VENTURES: The Lockbox

TWO WEEKS LATER-

"Damnnn ,you're a good lookin woman Mrs. Alexander " observed David Mitchell , the older brother and surviving sibling of the man our client was accused of killing..

"Thank you" said Olivia, dryly...She knew that he wouldn't care how good she looked after this trial was over... The first day of preliminary hearings in the Murder Case of Angela Mitchell, his sister in law, accused of killing his brother..

Beverly whispered to her husband, Nelson and Josie..

"Look at him...What a creep...His brother has been murdered and it's as if he could care less..I'd at least understand if he was angry at Angela , a little bit.." said Beverly...

"Chill out Honey Bun...He'll have his time on the stand.." said Nelson confidently...

Josie smiled and nodded approvingly at what Nelson said..

I said nothing...I smiled wryly and stared daggers at him, while passing my wife, Olivia some papers..

"If we are lucky...This won't even go to trial , we'll win this in the preliminary..." said Olivia..

We were back in Judge Elise Clemmons courtroom...

She smiled at us as she called the court to order...

Lt. Tragg stared at her..

"She is a babe...Shame she's such a bitch!" he muttered under his breath...She was one of two judges who despised him with a passion...

Attorney Frank Attaway sat at the defense table with the five of us and the defendent, Angela Mitchell,

He held her hand softly as the hearing began....She looked at him lovingly...In the past three weeks since the murder , the two of them had grown closer than ever...She was living back in her house now and he was spending many nights with her....

The Assistant District Attorney was a relative newcomer, Rose McCafferty , She had tried 20 cases so far, winning 18 of them....

She was the daughter of ADA Cal McCafferty

who was in court to watch her...

"Ohhhh my god...Why would she have to go up against them and in a case...the goofball, Lt. Tragg brought in?" he mused to himself..

II-

Rose McCafferty looked forward to going up against Olivia and Beverly...She prepared well, She explained to the court that Angela Mitchell was dining "Ironically enough with her Defense Attorney, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her husband and one of her other Defense Attorneys , when she got an anonymous phone call telling her that the husband ,who she believed to be in Los Angelas was dining with another woman...She went to the other establishment...only to find her husband with another woman, who claimed that she was his wife..." she said.

"This woman, Diane Mitchell of Cherry Hill....was indeed married to Mr. Mitchell, one year after Mrs Angela Mitchell...All of us can understand the anger, hurt, disillusionment and sense of betrayal of both women who dumped their drinks on Mr. Mitchell...but while Diane Mitchell, headed home to Cherry Hill...Angela Mitchell, understandably headed back to her home and got into a loud shouting and screaming match with her husband and took a gun, This gun, registered to her..

She said and showed us the gun ....

Olivia smiled.

"Everything the Assistant District Attorney told you is true except one thing...My client did not shoot and kill Lenny Mitchell...When she left her home that night at 3:12 AM....He was still very much alive..

Whoever killed him entered the house without breaking in, minutes after she left or they were already there and shot and killed him and left the gun on the floor ,knowing it was registered to her and wiping it clean.."said Olivia.

Rose McCafferty laughed..

"Mrs. Bennett-Alexander is a very good storyteller...Now she is using flights of fancy.." she said..

She called several witnesses from the Bottom of The C. who witnessed the altercation between the two women and Lenny Mitchell..

Beverly

and Nelson

who also witnessed the confrontation that night and were sitting closer went hard on cross examination with the many witnesses, making sure their stories were accurate and jibed with what actually happened and what they saw...

Rose McCafferty called the Crime Scene Investigators, Uniformed Policemen at the scene of the crime and neighbors....

Frank Attaway and Josie Boyd had done their homework, they had thoroughly looked over all of the statements made by Crime Scene Investigators ,Uniformed Police at the scene and Medical Examiners office personell and they grilled them appropriately...

ADA Cal McCafferty mused.."One thing I can say about Olivia's people, they prepare well...They're never surprised and always , always have pertinent questions...questions that sway jurys...."

Olivia talked about the gun...She said her client had never used the gun and that it was wiped clean..No DNA, No Prints...

"You heard the testimony of the CSI, Police and M.E. people..The gun was clean...Why would she leave it there at the house on the floor for the police to find...knowing it's registered to her if she was going to go to the trouble to wipe it clean?" Olivia asked..

"Calls for speculation!" said Rose..

"Come on now!" said the Judge looking at her...

"The people rest your honor." said Rose...

"Does the defense wish to prepare a defense or do you wish to wait until trial?" asked the Judge.

"We do your honor..."said Olivia..

"Then we will recess for lunch...It is 11:50 am...I'll see everyone back here at 2:00." said the Judge as we piled out..

"Honey Bunny, you outdid yourself with this investigation....."said Olivia, giving me

a sweet kiss...

