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2021-08-08 17:25:42The three women met up after Nikki’s ultrasound that morning for Starbucks, in Linden at Aviation Plaza. Nikki ordered a venti Vanilla Crème hot. Leisia ordered a venti Café Americano hot. And Marisol ordered venti Vanilla Chai tea. The babies were with the babysitter. After paying for their order, they decided to sit at an inside table until their orders were filled; then go outside to sit at their favorite spot. They had to drive to it but today the girls changed their mind and went to sit on the car top. Leisia spoke up saying, “A couple of months back in the end of November, the lodger, as Mr. Sessions was called, had a package delivered right before he left. When asked if he wanted it stored, Mr. Sessions said no. But a strange thing happened before it was delivered. I told him, ‘A call came through to verify his location. The man on the phone said needed to verify the room number but he wouldn’t give the company information.’ So, I said I couldn’t confirm that you were here. The lodger shook his head and said, ‘Not to worry. He called my cell right after. ‘Well, then he showed up with your package 10 minutes later. And you have another delivery. That day was the last anyone saw of him.” Mulling over the information while sipping their drinks all the women retreated into their own thoughts.
The tinkle of the door drew their attention to the entrance of Starbucks and who should they see-Reyna, Leisa's daughter, and Steve her dad walking into the store. She quickly excused herself to go see what they were doing there. Running she shouted back, “I’ll be back. Just going to say hi.” Laughing back at her friend Nikki said, “You don’t have to tell us. We had a bet all three of us how long it would take that to happen.” Not offended but putting on a show of offense Leisia just walked woundedly towards the door.
Waving her off the other two women started talking again about Mr. Sessions, the lodger. Nikki finished her Vanilla Crème off and then said, “Nothing makes sense about this crime though. I mean, how is it that the alley you saw him come out of has no other witnesses? The bartender I met the other day works at the bar right next to the alley. He says that it’s a haven for homeless men mostly. It used to be a safe zone for homeless veterans who suffered from PTSD. A few of the veterans would work around here at the local bars as bouncers. In exchange for their work, they could live in their tent with full use of the facilities at the local YMCA. The hospital would come around twice a month to check up on them physically and mentally. “
Interrupting her Marisol asked, “How do you know all of this Nikki? I mean where we were because we took walks.” Exasperated Nikki replies, “No one knows how you missed it. Even I couldn’t miss the excitement in their eyes when they told them where the new site was.” Looking at her quizzically Marisol’s questioning language finally caught her attention. Nikki then replied with even more exasperation, “The veterans Marisol. The homeless and working ones. Where they were moving to not only gave them housing but transportation to and from work, medical, and recreation. Plus, it accepted all veteran benefits and did not exceed what they were allowed. Someone was bankrolling the whole establishment. What a deal for them. After that many people stopped going there. Even the non-veterans. “Shaking her head. “That man, Sessions was the first to be seen there in years. The homeless man too. That is why they think he has something to do with it the murder.” Shoulder’s slumping, Marisol looked down at her empty coffee cup even more depressed than before. Here she was thinking the women had gotten good information. But it was only as good as. All of a sudden the door to Starbucks opened and out walked Steve carrying Reyna and Leisia holding a tray with two drinks in it. The trio walked towards the women and when they got there all three stopped. Reyna on seeing her playmate’s mother lurched out of her father’s arms and at Marisol. Marisol had no choice but to accept the lurching baby. Laughing she said to her, “Hi Reynie. No Mayra today. Yes no May today. She is still with the babysitter…?” looking questioningly at Steve. He shook his head and said,
“Both Abdul and I went over there and picked up our children. I think he took her to his mother’s gravesite. He said he needed to talk to his mother today. Mayra started to babble and out came” in unison “Gammy!” Shaking her head never fails to amaze her mother. Right before his mother had passed away, Mayra learned “Gammy” instead of Grandma. That was what she was to her. Every time she heard it in the hospital, her face just broke into a big smile. It gave her such pleasure to see her grandchild. It hurt Mayra when she passed because we couldn’t explain to her satisfaction where “Gammy” went. Then one day Mema, Marisol’s mother as Mayra called her explained it to Mayra like this “Gammy had to go away. But she didn’t want to. For she knew that it would take her away for all time. Do you know what that is Mayra? And of course, Mayra had no idea, so she shook her head no and then yes. Mema went on well what it means is that she will not be there. All you will have is Mommy, Daddy and I. Do you mind that? She shook her head yes and then no. Mema said then “I’m glad that you don’t mind May girl. Mema loves you just like Gammy. Every year on her birthday we will light a candle to celebrate her life. It’s coming up this year. So, when it comes up just call up Mema and I will pop right over to do it with you. Funnily enough, Mayra understood that because that morning, she went to the telephone and started to cry. She was pointing at Mema. So, Abdul called her up and when she got the call, she was teary-eyed. When asked by Abdul why she was crying she explained. Before she was done both were teary-eyed. He said for her to come over and they would do it. Then his daughter and he would stop being teary-eyed and so would she. Then he whispered I won’t tell Marisol until later. She should be here by the time you get here. Then they both hung up the phone.
