Cold Cream

 Kahlil and I stood in an empty hospital room... The bed had been made up! The room had been cleaned.

''Are we in the correct room?" asked Kahlil.

"This is the room number Ms. Yvette gave us." I said.

"If you're looking for Mrs. Fowler, she checked herself out a few hours ago." said the nurse.

"She checked herself out?  My sister?? Her name is not Mrs. Fowler...She was not married to Eric Fowler..Her name is Ellie Highland." said a very angry Elaine Highland..

"Well she didn't have a concussion or anything physically wrong with her...We couldn't hold her against her will.. Someone brought her some clothes and she left." said the Nurse.

''Who brought her clothes?" I asked.

"A woman! She didn't leave a name." said The Nurse.

"This gets murkier by the minute!"

"I'm sorry guys...I'm sorry you wasted your time with my damn sister." said Elaine Highland.

At the apartment complex Elaine Highland lived in...

"Reminds me of our old apartment building." said Bee Bee.

"It does, doesn't it.?" said Sofia.

Ms. Jade adressed the man at the desk..

"Does Ms. Elaine Highland live here?" she asked.

"Haven't seen Ms. Highland in a few days.." said the man.

"Could you let us up to her room?  I'm Jade Lee-Ho...I'm a Private Investigator and these are my two associates, Mrs. Beatrice Jones, Attorney at law... And Mrs. Sofia Garcia-Ahmed, Attorney at Law..We are currently representing Ms. Highland." said Jade.

Jade, Bee Bee and Sofia showed him their I.D.'s..and Drivers Licenses..

"A P.I. and two attorneys...What kind of trouble is Ms. Highland in?" he asked.

"We didn't say she was in any trouble..We just said we were representing her..Now could you let us up to her room..We were told to pack a few things for her." said Jade.

"I'm afraid I can't do that without her say so...Have her call me" he said..

"Okay!" said Ms. Jade, smiling.

They left, got in Ms. Jades car and drove around the block.

''Why did we just drive around the block?" asked Sofia.

"Because all of these buildings have a side door..We are going in and walk up to her room..Room 408.

I have a key..Her sister, Elaine gave it to me.." said Jade.

"Ms. Jade, are you sure you were an ex cop... You've got a bit of larceny in you."laughed Bee Bee.

"Good Cops do!"laughed Jade

They went up to Ellie's room...It looked like it had been ransacked..

''Someone has obviously beat us to this room...It's a mess" said Bee Bee

"Aye Mios Dios!  " said Sofia.

"Somebody was obviously looking for something...I don't know if they found it.." said Jade.

" WHO ARE YOU , DID YOU DO THIS TO ELLIE'S ROOM?" screamed a woman in the next room.

"No...We just got here...I'm an Attorney, representing Ellie...I'm Sofia Garcia-Ahmed." said Sofia offering her drivers license and her work ID.

"So Am I, I'm Beatrice Jones." said Bee Bee ,also offering her drivers license and work ID.

"I am a Private Investigator , employed by the same firm that is representing Elie Highland...and who may I ask are you?" said Ms. Jade.

"I'm Blance Devereaux....I live in the adjoining room...Is Ellie in some kind of trouble? Where is she?"

she asked.

"She's in the hospital, She's got a bad case of Amnesia...Can remember her name, but not much else.."said Sofia.

"She was found wandering around in the park, clad in only panties and bra and a men's shirt, looking for her husband, who was found floating in the water fountain." said Bee Bee.

"HUSBAND??? WHAT HUSBAND?? ELLIE ISN'T MARRIED!! AS FAR AS I KNOW, SHE WASN"T DATING!" said Blanche.

"She claims she was married to Eric Fowler, the man found floating in the water fountain...He's dead...He was murdered... Her sister hired our firm...Said she might be needing some legal help...

We were sent here to pack an overnight bag for her...She's going to stay with her sister for awhile."said Jade.

The part about her staying with her sister was not true...but we didn't want to reveal too much.

"Eric Fowler? Him I know...She was not married to him..He's a player...He's parked his shoes under a number of girl's beds....Somebody finally got to him huh? A Husband, an angry boyfriend?" asked Blanche.

"We don't know...Can we pack an overnight bag for her?" asked Bee Bee.

"Knock yourself out, don't let me stop you." said Blanche.

Sofia and Bee Bee packed a few blouses and some slacks, some dresses and skirts ,panties and bras into one overnight bag and other things in another bag, body wash, shampoo,pads, moisterizer, mouthwash, toothpaste and a jar of cold cream.

"WHAT ARE YOU GIRLS DOING UP HERE??? I TOLD YOU , I COULDN'T LET YOU IN HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION...I'M CALLING THE COPS!" he said.. when his phone rang.

"You can do what you like, but we are authorized to take these two overnight bags." said Jade.

Jade passed him two business cards...

"This is our office MCCLUSKEY/COZEN/CONNOR& PRATT, Attorneys at law , call this number..If you don't get an answer, call this number...That's our supervisor, Mrs. Yvette Jones-Lockwood. Save yourself some embarrassment..We'll be going now!" said Jade.

Sofia and Bee Bee followed Jade out the door.