I smiled....I blushed a little bit..

"I can't wait to get back in court.." said a smiling Beverly...

"Me too!" said Nelson...

Josie looked at Angela...

"If all goes as planned...You'll walk out of here a free woman.." she said..

"I certainly hope so...I don't know how much more of this I can take.."sighed Angela..

"I know I want to have more of you.." Attorney Frank Attaway whispered ..

and kissed her passionately in the hallway...

"Ohhhhhhhhh Frank....ummmmmmmm not here in front of all these people...You're technically my lawyer you know.."she said as they continued to kiss..

"So fire me.." he joked as he continued kissing her..

''Well that's very professional...He's one of her lawyers...They shouldn't be sucking face.."said Rose McCafferty sarcastically.

''Don't worry about that...Olivia and her crew are up to something...They look too cocky..Study that entire case....If that goofball Lt. Tragg brought this case in...Chances are he left something out." said her father..

He didn't know how right he was..

III-

We all went to Sam Mother's Diner for lunch..

All of us ordered Soups and

and hot Ham and Swiss Sandwiches...

We all very hungry and we chowed down...

"Ummmm this is sooo good.." said Olivia..

"Yesss. Let's hope we can enjoy it.." I said...Knowing what was going to happen.

"This is the best soup..." said Beverly...

"It is...and I especially enjoy watching you eat it.." whispered Nelson..

"Do I do anything that doesn't turn you on?" asked Beverly, smiling at her husband..

"Not too much!" said Nelson...

"You two are sooo cute.." said Angela, watching them...

Frank put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek..

"Uh Oh...Here comes trouble.."said Josie..pointing towards the door..

Lt. Tragg came in and made a bee line to our table..

"You know Liv....You're pulling at straws.....YOU KNOW YOUR CLIENT IS GUILTY AS HELL...WE'VE GOT THE MURDER WEAPON....IT'S REGISTERED IN HER NAME!!!" he screamed out!

"You're not a lawyer and we are not in court....Now I'm asking you politely to leave this table."said Frank Attaway..

"I'M ASKIN YOU TO BUTTON YOUR LIP LOVERBOY OR-" said Lt. Tragg.

"ARTIE!!! ORDER SOMETHING OR GET OUT!!! DON'T HARRASS MY CUSTOMERS!!" screamed Sam Mother from the counter..

Lt. Tragg turned around and stormed out....

"Oh My God...You have to go through that from him, plus his visits to your house?" said Angela Mitchell..

''All the time"said Beverly...

"That's why we avoid eating in here when we have a case that involves him.." said Olivia..

"But today...We needed to be close to the courthouse."I said..

''I need to be close to you." whispered Frank to Angela..

''Oh Hush up Frank" giggled Angela who was getting more attention from Frank than she ever got from her late husband... Frank couldn't seem to keep his hands off of her...

"It's quarter of guys." said Nelson...

We had all finished our meals..

"Let's get back into court." said Josie..

IV-

We were back in court and ready for our defense..

Olivia called David Mitchell to the stand..

"It's a shame you married baby...Ummmph, what I'd do to you.." he whispered and laughed..

Olivia ignored him...

"Mr. Mitchell...Remember...you are under oath...When your brother arrived in town seven years ago after being in New York for years...You knew he was still married didn't you? And you knew he had embezzled a lot of cash...600K in fact...Money you used to partially bail your company out...A company that was on the verge of bankruptcy....Is that about right?" asked Olivia.

The smug smile left his face, replaced by one of pure embarrassment...

He quietly answered "Yes."

"You told my husband and my niece that your brother had always been a womanizer...So when his estranged wife wife came here looking for him years ago...You lied to her...Told her you hadn't seen your brother didn't you?" asked Olivia..

"Yes." he said quietly...

"You knew he was romancing and later planning to marry my client, Mrs. Angela Mitchell...You ate over her house....You looked her in the eye ,all the while knowing he was still married to Anne Mitchell of New York City..."said Olivia..

"Yes.." he said.

Beverly was next....

"Your Brother made a lot of money for you..A lot..He brought in clients from around the country...and you made him a partner..As long as he was bringing in the money, you didn't care that he was a bigamist did you?" asked Beverly...

"Look...I told him he ought to divorce that woman in New York...but he said if he did..She'd know where he was and he'd be in trouble...I just shook my head...That was his business.." he said.

"It was his business too when you watched him marry yet another woman...Diane Harris-Mitchell of Cherry Hill and buy her a house and a car, just like he bought Angela a house and car...until he got in your business....You found that he embezzled about 30K from your coffers too...That wasn't too cool was it.?" asked Beverly..

"I was pissed for awhile, but he paid me back...He swore he'd never steal from me again..." said David.

