VENTURES: Dial M For Messy

SATURDAY NIGHT-

Ms. Yvette and Gary were finishing up what had been a quiet weekend.

"OHHHH GARY, WE ARE JUST BEING NASTY ,SO NASTY TONIGHT!!" Yvette cooed.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, OHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDD!" Gary moaned, nearly delirious.

Since the night he had first laid eyes on Yvette and for two to three years he had tried as hard as he could to get her in bed and she had resisted...When she finally gave in, it was a night she was a little tipsy, feeling very emotional and very horny..He had gotten lucky, her resistance was low.. he never in his wildest dreams imagined they'd be married and he'd be getting this on a nearly daily basis.

There was a time when a kiss from Yvette would have been enough.

She was smothering him with butter soft kisses and stroking his now rock hard and engorged penis with her hands, driving him insane..

He was kissing her breasts and slowly slipping her panties down...

and losing his mind...

He slowly lifted Ms. Yvette and began long stroking her.. She loved it when he did this.

"OHHHHHHHHHHH...OHHHHHHHHHHH GARY ,I'M ABOUT TO CUM!!! OUUUUUUUU!" she squealed. Her legs were shaking and her body was trembling...

He placed her on the dresser and entered her again...

"OUUUUUUUUU HUSBAND, HANDLE YOUR BUSINESS!!! HANDLE YOUR DAMN BUSINESS !!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU LAWWWWWD!" she howled..

They sat on the side of the bed and she slowly moved up and down on him driving him insane with pleasure..

"OUUUUUU VETTIE GIRRRLLL, I JUST LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" he moaned.

"I LOVE YOU TOO!" she whispered...Smothering him with soft better kisses. He was driving her out of her mind too! She was experiencing another intense orgasm!

She rode him cowgirl style for awhile, cooing and moaning softly...

before they finally got in the bed and made sweet, sweet love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

Gary finally came and came hard...He was totally exhausted...He collapsed between her legs, resting his head on her breasts...She rubbed his head softly and smiled.. He had earned his rest tonight!!! She was beyond being satisfied...Nobody made her cum as hard and as much as he did.

THIRTY MINUTES WENT BY..

Her phone was ringing...

"Ohhhh who is it? Who is it this time of morning? HELLO!" said Ms. Yvette.

"HELLO, PUT ME ON THE STAND!! I WILL TELL YOU WHO REALLY KILLED COSMO
COURTLAND!! JUST PUT ME ON THE STAND!" came the voice.

"Who is this?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"I'll be contacting you and your investigator again..JUST PUT ME ON THE STAND!" came the voice.

(Click!)

"Who was that?" asked Gary, who had awakened.

"I don't know....but I don't think it was a crank call..I think it was somebody I'm going to hear from again.." said Yvette..

"Ummmmmmmmmmm, I want to hear from you again." moaned Gary...taking Ms. Yvette in his arms and kissing her passionately...

"OHHHH MY GOD!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! " she exclaimed.

He slipped her panties down again...

and bent her over the bed and entered her doggie style..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU , WOUUUUUUUUUU!!! OHHH MY GOD! YOU WANT IT CONSTANTLY....OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!" she moaned..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, YOU ARE MY SWEEEEET GIRRRRRRRL" he moaned as

he slowly moved in and out of her....

"OHHHH GARY, WE ARE JUST BEING NASTY ,SO NASTY TONIGHT!! OUUUU!" Yvette cooed as they slid to the bedroom floor.

Soon, they were back in bed for round two!

SUNDAY MORNING!

We all had the same idea... Nobody wanted to cook and nobody felt like eating at Sam Mother's Diner this morning..

So we went to Josie's Sunday Morning Brunch.

They had a live Jazz Band...

and a pretty nice brunch set up..

Jazzy, Dabnis, Kayla ,Ray, Jessica and Chip were already seated at a big round table.. They smiled and waved when we came in..

We settled for a smaller table, a few tables away from them...We knew we had a big trial starting tomorrow.

"I wish I could take some of this food out of here and warm it up for tomorrow."I joked.

"Really? Trial starts at 9:00, if you like we can go to work early and eat and then take the train to the courthouse."said Bee Bee.

"Do we really want to be doing all that? Shame One man, Lt. Tragg is such a holy terror we can't eat at the nearest diner in peace...I hate it..It infuriates me."said Sofia.