They got in Ms. Jade's car and pulled off...

II-

While we were out running these errands...Ms. Yvette and her husband Gary had wound up going home..

Those kisses on the back stairway led them home.. and to their bedroom, making sweet love..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm Garrrrrry,,,,OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, you want it all the time!" Ms. Yvette cooed softly..

"I DOOOO, THERE IS NO LIE THERE....OUUUUUUUUUUUU.." Gary moaned..

"UMMMMMPH...YOU ARE MY SWEET SWEET GIRRRRRRLLLLL....OUUUUUU I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH! OHHHHHHHH!" Gary moaned as he lifted Ms. Yvette up and long stroked her..

"OH GARY!! OH GARY!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU GARY, I LOVE YOU TOOO!

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!" she squealed....

Yvette was trembling...having her second or third intense orgasm...

"OUUUUUUUWOUUUUUUUUUUU!"she cooed..

She had no idea this little non-case as we thought of it had mutated and grown...

We all met up at home.. 

We all went to Kahlil and Sofia's house..

We picked up Hoagies for everybody on the way home..

"GONE??? SHE WAS GONE?" asked Bee Bee..

"Yeah, and she didn't just leave either , she had been gone for awhile.." I said.

They had already made up the bed and prepared the room for someone else.." said Kahlil.

"But she had no clothes...That's what we went to get her..."said Jade.

''She couldn't have checked out in her panties."said Sofia.

"She didn't! A woman brought her clothing and they left together." said Kahlil.

'Who was this woman?" asked Jade.

"Nobody seems to know." I said.

"Somebody beat us to her apartment, they tossed the place.." said Sofia.

"This case is deeper than we thought, it's starting to grow some legs. What you got there Bee" said Kahlil..

"I thought I'd take it along...I never thought white woman used this.. My Grandmother used to have this..

Cold Cream or uh Vanishing cream" she said smiling.

"Yeah, My grandmama had that too..I loved the smell.." I said.

Upon opening it ,Bee Bee said.

"I think I know what whoever tossed Ellie's room was looking for.." she said.

Diamonds....Lots of them...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" said Sofia.

"WHOAAAAAAA!  You think this is what Eric Fowler was killed over? Like maybe he stashed them in her room..? Married or not, they had something going on."I said.

"You may be on the right track homie."said Kahlil.

''We've got to stash them someplace safe. Come with me...Let's take a ride." said Ms. Jade.

We drove to the offices of Morris Communications and our friend, CEO and private Investigator, Kevin Morris.

"You guys are lucky you caught me...I was on my way out.."said Kevin...

"These belong to a client.." said Jade.

Showing Kevin the cold cream jar and 

it's contents...

"Our client is currently missing right now ." I said.

"She has vanished from the hospital room she was in..."said Sofia.

''We went to her apartment to pack an overnight bag for her and we found someone had tossed her apartment..We think they were looking for these.." said Bee Bee..

"WOW! and I have some bizzaro cases."laughed Kevin.

"I'll lock this stuff in my office safe. It'll be here when you want it.." laughed Kevin..

"Thanks man." said Kahlil.

III-

The next day at work...

"GONE!!!! SHE WAS GONE?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"Yeah, and she didn't just leave either , she had been gone for awhile.." I said

"They had already made up the bed and prepared the room for someone else.." said Kahlil.

""But she had no clothes...That's why I sent Jade and the girls to her apartment to get her some clothes..She couldn't have walked out of there in her panties and bra?"said Ms. Yvette.

''She didn't! A Nurse told us a woman came and helped her leave..Brought her some clothing."

''What woman? Who?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"We Don't know." said Kahlil.

''When Jade , Bee and I got to her apartment..Someone had tossed it..They were looking for something."said Sofia.

"I don't think they found it... I took an old jar of cold cream with me...and in it was diamonds, Lots of diamonds...and I think that's what somebody was looking for." said Bee Bee.

''Where are these diamonds now?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"They're in Kevin Morris's office safe at his headquarters for safe keeping." said Jade.

"Good...Not a word about any diamonds leaves this office..." said Ms. Yvette.

"What about our client?" asked Bee Bee.

''What about her? She'll have to resurface and inquire about them...I'll gladly turn them over to her..but until then...We say nothing...We do nothing...It's not our job to find her." said Ms. Yvette.

As fate would have it, Lt. Tragg walked into our office with a full tactical squad..

Ms. Yvette looked unfazed..

"All this?  For moi?" she said dryly...

"I have a warrant to search your homes Mr. and Mrs Jones.." he said looking at me and Bee Bee.

Neither of us said a word..

"And I have a warrant to search your home Mr. and Mrs. Ahmed." he said staring at Sofia and Kahlil.

Like Bee Bee and Me, they said nothing.

''Search their homes for what? let me see those warrants!" said Ms. Yvette angrilly..

"I got a report that you guys absconded some luggage from Ellie Highland's apartment ,despite the manager forbading you to go in...That's breaking and entering.." he said.

"Her sister gave us permission and I have a key...We didn't break into anywhere..The two overnight bags are at my house...Not theirs..You can have them...If you want to sift through panties ,bras, dresses, slacks, conditioner, shampoo and body wash...be my guest..." said Jade.