"But he did and what he stole was far more valuable to you than money...Wasn't it?" said Josie, pointing to a woman, a pregnant woman..

Who was sitting in the audience..

"You know her don't you? That's your ex-fiance..Brenda Johnson...I have here a domestic violence charge against you...You beat her bloody when you found out you weren't the father of her baby and that in FACT, your brother is the father... Here he had three wives and had embezzled money from your company...and to make it worse...He had screwed your fiance and knocked her up.."said Josie..

He was shaking, trembling...Crying now....

Nelson didn't let up...

"You killed him didn't you? You knew about the spare key under the mat.....We found it in your house..with your prints on it...Police had a warrant....And you knew about the gun...The gun your brother bought for your sister in law, that she was too scared to use.."said Nelson..

"You made a big mistake my man...You left this behind....The uh Homicide detective in charge missed this..It was on the floor in plain view..

showing him a lockbox..

"This is where the gun was kept...You used the key under the mat to get in...You used the lock box key your brother gave you to get the gun and you loaded it and confronted your brother about getting your fiance pregnant...After you terrorized her into calling your sister in law, telling her that your brother was there with his other wife...You set everything in motion for your sister in law to be blamed for killing him...but it didn't work...Your palm print and your thumb print are on it...They shouldn't be..."said Frank..

"YESSSSS...I KILLED THE SON OF A BITCH AND I SLEPT LIKE A BABY!! ALL HIS LIFE ,HE WAS A SPOILED BRAT...OUR PARENTS GAVE HIM EVERYTHING...BAILED HIM OUT EVERYTIME HE GOT IN TROUBLE...NEVER LET HIM FAIL...HE HAD THE WORLD...HE HAD THREE GOTDAMN WIVES...WHY DID HE HAVE TO STICK HIS PENIS IN MY FIANCE??? WHY?? I SHOT THAT LITTLE SHIT AND I'D DO IT AGAIN!! GOTDAMN IT!!!!!" he screamed..

"ORDER!!! ORDER!!! BAILIFFS TAKE HIM OUT OF HERE!!!" said the Judge..Looking at us and smiling..

''Wowww they are good..They beat me in the preliminary.."mused Rose McCafferty...

"That's alright baby...That doesn't go down as a loss...No jury went against you....That dolt, Lt. Tragg, He overlooked that big lock box..."said McCafferty as he walked his daughter out..

Lt. Tragg was furious...He especially was enraged at Attorney Frank Attaway for pointing out that he had overlooked the lockbox...

"OHHHH OLIVIA ,THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH...I AM FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT!"gushed Angela, hugging the five of us..

''Oh Girl hush...We knew you weren't a killer." said Olivia...

"Once I found out about the embezzlement and the domestic violence complaint and the paternity of the young woman's father...I pretty much figured out who killed your husband and why." I said

"Keep him Olivia...He's a gem."said Angela.."And your whole team.." she said , smiling at Beverly, Nelson and Josie..

who were all standing around us...

"And my knight in shining armour..without him...I would have never of made it through this ordeal.."she said..

"Come here baby." said Frank..

They embraced in a passionate kiss...

Lt. Tragg was fuming, watching the two of them kissing...He kicked a dent in the trash can and stormed out..

EPILOUGE-

David Mitchell was convicted of 2nd degree Murder and sentenced to 15 years to Life...

His ex-fiance gave birth to his brother's baby...A girl who she named Delores two months later..

At Angela's house...We all met for a nice celebritory dinner...

We used Alfreda's Caterer friend to provide the food ....

Angela had the perfect sized house for it...

''Well Alls well the ends well..We recouped what was left of the money Lenny Mitchell embezzeled and Angela was acquitted of his murder...Somehow I hope all of you ladies found some type of closure in all of this said Bonnie Shay.

"I can't thank you again Bonnie for helping me get to the bottom of all of this....Wow...Two other wives, I never figured on that." said Anne.

"YOU never figured on it, neither did Angela and I "said Diane as the entire room burst into laughter..

"Well, it's all over and we don't have to lose our homes and I've gained some new friends...Diane, Anne, I'd like us all to keep in touch.."said Angela..

She removed Franks hands from up under her skirt...

"I'd like to keep in touch with you too.." he whispered...

"Down Boyyyy you've been IN TOUCH quite a bit lately..." she laughed...

"It was indeed one of our most memorable cases." laughed Olivia..

"I'm never going to forget this case.."said Beverly.

"I started suspecting your husband's brother after we interviewed him the first time...He was too cavilier about it...No remorse, no hurt , no anger...That's when I started looking into him...when I found out about the embezzlement and his domestic abuse complaint and that his fiance was pregnant and who the father was...I KNEW it was him....He had two motives...One more than the other..It didn't take me long to figure out the whole thing." I said..