"None of us like it...but what are we going to do?" said Kahlil.

We watched as Donnie Ray, Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Josie, Paris, Bresha and her husband, Tony walked in

They smiled and waved at us as they took a larger table.

Gary, Ms. Yvette, Ms. Jade and Danny Ho filed in...We pulled a table close to ours for them to sit at...

We all got our food and sat down to eat...

We were enjoying our meal, the good smooth jazz sounds , pleasent conversation and no interruption or annoyance from a certain Lieutenant from Homicide.

"I got a weird phone call early this morning...From someone who begged me to put them on the stand when the trial begins and she promised to reveal who the real killer of Cosmo Courtland is."said Ms. Yvette.

"You think it was serious or a prank call?" asked Bee Bee.

"To call me that time of morning and claim to have that kind of information.. I think it was very serious.

Somebody went to a lot of trouble to get my personal phone number. They didn't sound like they were joking."said Ms. Yvette.

''Who was it?" asked Sofia.

"They didn't leave a name, but it was a woman.. We can't worry about that..Are we ready for trial tomorrow?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"Yes we are...Thanks Jade for those background checks on the jury pool...We know exactly what kind of juror we want.."I want.

"No Problem." said Ms. Jade, smiling.

"Ole Jim shooter is not going to know what hit him tomorrow.

We didn't know that Jim "Straight" Shooter was no longer on the case.

II-

MONDAY- Voir Dire

Th first day of trial.. Judge Tad Thornton was presiding..

Our first big surprise was that James "Straight" Shooter was nowhere in sight...Assistant District Attorney Gilda Grady was running the show...She didn't even have a second chair.

Lt. Tragg sat next to her with a pleased as punch look on his face...

We walked into the courtroom...We were surprised to see Gilda , but none of us allowed our faces to show any shock. Even though we expected a battle with Jim Shooter, we prepared for the possible inevitability of facing off against Gilda Grady...I personally looked forward to it.

Voir Dire is the process by which attorneys select, or perhaps more appropriately reject, certain jurors to hear a case. It also refers to the process by which expert witnesses are questioned about their backgrounds and qualifications before being allowed to present their opinion testimony in court.

In the United States (especially in practice under the Federal Rules of Evidence), voir dire can also refer to examination of the background of a witness to assess their qualification or fitness to give testimony on a given subject.Voir dire is often taught to law students in trial advocacy courses.

Kahlil and I had a particular zeal for it, which was why Ms. Yvette coached us the most in it's use..and why she trusted us.

The battle of wits began between the two of us and ADA Grady.. We were both three years older and wiser and experienced as well. Gilda Grady could see that ...

And we wound up with nine jurors we wanted out of twelve...A win for us..

Ms. Yvette, Sofia and Bee Bee all nodded at us in approval.

"Alright folks...The jury has been picked.. Trial begins tomorrow at 9:00 am sharp...Be on time and be ready for trial." he said.,

"What is it with this guy and 9:00 am appearences?" asked Bee Bee.

"I'm having breakfast tomorrow at 7:00 am...I'm not coming in on an empty stomach and Lt. Tragg can go to hell."said Sofia defiantly..

"I'm there with you sweetie." said Bee Bee ,hugging her lifelong friend and sister.

"Well...you know what that means homie...We will be there too!" said Kahlil, who did not feel like an early morning battle with Lt. Tragg.

"I know man." I said.. I didn't relish trying to eat with him staring at us and whining and ranting and raving either.

''Well good luck to you...I'm going to enjoy a little extra sleep. I'll meet you all on time at the courthouse." laughed Ms. Yvette.

"I'm with you there Ms. Yvette." said Amanda Streete.

"As much as I love you guys...Me too! I'll meet you at the courthouse at 9:00 AM." said Jade.

Ms. Yvette had gotten another phone call with more details and she and Ms. Jade went to the address.

"This is the place."said Ms. Yvette.

"Out of the way Much?" joked Ms. Jade.

A red haired white woman answered the door.

"Hello, you are Attorney Yvette Jones-Lockwood?" the woman asked.

"I am and this is my investigator, Jade Lee-Ho." said Yvette.

"Pleased to meet you." said Jade as she walked in..

"Can I fix you two coffee?" she asked.

"Thank You kindly...Yes." said Ms. Yvette.

