VENTURES: A Restless Man

COURTROOM A- 10:30 AM

Judge Elise Cummings sat looking at the clock pensively....She was livid.. It was 10:30....We had been here at the arraignment for thirty minutes.

Our client, Frank Jerkins was getting fidgety...

''What's the hold up? We've been here since 9:45" he asked. It was a sensible question.

"Unfortunately, we don't decide who the District Attorney is going to be... Whoever it is.. They're late!" said Ms. Yvette, who was as livid as the judge...

"There is only one ADA who is late like this... and I sure hope it's not who I think." I said.

"I was thinking the same thing Dear Heart.." said Bee Bee...

"This is ridiculous...We were here early...The least the ADA could do was be on time."said Sofia angrilly...

"I'm hungry..." said Sofia...

"Here comes the ADA now." said Ms. Jade.

Even Lt. Tragg , who was there on time, seemed a little pissed with the ADA's tardiness... He turned and sighed... Exasperated..

ADA Denver Pyle walked in.....

''Sorry we are late your honor.. Denver Pyle for the , for the, for the Prosecution." he said. His suit was wrinkled....and he was stumbling.....

With him was a new Assistant District Attorney Named Lynne Hewitt...

"ADA Lynne Hewitt....I'll be assisting the prosecution your honor." she said.. She was fresh out of law school, this was her first case.. It was her misfortune to be teamed with Denver Pyle...once a great attorney...Now an alcoholic barely functioning attorney.

"Mr. Pyle you are late....please don't make this a habit.." said an exasperated Judge Cummings....

"He's plastered" said Frank Jerkins..

"You noticed huh?" said Ms. Yvette, who folded her arms in exasperation....

"He's drunk!" I whispered to my wife, Bee Bee.

"What else is new?" said Bee Bee.

''Aye Mios Dios" sighed Sofia.

" I don't believe this guy." said Kahlil.

''How does he keep a job?" asked Ms. Jade.

Drunk or not, Denver Pyle was prepared.....well somewhat

"I understand the defendent had his hands somewhere they shouldn't have been, up the deceased woman's dress...HEH HEH HEH.....You dirty dog you.... We have his palm print on the back of her uh panties..as well as his sweaty DNA and a fingerprint...Apparently he uh ripped her panties...which proves to me, he doesn't know what he's doing and for that alone...he should be kept in jail for murder one..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he said... "Seriously, we have enough evidence to prove that, that he is a killer...a killer of ladies underwear and should be jailed." he said,laughing...

Kahlil and I were laughing so hard our bodies were shaking.

"Is this guy for real? He's as drunk as hell. He 's plastered!!!" said our client, Frank Jerkins...

''Denver , what are you doing??? You're drunk as hell! and you smell like a saloon."said Lt. Tragg , who was pissed himself.

''And...And..ANNNNNNNNNNE Gooo...Good Morning to you tooo Artie!" said ADA Denver Pyle.

Newly minted ADA Lynne Hewitt took over the arguments...

"Your honor due to the preponderance of physical and forensic evidence at the scene that links the defendent..Frank Jerkins to the crime scene we ask that he be denied bail and held off the streets..Because of the heinous nature of this crime, He represents a threat to public safety..." she said.

She wasn't drunk...That's for sure..

"This evidence is circumstantial your honor...The two were in a bar prior to this...They did uh interact, my client admits this...but they did not see each other again after they interacted at the bar...We don't wish to argue the case here your honor, we just want fair bail and a chance to prepare for trial. "said Yvette.

Doing her best imitation of Ms. Yvette, Bee Bee stated. "Our client is a businessman, He runs a successful Construction Business...He has no prior offenses and eagerly awaits his day in court to fight these egregious charges of murder."she said.

Sofia, Kahlil and I presented 25 character witnesses to testify to his overall good character and service to the community...

Lynne Hewitt looked at us with admiration....She liked how prepared we were...Plus Bee Bee, Sofia, Kahlil and I were young like her....She halfway smiled.

Lt. Tragg was salivating over her..

"VA VA VA VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" he said, looking at her breasts...

Judge Elise Cummings, totally flabbergasted by the Assistant District Attorney being late and then being inebriated released Frank Jerkins on his own recognizance.. Meaning no bail.. She ordered that he wear an ankle monitoring device.

"You guys are great...You got me out of jail...but you gotta admit...You had a lot of help from that Assistant District Attorney....He was hittin the bottle last night....and on a week night." said Frank Jerkins..

Sofia laughed as she attached the ankle bracelet on his left ankle....

''We are going back to our building and get you some food, then we are going to my office and discuss this case." said Ms. Yvette.

I looked around...

"Come on guys..let's exit from that side door over there." I said.