Steve then changed the subject and asked what they were talking about. So, Marisol let Nikki and Leisia tell him. Quietly he mulled over what they each had said. Turning to look at Marisol, he asked her- “what do you think?” Shaking her head Marisol answered, “I don’t know what to think Steve. I thought it would be good information to share with you. It has to mean something about his business being active.”
Standing and sitting in companionable silence the group watched as Reyna drank her tall Vanilla Crème with whip cream. It never amazed her parents that she didn’t get sick from it. She was breastfed and couldn’t drink regular milk, but this drink never got her sick. Today she asked the barista if there was something in it- and was told no it's just milk. It could be that she can have it but very little. Her mother decided to ask the doctor about it. Her milk was drying up and she needed milk and calcium for the baby. She thought of buying the breast milk and having it delivered from this company that promises they test everything. Her doctor, she loved her, would tell her which was good. Her doctor had to do the same thing when she weaned her daughter off the breast. “Oh, I just remembered we have a meeting of the mystery book club tonight girls. So don’t be late. It’s the first one of the years remember. We are picking books so bring your list and if possible, the book if you have already read it. And don’t be late!” Shaking their heads, the girls said they wouldn’t be late, and Marisol couldn’t because it was at her house. They used each other’s houses for the meetings and have since the library they had used for the meetings closed and never re-opened.
Saying bye to Steve who kept Reyna despite her teary-eyed claw-grasp on her mother’s body, the three women got into the car and drove off towards the book store and the stationery store. Three colors and three notebooks to buy to give the rest what colors and options they would have.
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Murder in the Alley Chapter Five-Forensics
The next morning Leisia had let the police complete a forensics investigation in the room. The lodger, Mr. Sessions, lived with a woman and a child. She had come a few months prior to his death to live with him bringing a child. No one knew who she was. Plus no one asked as well. When the police came to his hotel room after identifying his body she wasn’t there. The front desk had seen her leave the room prior with the baby. She had called a cab and it was waiting for her outside the front of the hotel. There was a baby bag, her purse, and an older woman. All got into the vehicle and drove off.The hotel management was not happy to let them in. The manager said to the officer, “I run a clean establishment now. Too many cops after the last one. That girl we got working here- not one lick of trouble out of her. She is in school and finished. Going to night school but virtually. Says she knows to
Murder in the Alley Chapter Six: M.E. Office
The body of the lodger as he was called was brought in and placed in the morgue waiting to be autopsied. The police gave Sandy the bag which carried his personal effects. She shook her head and sighed, saying to the dead man, “Not sure why you were murdered but we are definitely going to find out what happened.” Quickly going over the notes from the crime scene, she notes that in the bag was his wallet. Spying his driver’s license, she got his full name: Mr. Leonard Sessions. He was 45 years old and not in bad shape. Inside his wallet, she found money in the amount of $1,000.00. His credit cards were also intact. Also contained in the plastic evidence bag were a cellular phone-the latest model Samsung S-series and an awfully expensive coat. Prior to moving on, she attempted to take fingerprints off the coat, wallet, driver’s license, credit card, and cellular phone. She would match them with the fingerprints if any were on the corpse. The process was slow and painstaking as she want
Murder in the Alley Chapter Seven-Storage Locker
Sitting in the police station, Steve got a phone call from one of the investigators on the scene. He had been going through the papers and receipts found in the hotel room. The man kept meticulous records-no one could deny that. His receipts were ordered by date into separate folders for mileage and gas, credit cards, dinners for business, dinners for pleasure, baby clothes, doctor's visits, telephone, and cellular bills, internet, and hotspot fees, plus hotel room charges and extras. Listening to the other officer explain why he called he found that there was a storage facility that Mr. Sessions used might have some property there. Asking with curiosity, “Why is it that the storage facility is that much of interest?” of the officer on the phone Steve was given this response, “Because of his family being left at the hotel with no means of support. So, get on out there. “Shaking his head and muttering to himself who’s the detective here? Since Steve ha
Murder in the Alley Chapter Eight-Red Herring