"Please" said Ms. Jade.

As the woman poured coffee for them both.

"My name is Francesca , Attorney Francesca Decker... You have no doubt met my husband, my estranged husband, Clarence Decker.." she said.

"Yes, I uh had the pleasure." said Ms. Yvette.

''You don't have to be coy Ms. Yvette...I'm sure it was not a pleasure. He is a boorish ,controlling, egomaniac...I have been married to him for 10 years...I know... We are going through a very contentious divorce as I speak... He doesn't know about this place.. A good friend of mine, a fellow attorney has allowed me to stay here until after the divorce... I have enough money, enough cash to not have to use my credit or debit cards and keep from being traced by him.. I know he's busy turning the city upside down looking for me." she said.

"Okay, but beside from him being Mrs. Stark's attorney, what has this got to do with my case, which begins tomorrow?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"He's your man.. He killed Cosmo Courtland!!! He is and has been an avid womanizer for the entire 10 years of our marriage...I attempted to leave him before..two years ago...He begged me not to leave him..I didn't and one month later...I found a pair of panties and a bra under the seat of his car. You found a pair of panties in Cosmo's apartment...Those weren't mine, but that bra was! Cosmo showed me some attention at the worst period of my life..I know he's a womanizer too, but he's not my husband...He was kind and attentive and very good in bed...Clarence found out...He was livid...He hit me! For the first time in our marriage, he hit me..That was the straw that broke the camels back...Despite his pleas, I left him...He's not Raina's lawyer...he's her husband's lawyer, but he's been trying to get in her panties for awhile now..He thinks I don't know it... That bra you found in his apartment...It was hers...She was sleeping with him too!..I knew it, but I didn't care.... My husband was so furious, so livid, that he shot Cosmo to death!!...This had nothing to do with stocks being sold or shared. Mrs. Decker had already given her stocks to Mr. Darrow, giving him the controlling interest in the company...look it up!" she said.

"This is a huge allegation...Can you prove it?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"I can tell you where the Murder weapon is...I can give you the combination to his safe deposit box..He's too stupid to get rid of it. I know you've subpoenaed him...Subpoena me, I'll tell what I know and by next week that gun will be a ballistics match for the murder...I'm willing to turn in a DNA test.." said Francesca.

"Come with me today...We can take care of this." said Jade.

"I'll get a subpoena ready."said Ms. Yvette.

AN HOUR LATER-

"Got it baby!" said Gary.

He and three uniformed policemen went to the Safe Deposit box in the bank where Francesca told us, Used the combination and discovered the gun.

Gary held the gun in his hand in a plastic bag.

"It's going to the lab for a ballistics check." he said.

"Thank you baby!" said Ms. Yvette.

She passed the subpoena to Mrs. Francesca Decker.

"And this is for you." she said.

"Thank you, I'll see you in court when you begin your defense."she said.

As we stood and watched.

We were headed for a wild ride in this case.

III-

TUESDAY 6:55 AM- SAM MOTHER'DINER

Hot Coffee flowed and four orders of Steak and Eggs and hash browns were prepared for us..

We decided to get our breakfasts early enough to be finished before Lt. Tragg got here.. It was pretty early...The sun was just barely coming up!

"Ummm now isn't this relaxing? We won't go into court hungry, we'll have peace of mind." said Sofia.

''Well at least right now." said Kahlil, enjoying his food.

Bee Bee was completely relaxed..

I have to admit...So was I.

7:25 AM-

We had paid our bills and were getting ready to leave. Assistant District Attorney Gilda Grady and Lt. Tragg were walking in... His face was as red as a beet and he had a pleased as punch look on his face.

"Really Lieutenant, you don't have to buy me breakfast....Really!" she said.

"Oh but I insist." said Lt. Tragg.

"Oh look my little adversaries ...I like eager, hungry young lawyers." she said, smiling at us as we walked out..

We smiled and waved... It would be the last time we were so cordial to each other for awhile.

"They're snot nosed kids...You'll destroy em." said a confident Lt. Tragg.

9:00 AM -First Day of trial.

The Much Bally Hooed trial of Amanda Sleete began..

She was on trial for the murder of Millionaire Playboy, Cosmo Courtland. There were all kinds of rumors and stories going around.. This trial had everything, Sex, Money, Conspiracy, Marital Discord..

