Olivia....Nice place you guys got here." he said..

"Hello Frank!" said Olivia.

"Hello Frank!" I said..

"Frank, you remember my niece Beverly and her husband Nelson.."said Olivia.

''Hello"said Beverly.

''Hello"said Nelson.

''I remember you Beverly , when you used to come and visit your auntie and you had Nelson with you a couple of times....Nice seeing you two still stuck by Olivia.." said Frank.

''This is my newest Attorney, Josie Boyd...She has been with Bev and me since we opened our doors...First as an Office Manager, then as a Para-legal and now as an Attorney...She recently passed the bar   ." said Olivia..

"Pleased to make your acquaintence.."said Josie

''And I'm Alfreda Johnson, Office Manager." said Alfreda, introducing herself.. She found Frank quite handsome.

"Olivia, you do surround yourself with beautiful women...Love this place...and I understand you and Donnie Ray and Beverly and Nelson live upstairs...Wowwww....Nice....I'd love a set up like this." he said...Then he looked at Angela..

"Angie....You left this morning without saying goodbye...I was going to fix us breakfast...I heard on the news that Lenny is dead..Somebody shot him early this morning.."said Frank..

"I didn't do it!  He was alive when I left him, Naked, but still alive...I was with you the rest of the night.." said Angie..

''I know you didn't do it....I never thought you did..."said Frank...

"How did you know where I was?" she asked.

"I didn't...I was just going to all of the places I thought you might go...This was my first stop....I guess I just got lucky.." he said..

"Sounds like a man in love.""whispered Alfreda to Olivia.

 

Olivia smiled.

''Who else has a key to your house?"I asked.

"Nobody.....But uh we keep a spare key under the welcome mat...It's taped...Nobody knew that except Lenny and me."said Angie.

"People still do that? My Mom used to do that...."said Nelson...

"Mom -Mom used to do that...Remember Auntay?" said Beverly...

"Yeah...and she kept having to have the keys changed or duplicated because you kept losing yours.."laughed Olivia..

"Olivia what can I do?" asked Angie..

''Well, you haven't been charged with anything yet...What I suggest you do for now is check yourself into a hotel...Using your real name..." said Olivia.

"I need the name and address of your brother in law and I'll find his uh other wife..I'm going to need to talk to them both..." I said.

''We can start on that right away.." said Beverly...

"Liv, Bev, Donnie Ray...We got company!" said Josie..

"Uh Ohhhh!" said Nelson.

III-

Three police cars were outside our door and our bell was ringing off the hook....

Olivia sighed...

"Alfreda, let him in.......Angie, you're an Attorney....I don't have to tell you...Say nothing until we get downtown...You hear me? Don't say a word.."said Olivia..

"Got'cha Liv.."said Angela , holding her head down..

Alfreda opened the door ,saying nothing and allowing Lt. Tragg in..

"Well my luck must be getting better....No smart alecky remarks and you're letting me in.....Although I have a warrant!" said a smiling and cocky Lt. Tragg, who walked into our conference room..

"Hello Liv...How nice to see you good people again..."said Lt. Tragg...

"What brings you out here today?" asked Olivia , knowing exactly why he was here and hating playing this little game she and Lt. Tragg played..

"I have a warrant for the Arrest of Mrs. Angela Mitchell for first degree murder of her Husband, Lenny Mitchell..I'm aware he was a Bigamist...We picked up his other wife, Diane Mitchell

 with the help of the Cherry Hill Police..but she has an iron clad alibi...See, after the brouhaha you two had at Bottom of The C. , She drove back over the bridge to her Cherry Hill home and was stopped by the New Jersey State Police..She had six times the legal amount of alcohol in her system...She was promptly arrested and spent the night in the drunk tank...Not a good night for her...but making it impossible for her to have killed Mr. Mitchell..."said Lt. Tragg...

"I can vouch for her...She came by my house and she spent the rest of the night with me...."said Attorney Frank Attaway..

''Really?and what time did she arrive at your house?" asked Lt. Tragg...

''Around 4:00 am." said Frank Attaway...None of us knew what time Lenny Mitchell had died.

Nelson, Beverly and Olivia, being seasoned Attorneys winced as Frank Attaway talked..They had wished he hadn't said anything...They had hoped he would know better...He had been practicing law longer than the three of them.....

"Mr. Mitchell dies in between 3:00 am and 3:30 am...Which would be roughly an hour to thirty minutes before she arrived at your door....Nice try....."said Lt. Tragg..

Two uniformed officers approached Angela...One handcuffed her..

"Mrs. Angela Denise Mitchell, you are under arrest for the murder of Lenwood Mitchell Jr. ,you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..You have a right to an attorney...If you can not afford an attorney, one will be supplied for you...do you understand these rights as I am explaining them to you?" said the other officer..

''Sure she does"said Lt. Tragg. "She's an Attorney herself and I'm sure she was here ginning up legal representation...Let's go Mrs. Mitchell...oh and Liv, did I mention that the murder weapon was at the scene...A .22 registered in Mrs. Mitchell's name..heh heh heh...You've got your work cut out for you.." he laughed..