"Lead the way Hot Stuff." said Bee Bee.

''Right behind you." said Kahlil.

"You guys go on.. I'm going to do a little digging..I'll talk to you later." said Jade..

''Hello Yvette...We meet again....My goodness...Did your breasts get larger???... My lordddd!" said ADA Denver Pyle.

''Denver, Lay off the sauce.." sighed Ms. Yvette, pushing him out of the way and joining the rest of us.

To Frank's surprise, we took the train to our building...

He was amazed that our office was at Penns Landing with it's great view of the river....

His mind was blown by the cafeteria in our building....How ultra modern it was and how good the food smelled.

But he was even more amazed by who was in it...

The blonde from the vacation, ADA Karen Page..... She was sitting at the table with Defense Attorney

Olivia Bennett-Alexander , her husband, Investigator Donnie Ray Alexander, her niece, Attorney Beverly West-East, her husband , Attorney Nelson East, Attorney Josie Boyd and Attorney Bresha Billips and her husband, Tony Billips , Judge Jetty Dukes and our office manager and consultant , Virginia Shaw, Innocence Project Attorneys , Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and her husband, Charles "Chip" Burrows were all at one big table..

There was a bottle of champaigne at their table...and Mimosas... They all were enjoying thick New York Strip Steaks and Omelettes to order.....It was a celebration....They had won their wrongful conviction case and another innocent , wrongfully convicted person had had their conviction tossed out and had gone free...Case number 199 since Karen Page had taken over the office.

"Their Wrongful Conviction Case must have ended today....And it looks like they were sucessful." said Yvette, waving and smiling..

''The guys from the trip to Marcos Island. You guys all work in this building?" asked Frank Jerkins..

''Well Not all of us...Most of us though. That white woman, That's Karen Page , she's an Assistant District Attorney..She runs the Wrongful Conviction Unit, which is in this building...The Puerto Rican Woman and her Black Husband...They work for the Innocence Project which is down the hall from her..

Everyone else lives on our block, across the street from us. They come here from time to time."I explained.

''We are all pretty close."said Bee Bee.

"I see!" he said...

He saw Jazzy, Dabnis ,Kayla and Ray coming in . He remembered them from the vacation. They saw us and waved as they sat down with their food.

''They work in this building too and they live down the street from us." explained Sofia.

''Yup, we work together, live together and play together..." said Kahlil.

Bee Bee, Myself, Sofia and Kahlil joined them...

He was old enough to be all of these people's parents, Including the lead attorney on this case....but he saw them as good kids, genuinely nice people..and very tight knit... He liked them...He felt sorry that he had changed rooms and shunned them in Florida...He might have had a better time if he had hung out with them he thought.

II-

Frank Jerkins was amazed at our office....

He was introduced to our Office Manager and Consultant, Virginia Shaw.. He remembered her from the vacation...

Ms. Yvette explained that she was a Managing Partner for McCluskey/Cozen/Connor & Pratt and had recently been given her own office...This satellite office at Penns Landing..

Frank Jerkins was impressed...

Then he sat down in our conference room with Me, Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil..

''Where is the uh Asian chick?" aske Frank Jerkins.

"Jade? She's our investigator....She went over the crime scene...She's picking up the Autopsy Report and Crime Scene photos and she'll probably pay the young lady's place of employment a visit." said Ms. Yvette.

"Oh, the next best thing to a cop huh?" he said.

''Exactly..She used to be a cop, a homicide detective.....That's good for you..." said Yvette.

''Let's get down to cases...We were at that rooftop restaurant when you were there with Ms. Lockhart...We witnessed the altercation....We saw her slap you and we heard her say that you had ripped her panties." I said.

"Right...I remember seeing you guys there....After she slapped me...She ran into the ladies room...I tossed a few bucks on the counter to pay for the drinks and I left... I got in my car and I drove home...I was a little buzzed...I took a hot shower and I got in the bed and I was there until the next morning.....I never saw that woman again, I swear." said Frank Jerkins..

"You were gone when we left and she got into the elevator with us and took an UBER.... Do you have any witnesses, anybody who saw you go into your home?? Who knew for a fact you were there?? Did anybody call you?/" asked Bee Bee.

"No....Nobody called me and nobody was out on my block when I got home.."said Frank Jerkins.

"You have no alibi then."sighed Sofia.

''Wait a minute, if you give us the make and model of your car and tell us the route you drove home and the estimated times...We can scan the Street and Traffic cams and pick you up..." said Kahlil.

"That was brilliant thinking Kahlil." smiling at him like a proud mother..

"Oh yeah...I live across the street from a bank....I did use the ATM to take some money out, right after I got home....I'm sure there is a record and I'm on the ATM camera...and that's documented."said Frank Jerkins...