You name it.

ADA Gilda Grady, now in charge of the prosecution, began her argument stating that Cosmo Courtland, a known womanizer and Philanthropist as well juggled many women and not wanting to be one of the ones juggled was murdered by Amanda Sleete after finding another woman's panties and another woman's bra and lipstick in his apartment.

She had done her homework and discovered that the underwear and lipstick did not belong to Amanda.

Yvette argued that besides from spending a few hours with Cosmo and admittedly having sex with him, there was no proof she had murdered him at all, only that she had been there.

For the next few days, ADA Grady showed the jury lurid photos of the crime scene and interviewed all of the cops ,crime scene investigators and medical examiners office officials about the murder scene.

She showed the jury autopsy and tox reports...

She wasn't ready for Bee Bee and Sofia, who proved they had studied every statement these people made and disected their statements like surgeons on cross, getting them to admit that they had no forensic proof of Ms. Sleete having killed Mr. Courtland and no DNA or Forensic proof either , not to mention they had no murder weapon.

Lt. Tragg was livid, because this called into account his entire investigation...They had given him crime lab, Autopsy and Tox reports and he had either not read them fully or ignored them completely.

ADA Grady called some 22 witnesses and showed street and traffic cam footage of Amanda Sleete and Cosmo Courtland entering the building that day and of Amanda Sleete exited from the lobby out the front door.

Kahlil and I, eager for some payback from the last time we clashed with her, confounded her with objections, accusing her of leading the witnesses sometimes and citing laws, predicates and old but similar cases to make our points.. These witnesses only saw what everyone else saw, the two of them in the bar, the two of them at the Bistro and the two of them leaving together.

ADA Gilda Grady was a bit frustrated...She called 28 additional witnesses..

Bee Bee, Kahlil and Ms. Yvette spent the day on cross examination, disecting their testimony and objecting to ADA Grady's sometimes high handed antics..

She was trying hard not to lose her cool..but it was obvious, she was losing the jury and we hadn't begun our defense yet.

Ms. Yvette and I finished off cross examining the final witnesses.

And Sofia showed the jury on a 60 inch monitor , a video of the crime scene... The panties and the bra were found under the bed.. "Very unlikely our client saw them, even if she cared that they were there and not hers and the lipstick tube, found on the floor of the bathroom would have been of little concern to her." she said.

ADA Gail Grady gave her closing argument and slumped down in her chair... We had destroyed her case without presenting a defense. It had been two weeks and she hadn't accomplished her goal.

Jade had checked it out during the days leading to our defense..

Francesca's story was true..

Raina and Eliot Stark were going through a Messy, Messy divorce...and she had already sold her share of stock to

Mr. Darrow. He already had a controlling interest and even with Cosmo's shares in his pocket, Eliot Stark still wouldn't have enough to control the company...

Which Ms. Yvette, Sofia and I established our first days of our defense..

ADA Grady argued relevance...

Ms. Yvette assured the court we were going somewhere with this ..

Judge Thornton allowed it, but told us to hurry up with it. The trial had been surprisingly boring up to this point..It was about to get hot.

Bee Bee called Raina Stark to the stand.. She showed her the panties taken from the scene.

"Are these yours?" she asked.

"The panties are...That's not my bra." she said. The jury and the audience laughed.

"How long were you and Cosmo involved with each other.?" she asked.

"A little over a year, We were still involved at the time of his death..We were adults.. I knew he had other women." she said.

Her Attorney, Clarence Decker objected so much and so loudly..

That Judge Thornton warned him that he could be found in contempt.

Attorney Clarence Decker was shaking like a leaf...He was unusually angry...He would be even angrier when we called our next witness.

His estranged wife, Francesca Decker.