''I always do Lieutenant....I always do."sighed Olivia..

''Good day Liv, everybody..."said Lt. Tragg with a smirk on his face..

"I'd like to knock that smirk right off of his made up face.." sneered Beverly, who was livid..

"I know Neicey Poo...I know.." said Olivia, hugging her..

"I need to see the autopsy report and the police report...That gun means nothing...Her prints may not be on it.." I said..

''We need to talk to the brother and the other wife..."said Nelson...

"This is a mess...But the kind of case I'm glad to be working on.."said Josie..

Frank Attaway watched as the police cars drove off with Angela..

He turned to us...

"Olivia...I know you guys are the attorneys of record, but I need to be involved with this...I need to be on the team.." he said.

Olivia, being the boss could have made the decision, but she put it to us...

''What say you guys?" she asked.

"I don't have a problem.." said Beverly...

"The More the merrier." said Nelson..

Josie realized if the three main attorneys agreed, who was she to disagree...

"Like Nelson said, the more the merrier." she said.

"Let's get going." I said.

"Thank you....Thank you all for allowing me to be on the team.."said a very contrite and grateful Frank Calloway.

 

 IV-

HOURS LATER-

Judge Elise Cummings , who we hadn't seen in months granted Angela Mitchell a very light bail of $900.00, which resulted in Frank Attaway writing a $90.00 check and being completely shocked..

He couldn't believe it...Neither could Angela..

"What just happened here?" asked Angela Mitchell...

"My Mother used to say, when you witness a miracle...Don't question it..Let's go get you something to eat."said Olivia..

Beverly smiled..

Nelson smiled..

Josie outright laughed...

I didn't have time for that...There was much work to do.....

Lt. Tragg stood furious...He knew that the judge was essentially giving him the middle finger...He had arrested her once in a case in which she could have been disbarred if convicted and Olivia and company had represented her and got an acquittal.

He could have arrested Attilla the Hun and she would have granted them a low bail...He stomped his foot and stormed out of the courtroom..

"Well, We won't be eating at Sam Mothers.." said Beverly...

"No....We are going to Camden." said Olivia.

"CAMDEN??" asked Frank Calloway..

"CAMDEN" I said..

We wound up in Camden at our diner of choice...

"Normally we eat our meals at Sam Mothers Diner or at home...Lt. Tragg tends to harrass everyone to the point that they can't enjoy their meal on a day like this when he lost in court..."said Beverly...

''I got the impression he was a bit aggravated.."said Angela..

"A Bit?  He was livid....This way we can eat in peace....If I know right...He'll probably stop by our house in a few hours to whine and gloat...Only we won't be there..."said Olivia..

''We'll be here relaxing, enjoying our food and talking to you.."said Josie..

"Like about that gun...The murder weapon was your gun....I stopped down the Medical Examiner's Office while they were talking to you at Central Booking...The Fingerprints and DNA they found in your house belonged to you, your husband and your brother in law..."I said.

''Well that makes sense...We live there...My brother in law often ate at our house...He's a bachelor..and the only time he got a hot meal sometimes was when he dropped by our house... And as for that gun...Lenny bought that gun for me years ago...To protect myself when I was there alone, which was quite often..but I don't like guns.. I've never handled that gun...I've never gone on any range nothin..It was just there in the house...To my knowledge, it was unloaded..I hadn't seen that gun in months."said Angela.

"Well to your advantage...Neither your Fingerprints, nor DNA was found anywhere on the gun..It had been wiped clean and it's believed that the killer may have worn gloves...but it was found lying on the floor near the door, empty.......and smoking... Five shots had been fired..two to the chest, one in the leg, one in the arm and the killshot to the head... And get this...You said when you left him he was naked..

When the police found him...He had on his trousers, undershirt and a polo shirt..no socks, no shoes...He may have been getting dressed and getting ready to leave....and one other thing.His cell phone is missing." I said.

"That's odd...He never goes anywhere without his phone.."said Angela..

Our lunches arrived...

"Angela... Since we are in Camden... Check yourself into a hotel...Use your own name and keep a low profile until we need you.."said Olivia.

"Nelson will drive over here tomorrow with a portal...We will communicate with you through that.."said Beverly..

"Turn the GPS on your phones off.. Make sure we have both numbers so we can communicate with you."said Josie..

''Keep a low profile...This will keep you out of  Lt. Tragg's radar and give us some time to see what we can do.."said Nelson..

"Be of good courage...We are gonna get you out of this mess.."I said.

"Now come on, let's eat..." said Olivia..

"After we eat...I'm going with you to rent us a room..."said Frank.

"US?" asked Angela..

''I'm going to take care of you... You're all alone, You're accused of murder....You need someone to take care of you.."said Frank Attaway...

Angela sighed.... "OKAY!" she said..

They shared a passionate kiss...

"He's a good lawyer.....He pulled that off!" whispered Beverly....

"INDEEED!" said Olivia , nodding her head as we all began to chow down!

(TO BE CONTINUED)