After he left, Steve went back to the precinct and sat down at his desk. His partner was out on sick leave. Thinking to himself Steve couldn’t believe it- that man was sick all the time with the newborn baby. They kept swapping the cold. But he was a single dad. So, Steve cut him some slack. Hell of a way to start a new life- lost his wife in childbirth but gained a strapping baby boy. He didn’t like anybody but his Daddy, since his mother died in childbirth. Leaning back, he went over what he had mentally to do in his head and decided to tackle two items first. Picking up the telephone, he called Leisia. Drumming his pen on the desktop he waited impatiently for her to pick up the phone and reflexively checked his watch. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, Reyna would be deep in her slumber for her nap. Still waiting and getting impatient, he started to paw through his notes until he hit on the one, he had written prio
Murder in the Alley Chapter Nine-Warrant for Search and Seizure-Delivered
Getting to his desk early the next morning, Steve spied the note he had left on his desk about SunTrust Bank. It said: Newly opened account and not much in it but a pending transfer for ten million dollars. Call on that later. Looking at his watch he knew the bank president and decided to catch him before he went to work. Rifling through the papers on his desk he found his telephone and dialed the number for Michael James Kilpatrick, President of SunTrust Bank. On his fifth ring, a growly voice said, “This had better be important.” And he said,“Yes, Dad it is. How come you aren’t up to getting ready to go to work?” And his father answered,“Don’t you listen to your voice mail messages or read your email? I am stepping down from my everyday duties to spend time at home and transitioning into retirement. What can I do for you, son?”Hearing his son’s chair rolling up to the desk and some rustling o
Murder in the Alley Chapter Ten-Follow up but first dinner
Feeling that he had enough information now to form a picture he decided to sit down and go through all the information but not before going over the SunTrust Bank information he had recently gotten from his father. Going over his notes, he tried to figure out why he would need an attorney with him to open the account unless it indeed was a trust set up for his children. His father suggested more than one. He needed to find that information. But for that, he had to go back over the autopsy from the M.E. Sandy. Steve decided to call in the troops for an all-nighter with take-out and friendly conversation so he could make heads or tails of what was happening now. When he reached Leisia and Nikki they were all in for the all-nighter. Then he reached out to Marisol and Abdul and to his surprise Abdul accepted and said he would bring his two women with him with champagne. He just got the deal he wanted from his former group Dreaming. So, he wanted to celebrate. They all arranged to meet a
Murder in the Alley Chapter Eleven-Investigatory Follow-up
With the girls fed and dozing, off their parents and friends ate their food while watching an old rerun of their favorite sitcom, “Friends.” Following dinner, the card table was set up and all the boxes brought from the station to go through were set on it. Gesturing towards the three boxes, “It looks easy, but it isn’t guys. Plus, this is not half of it. I need these boxes gone through tonight so that tomorrow in my meeting with the chief I can explain where we are at in the investigation into the murder in the alley of Mr. Sessions. So please pick a box, divvy it up and let us get to work.” Says Steve. Rolling up his sleeves, Mike went to the first box and quickly slid the contents on their side to see what the titles of the folders were. Deciding that he would take the thickest, he picked out three folders and left the rest for someone else. Next was Marisol and Abdul. The two looked at boxes two and three deciding to take box two and split it
Murder in the Alley Chapter Twelve-Filemaggedon
Steve walked back inside the apartment and saw everyone hardback at work. He stifled a laugh and asked if anyone wanted to stop for the evening he would understand. No one said a word and so he asked the question louder. Finally, they all looked up and told him in unison, “No.” Smiling he muttered thanks and went back to his seat on the sofa. Asking Leisia how her reading was going all he got now was a hmmph! Shaking his head, he just smiled and sat back down.Leisia checked the time of death on the police report. It said 5:00 p.m. Looking for corresponding repair reports or anything prior to that time on that date in the list of files she had as well as other police reports filed from 3:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. the day of the murder. As she started glancing at each sheet she passed, Leisia started noticing the date was getting closer to the date of the crime. Light repair. Call to pick up disorderly persons. Call to
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Chapter Twenty-Nine: Closing In