"Mrs. Decker tell the court what you told us."said Ms. Yvette

My Husband, Mr. Decker, Attorney Decker is and has been an avid womanizer for the entire 10 years of our marriage...I attempted to leave him before..two years ago...He begged me not to leave him..I didn't and one month later...I found a pair of panties and a bra under the seat of his car. You found a pair of panties in Cosmo's apartment...Those weren't mine, but that bra was! Cosmo showed me some attention at the worst period of my life..I know he's a womanizer too, but he's not my husband...He was kind and attentive and very good in bed...Clarence found out...He was livid...He hit me! For the first time in our marriage, he hit me..That was the straw that broke the camels back...Despite his pleas, I left him...He's not Raina's lawyer...he's her husband's lawyer, but he's been trying to get in her panties for awhile now..He thinks I don't know it... That bra you found in his apartment...It was mine, Cosmo told me to wear purple underwear...Purple was his favorite color....She was sleeping with him too!..I knew it, but I didn't care.... My husband was so furious, so livid, that I believe he shot Cosmo to death!!...This had nothing to do with stocks being sold or shared. Mrs. Decker had already given her stocks to Mr. Darrow, giving him the controlling interest in the company...look it up!" she said.

ADA Gilda Grady wanted that last part stricken from the record and she fought successfully to have the

murder weapon..

Which had cleared ballistics and had been entered into discovery just a day before kept from the jury..

Attorney Decker escaped being brought to the stand..but it didn't matter..We had established more than reasonable doubt. Ms. Yvette closed and the defense rested.

IV-

ONE DAY LATER-

"You guys lawyered the hell out of this case." said Amanda Sleete as we waited the jury's decision.

"I hope we did enough to make them doubt your guilt.."said Ms. Yvette.

I put my arm around Ms. Yvette and Bee Bee..

"I think we got this...The Jurors looked convinced." I said.

"I think so too!"said Bee Bee.

"I had the Jury 12-0 acquittal... We made this trial hot at the end.. Gave the reporters a lot to talk about."said Kahlil, laughing.

''We sure did...Great job investigating Jade." said Sofia.

"This case practically came to me." said Ms. Jade.

"I can't believe the stunts and shenanigans those five pull....They hang around Olivia and Beverly too much the way they bend the law." said Lt. Tragg.

"I can't believe the ridiculously inept investigation you did..." snarled a furious ADA Gilda Grady,almost anticipating the verdict.

"Has the jury reached a decision?" asked Judge Thornton.

"Yes we have." said the jury forewoman.

The Baillif, our friend and former client, Bernard "Barney" Drescher smiled at us. He collected the written verdict and passed it to the Judge.

He read it and passed it to Barney.

"The Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania in the matter of Amanda Sleete on the charge of Murder in The First Degree, we find the defendent, NOT GUILTY!" he read and smiled at us.

"YOU...YOU...YOU GUYS ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" said Amanda ,who passed us the box with the portal and the phone in it..She expected to be acquitted..Talk about positive thinking.

"OHHH YOU'RE WELCOME!" said Ms. Yvette.

''We won the case without having to call Clarence Decker..I really wanted to break him down." I said.

"That's alright.. I'm sure he'll get his." said Bee Bee.

"It's over...We won...Another One!" said a joyous Sofia.

"Heyyyy look who is here.." said Kahlil.. Jane Martin had been in the courtroom for the verdict.

"Heyyyyy everybody, I knew you guys would pull this out." said Jane.

"Thank you girlfriend.. I owe you! So tell me about the new man." asked Amanda.

''Girrrrrl, he is giving my bed quite a workout now of days."laughed Jane, who was blushing.

In a distance, Bailiff, Barney Drescher and ADA Gilda Grady were talking quietly

and vanished into the Judges Chamber.

Where they began kissing passionately..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMM BARNEYYYYY!"she cooed.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHH GILDA!" he moaned, slipping her skirt up and attempting to slide

her panties down.

"Ouu Barney you're fresh!" she giggled.

"As lettuce ." he said.

As usual Lt. Tragg was being pilloried by the press.

"Hey Artie, when was the last time you arrested the right suspect?" asked one.

"I remember, The Clinton Administration." said another one.

"That's it Lou...Knuckle sandwich time." yelled Lt. Tragg as he charged into the crowd of reporters, fists flailing.

We all piled out of the courthouse...Another trial over and done with.

EPILOUGE-

Attorney Clarence Decker was arrested, disbarred and convicted of the murder of Cosmo Courtland.

James "Straight" Shooter had the last laugh. He successfully prosecuted him.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON-FISHTOWN..

We met in Fishtown with Bee Bee and Sofia's friend...Judy, who was so glad to see Jane and the rest of us.

"This is so nice, meeting with you guys again.. I didn't expect to see you ever again...Ohhhh and you brought your husbands too!" said their childhood friend, Judy Romero.