"Okay, we don't have anything else right now...but here is the most important part...We usually tell our clients to stay in a hotel under their own name for awhile...You probably don't want to do that...You want to go home...So keep a low profile." said Ms. Yvette.

Bee Bee passed him a phone... "This is a burner phone, write down this number...Don't call our business phone or our personal phone numbers... You contact us on this phone by this number.." she said.

Sofia passed him a Portal....

"Here is the instruction manual on how to use this...You don't have to come down here again...You contact us on this and we will give you daily updates on your case okay?" she said.

"Okay." he said. He looked at us... "You guys really think you can get me off?" he asked..

''We are going to do the very best we can sir."I said.

"Go home...Get cleaned up and get some rest...We'll be in touch." said Ms. Yvette, who walked him to the elevator.. "Oh and Lt. Tragg doesn't know any of us work here in this building...We'd like to keep it that way as long as possible should you happen to run into him." cautioned Ms. Yvette.

"I don't want to tell that jackass anything...Your secret is safe with me." said Frank Jerkins... "Thank You....Thank you guys for taking my case." he said.

As for Lt. Tragg, He was once again in our old building...He thought of himself as paying us a "surprise" visit...The surprise was once again going to be on him..

The door of our old suite was locked and the lights were out... It looked like no one had been in this suite for weeks, months even...

He was livid!!!!

"It's almost like they expected me....But how?? They must have a camera outside or something.." he said and headed back down to the street...

On the street he ran into new ADA Lynne Hewitt...

"Well helloooooo...I'm Arthur Tragg, we'll be working this case together...Heh heh heh!" he laughed.

'Really? well you need to go back over that crime scene....This case is not as slam dunk as you and Mr. Pyle seem to think...It's very thin....I need some more information." she said.

and she walked off, leaving him standing on the corner with a droll blank expression on his face.

III-

Meanwhile, miles away....We were all in our conference room...

''Ms Yvette, we do have a shot at getting this guy off don't we? I mean this is a pretty difficult case..His prints, his palm print and sweaty DNA are at the scene." I said.

''No...They're on her panties....They could have had sex hours before and it would still be the same.. There is no other evidence...There isn't one eyewitness...Not one and in Rittenhouse Square where hundreds of joggers and people travel on the hour.. There is no murder weapon.... I think she was killed somewhere else and brought there...I think her killer was familiar with the area and a lot more sophisticated than Frank Jerkins...and to answer your question Keith...You have to believe you have a shot with every case you get ,regardless of the facts and try your best to give your client the very best defense possible...All of you, remember that!" said Ms. Yvette, who was constantly teaching us.

"I'll start scanning the traffic and street cams." said Kahlil..

''We better start doing our research girlfriend." said Bee Bee.

"Yupper." said Sofia.

That meant Laws, Like cases, Predicates and when Ms. Jade returned, witness statements...

Ms. Jade returned...she had the Autopsy Report and the Crime Scene Report and photos...as well as witness statements.

Bee Bee, Sofia and I grabbed them and began pouring over them.

"Got anything else?" asked Ms. Yvette.

"I'll say... I've got a possible motive and another suspect.." said Ms. Jade.

She showed us a photo of one of the tallest buildings in the city...It was a few blocks from our old building...

"If you recall, just a week before we moved here, a man leaped to his death from the roof of this building." said Jade.

"Yeah, I remember that...wow...We were packing our stuff." said Kahlil.

"Yeah and praying Lt. Tragg didn't make one of his surprise visits and demand to know where we were going." I said.

"He must have been on the Marine Boat or in the cooler, because we didn't see him that entire week." said Sofia.

''And we were all saying Thank you Jesus." laughed Bee Bee.

"I was on the street when the body hit...Thank god, I didn't see it...

I saw them putting the remains in a body bag, strapping it to the gurney and carting it away..."said Ms. Yvette.

"That man's name was Justin Seward....the CFO of Home Goods Inc., died at a time when his company was experiencing severe losses in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and this year’s substantial inflation, according to insiders.

Less than two weeks before, he was named in a federal class-action lawsuit concerning allegations of federal securities fraud, insider trading, and breach of fiduciary duty, court documents reviewed by The Independent show. The lawsuit comes as the company planned to close 150 of its 900 stores, along with a mass layoff affecting 20 per cent of its corporate staff. Mr Seward was cited in the suit along with activist investor Ryan Kalua.

They were accused of collaborating in a “fraudulent scheme to artificially inflate the price of Home Goods Inc. publicly traded stock”.

The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on 23 April last year, claimed that the pair provided “materially false statements regarding the financial condition and holding situation” of the home goods company for their financial benefit.