Finally, they got the killer of the Lodger. It was in the evidence and in the footage surrounding the convenience store. No one could find a reason for the murder. No robbery, no fight and no immediate phone call that caused him to do something rash before the murder. His wife stated that he was gone on business a lot. So, nothing stood out.Steve found it after Leisia showed him a receipt. It was the day of the murder. But not at the usual place. He actually had just bought food at the restaurant that Marisol breastfed her baby on the date the body was found in the alley. It was enough for two. He had planned to go to his wife.So, Steven and another officer went back to the restaurant to speak to the owner. He said they had an employee let go that day. He was let go for stealing guests’ personal and banking information. He had apparently been running a scam using their credit cards that he got from when they paid their bill. But as far as he knew the guy hadn&r
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Chapter Twenty-Seven Mind-bending Run Down
Only one person stood out besides Noorhan, the owner of the Shell/7Eleven Gas Convenience store stop. Only one not Indian owned, The Lodger always went to that Shell for gas, food and to stock up on junk food. None of the other stores had seen him. All his receipts were from that store. The owner never knew where he came from either. Just that one time he came in and was distracted, upset. But he didn’t remember what the cause was. However, he was kind enough to let them look through the old footage of security for the week of the murder. The police also had that and now Leisia and Steve were looking through it. Since the two weren’t at the police station, Steve was more relaxed both in dress and in manner. Laughing to himself, he couldn’t believe what they thought of him at the station, considering he was the more relaxed of the two. At least he thought so. When needed he would wear a tie, but it was not his idea of comfortability. Not only could he wear sweatpants and swea
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Chapter Twenty-Six Clue 4 Me
Leisia said “notice everything is set in fours. Four days on three days off. Four days on the computer, phones, running down any lead. Three days outside surveillance.” She shows receipts for the corresponding dates. Leisia gets a paper and records down the date and time on the paper. She says to Steve, “Hey look. If we follow those, trace his steps then maybe we find the killer.”Steve laughs and said, “I knew I dated you for a reason. You see what we have been looking at for weeks. We had thought the same thing, but our captain told us to look at it from a different angle until we had to. Without robbery or a motive, he was going to rule it a murder that was an opportunity. And then put it in the unsolved box.” Stopping he indicated the box of reports and investigations they were also going through.“Don’t let him, Steve. There is an answer here. I feel it.” Says Leisia. The two continued looking but t
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Chapter Twenty-five: Helping Her Man
Rushing into the exam room she caught her daughter who upon seeing her mother forgot she was trying to get down off the table. She caught her just in time. Scolding her now happy and teary daughter she said to her in soft tones that mommy was right there. And why did she feel the need to get off the table? Does not she know bot mommy and daddy would be devastated if something happened to her? Her daughter just smiled a watery smile and settled into her mom’s arms. Turning around the doctor started to laugh. “I didn’t hear her this time. I think she caught on to the fact I was listening to her get off the table.” He spoke. “Now, let us all get to the exam. Please fill out this questionnaire for me. I will wait.” And he left the room to allow her time to do so. When he returned both were sitting quietly waiting. Reyna put her pacifier in her mouth. Reading it over he said good. Pulling up his computer screen he asked her a few more questions and then explained to
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Chapter Twenty-Four- Another Dead End
Talking to the family was his least favorite part of being a cop. He would much rather do something other than talk to the family. But it is his job.Sitting at the office will not help. So, he went to talk to Leisia about the case and he fed Reyna. He took his file home with him. At midnight he had to go back to the precinct. He had a night shift. Leisia got asked by Steve, “Are you going to the precinct?”She responded, “Not really planning on it. Unless you want me to?”Steve said, “No. Well, come then with coffee at seven in the morning. Oh, and breakfast. I can eat with you and Reyna.”“No Steve. I have plans with Reyna. We are doing a doctor’s visit, aren’t we?” Reyna passed gas and smiled. A toothless grin. “So, I say goodbye until later.” After Steve left, Reyna got fussy. So, she laid her down to sleep and knocked out herself right after.Leisia starts to dream a
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Chapter Twenty-Three Baby why don’t you sleep?