''That's evidence...You know, if I wanted to run wild with this...I could run you all in on Obstruction of Justice..and you Jade...I'm going to start proceedings to pull your license..withholding evidence in a criminal case." said Lt. Tragg.

"One day I'm going to explain to you what Obstruction of Justice actually means...She's not witholding any evidence.. To my knowledge...Our client isn't a fugitive of justice." said Yvette.

"WRONG!!! I HAVE AN ARREST WARRANT HERE FOR ELLIE HIGHLAND, FIRST DEGREE MURDER OF ERIC FOWLER!!!" said Lt. Tragg.

AN HOUR LATER!

"ALRIGHT OPEN THAT SAFE!! OPEN IT UP AND HAND IT OVER!!! OPEN IT!!" he bellowed.

"What do you want?" asked Yvette, now extremely upset...

"Don't play coy Vettie...The diamonds... The diamonds... Turn them over.." demanded Lt. Tragg.

"I don't know what you're talking about." said Yvette, now furious.. She opened the safe and showed him there was no money or diamonds in our safe.

He stared at the four of us..

''Alright boys, take em to their homes...search their homes thoroughly...These warrants are still good." he snarled.

TWO HOURS LATER-

"Okay...You guys are too smart to stash the diamonds in your homes or at this office..You got 24 hours to turn those diamonds in and give me the whereabouts of your client.."said Lt. Tragg.

"Lieutenant, we have no idea where our client is and I don't know anything about any diamonds." said Ms. Yvette.

It was as if she hadn't said a word..

"24 hours . Turn in your client and the diamonds..If you don't...I'll begin proceedings to pull Jade Lee's P.I. license. Let's go boys!" he said.

IV-

48 HOURS LATER-

We were having lunch at the ultra modern cafe in the Bridge Building at Penns's Landing, where several of our neighbors and friends worked.

"You should have seen the look on Lt. Tragg's face when the judge said "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY COURTROOM WITH THIS NONSENSE TRAGG, CONFIR WITH A LAWYER NEXT TIME!" It was priceless..My sides are still hurting from laughing so much." I said. "He was a s red as a beet." I added, still laughing..

''Actually , I'm glad I wasn't there." said Ms. Yvette.

"It was a good idea for you to close the office and have us have lunch here...He's probably a raging bull right now. If I know right. we totally humiliated him at the hearing.. He didn't expect us to show up to challenge the proceedings.  When cops decide to pull a P.I.'s license most of the time, The P.I. doesn't have attorneys present to fight for them and it becomes just a procedural action." said Kahlil.

''Well we fooled him.. We showed up with a sufficient argument to convince the judge that this was all a waste of time and that Lt. Tragg had no legal bearings to pull Ms. Jade's license.. The Judge was furious with Lt. Tragg..." said Bee Bee, laughing.

"It's been 24 hours and still no sign of Ellie, He doesn't have the diamonds and he failed to pull Ms. Jade's license...He had no grounds..He had no grounds to charge us with Obstruction of Justice either, since she wasn't a fugitive at the time all of our activities took place." said Sofia.

"Once again, you guys had my back...I love you all." said Jade.

"We wasn't gonna let nothing happen to you." said Bee Bee, hugging Jade.

"I'm glad you guys came down to eat in our spot..You should come down more often...I'm trying to get Olivia and Bev and the gang to come down." said Kayla.

"Yeah, I can envision our whole crew eating here on the regular. " said Ray..

"That's what I like about here..Good food..Nice ambience.. and no bother from ole Lt. Columbo."said Jazzy.

"We are too far off the ground..He can't just run up here...And I doubt if he even knows we all work here."said Dabnis.

"Let's Keep it that way." said Jessica, laughing..

"I agree." said her husband, Chip.

As we enjoyed lunch.....

On our way home in Ms. Jade's car we talked.

"You know Lt. Tragg is not even a very good detective most days." said Ms. Yvette.

"Most Days? Not on any days" said Ms. Jade.

We, Myself, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil howled with laughter...

"Laugh if you will, but he had a lot of information....How did he know Ellie was our client?  She wasn't a fugitive, hasn't even been arrested so we can have her arraigned....How did he know you guys took overnight bags out of her apartment and weren't allowed upstairs..I didn't even know that...And what he really wanted was those diamonds...Which you guys didn't know you had when you left there...How did he know about that?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"And he already knew that Ellie has gone missing." said Sofia.

"Only one person knew all of this...The only person who could know...."said Ms. Jade.

Back at the apartment building.

"The Cops thoroughly searched the homes and the office of those Attorneys...They didn't find the diamonds... So either they didn't take the diamonds out of here...or they did take the diamonds and stashed them somewhere else or Ellie stashed them somewhere else." said Richard "Richie" Klybourne.

"I took this room apart Richie, piece by piece before they got here...I didn't find them..." said Blanche.

"Maybe they're in Fowler's apartment...but the police are probably all over it now...If they were there they'd have them...We've got to find Ellie before they do!" said Richie.

(TO BE CONTINUED)