The lead plaintiff is listed as investor Pen Chen Ling. Laying out the case against them, the suit states: “The defendants, knowing that the information they disclosed was false, took advantage of the inflated stock price and used fraudulent and misleading SEC filings to sell all their (HOME GOODS INC.) shares and options at artificially inflated prices to unsuspecting and innocent public investors and then retained control of the profits.” On 18 April, both Mr Seward and Mr Kalua sold shares of the company, with the former selling more than 42,000 shares for an estimated $1million, and the latter selling the entirety of his 9.8 per cent stake through his firm, RC&D Ventures.

Shares in the company then plummeted. According to the lawsuit, it is alleged that Mr Kalua, co-founder of Chewy and chairman of Game We Play Computer Games, approached Mr Seward about his “pump and dump” scheme as early as March 2020, and “convinced Seward that their plan would be a "mutually beneficial one” from which they would profit handsomely by coordinating their share sales to optimise returns.

Mr. Kalua copped a plea and was given 24 months (2 years) in Federal Prison and a 1.4 million dollar fine.

Mr. Seward leaped to his death....

The Attorney, The Assistant U.S. Attorney who made the case at the time was ....wait for it.. Christine Lockhart.

The Suicide so unnerved her that she quit the U.S. Attorney's Office and went back to her former job at The Harris Group, where she returned to being a Senior Associate Attorney..." said Ms. Jade.

"OH MY GOD!" said Ms. Yvette.

"WOWWWWWWW!" said Bee Bee.

"OUUUUUUUUUUU!" said Sofia.

"But wait , there is more." said Jade.

"I figured it might be." I said.

''I was hoping it would be." said Kahlil.

Ms. Jade put a glossy on the table..

"This cool guy here, recognize him?"said Jade.

It was the photo of the man we saw in the rooftop bar that seemed to spook Ms. Lockhart so much.

''That's the guy...The guy that seemed to spook Ms. Lockhart." said Kahlil.

"He was in the restaurant and then suddenly he was in the hallway." I said.

"As soon as she saw him...Her eyes got as big as saucers....She got as pale as could be." said Bee Bee.

''And hopped on the elevator with us, just before the doors closed." said Sofia.

''Yeah, I did notice that." said Yvette.

"His name is Jason Seward... He is the twin brother of Justin Seward.... He took his brother's suicide very hard...He blamed former U.S. Attorney Christine Lockhart for it and called her constantly, yelling and screaming threats... She found him outside her apartment.... She had a restraining order sworn out on him and she changed her phone number and moved three times to get away from him... Considering we saw this guy on the day of her death..I'd say that gives him a motive, more so of a motive than Frank Jerkins." said Jade.

"I'd say you're right.." said Ms. Yvette.

IV-

Nightfall came..It was raining.. None of us were out tonight... All of us were in our homes, snug and cuddled up with our significant others..

Across the street, Olivia and Donnie Ray, Nelson and Beverly were kissing passionately in their domiciles and just beginning their hours of passion.

Down the street,

Jazzy And Dabnis and Bresha and Tony, were making sweet love already...

And on our side of the street-

Kayla and Ray were hot and heavy, as was Josie and Paris...Jessica and Chip...Me and Bee Bee, Sofia and Kahlil next door.. Ms. Jade and Danny Ho, a few doors down, Even Ms. Alfreda and Rockland at the corner.. We were all making sweet love with our significant others tonight..

For what else was one to do on a rainy night?

Six Blocks away at Ms. Virginia's apartment...She and Jetty were of course, getting it on!!

At Gary and Yvette's house..

Gary passed Yvette her tea..

''This should relax you." he said.

"Why thank you.." said Yvette with a devilish smile..

''Rough couple of days huh?" said her husband, Gary..

"I don't wanna talk about it..In fact.. I don't wanna talk period.. I just want you to take me in your arms and make love to me." said Yvette..

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." she moaned..kissing Gary slowly and softly...

She wanted to be in Gary's arms and to make love...She could care less about anything having to do with this trial.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Gary moaned himself.. Yvette's butter soft kisses always got him aroused and took his mind off of whatever he had been thinking of prior..

He ran his hands down into her soft silky panties...

and slipped them off..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my godddddddddd!" he moaned..

"Meowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Yvette cooed..

''WOWWWWWWWW!!"said Gary..nearly delirious with lust and desire!!!!

Lifting her up and long stroking her... He didn't know if he was coming or going at the moment..Yvette was so wet, smelled like a new born baby, so soft...He was losing his mind...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUWOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!" she squealed..

"OHHHHHHHH MY SWEET GIRRRRRRRRRL...UMMMMMMMMMM!" he moaned..