Abdul and Marisol were watching television when the telephone call came. Ring, ring went the telephone. After several rings, Marisol got to the telephone and answered,“Hello. Who is this?”The unknown voice on the telephone said, “Is this the residence of Marisol?”Hesitating because the caller didn’t say her last night, she finally responded realizing he wasn’t going to give her the last name by saying, “Yes this is she. May I ask who is calling?”The unknown caller responded, “Who it is doesn’t matter. What I say does matter. Do not go looking too deep into the death by the restaurant downtown. You will be hurt and so will your friends and loved ones. Do not go looking any further.” Then the phone hung up.Looking shaken she walked back to where Abdul was. Sitting down rubbing her arms, she then wrapped them around him and held very tight.
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Chapter Twenty-two Dinner dates
Mike got to the hotel before Steve did. He didn’t drive home. He just wanted to get Nikki to pick her up and take her to his home. Since the cleaning lady’s day was the date of their actual sleep in as their dates were called, he had a beautifully clean house with a gourmet cooked meal designed to last him two to three days. With a pregnant Nikki, it should last one day and a half. Driving up into the parking lot he parked and jumped out excited to see Nikki and feel their baby bump. But when he got to the front desk, his pregnant girlfriend was absent. Deciding to wait for her, he picked up a new magazine from behind the counter from her stash and sat on the ugly hotel chair to wait. After half an hour passed, he got concerned. Checking his watch, he knew quitting time for her was about an hour away. Sighing he went to knock on her door and heard someone retching inside. Shouldering the door open he looked ar
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Chapter Twenty-One-Murder on my Mind
Wait. The Lodger moved into the hotel after he left the residency at the hospital. No one saw the wife or the son. They had a house in the suburb. Checking out the house, Steve finds it's still in the family. The house itself was an imposing structure. Three stories tall with three entrances. None of the entrances shaped exactly the same. Steve finally recognized it as one of the homes featured in Homes and Gardens Magazine. The issue was dedicated to beautiful houses made by famous architects. The Sessions house fit the bill. As he drove up, he noticed the two gargoyle dogs guarding the entrance. He cracked a smile as he drove through. But his partner didn’t even blink. He thought she, Amy, was scared out of her wits. Sparing a glance for her as they waited at the entrance after using the knocker that looked suspiciously like tits and ass (note to self-Leisia and him haven’t had sex in a while. Time to find a babysitter.) Not wan
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Chapter Twenty-Back to the scene of the crime with Mommy on my mind
After returning to the station the two sat in morose silence sipping the nasty station coffee, they got on the way into their desk. Sipping his coffee Mike finally just said under his breath, “Dammit!” Standing up and quickly walking away he went to the front of the station to have a smoke. Startled at his friend’s and coworker’s abrupt departure, Steve looked up and watched with concern as Mike’s legs ate up the distance to the front door. Then he slammed it on his way out to have his smoke. Something was bothering him even he knew that. Mike only went to smoke when he was bothered by a problem.Yep, they had a problem- because when he came back in- he quickly said to Steve, “don’t ask.”Shrugging then Steve said, “All right, I won’t ask. But can we go over what we were told at lunch in light of what we know?”“Aaagh. All right. Here is my pro