by Gayle Tiller
"What about her father? He killed before, right?"
"Kristal ain't her father. He made bad decisions in his life. That's like saying that Kristal is going to crack, because her Mama has. A lot of people are ignorant when it comes to things like that. I was hopin' that you wasn't one of them."
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"Ma'am, I want to be honest with you. All of the evidence is pointing to Kristal and her boyfriend Chuck."
"Now Jasmine, just because Kristal had a little somethin' on the side, don't mean that she killed her husband. The women in our family have always had a hard time concentratin' on one man at a time."
Shit, Kristal's mother was no better than Patrice. And that definitely did not help Kristal's case. What was James going to tell the jury- "Kristal is no different from her mother who used to cheat on her father. Oh by the way, her mother is now in the psych ward and her father is in San Quentin for killing two people. But at least her mother never killed anybody." Gimme a break.
"Mrs. Lawson, you told me that you had some information that could help Kristal."
"Call me Betty, dear. There ain't no reason why we need to be formal and everything."
"Alright Betty, is there anything that you have that could clear Kristal?"
"I think the Mayor is on it. I don't trust that woman. I had a vision the other night about her."
Great, a woman in the psych ward hallucinated about the Mayor. How credible was that?
"Girl, I know what you're thinking. I ain't stupid. But most of the time, my visions are right. You need to follow up on my vision."
So now Kristal's mother has psychic powers. I decided to play along and asked, "What did you see in your vision?"
"The Mayor had this folder in her office with a bunch of names. Important people's names and there was one person that she didn't want anyone to know about her connection to. It was like the Mayor was afraid of someone finding out about her past or something."
"I am sure that the Mayor's opponents have investigated her and whatever information that they found about her, they would have put it out in the media."
"No, this information wasn't political information. It was something really delicate. I don't know what it was. But I think whatever it is; it could help my daughter's case. You need to go get it."
"How am I going to get something from the Mayor's private files?"
"You're a detective. You figure it out."
"I'll see what I can do. I won't promise you anything."
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"I know you think I am an old woman, who has lost her mind. But my vision was real. The Mayor is hiding something and you need to find out what it is."
"Okay, Betty. Like I said before, I'll see what I can do. If I find anything, I'll let you know."
"Thank you Jasmine. I knew that I could count on you."
Should I follow up on this tip? My head was telling me that it was waste of time, but my gut was telling me that there might be something.
Besides it was the only lead I had left to investigate in this dead end case.
Hell, I could look into it. The worse thing was that I wouldn't find anything. And if I were lucky, I would find something linking Melvin Grady to the murders.
* * *
I had been waiting in the lobby of the Mayor's office for over an hour. Finally, a woman in her early forties with curly black hair beckoned me back into her office.
She said, "I am Sonya Bergman, Mayor Britton's chief of staff. What can I do for you?"
"I really need to speak with the Mayor."
"Sorry, she is unavailable today. She is available in three weeks from Thursday at 2:00. How about then?"
Three weeks. There was no way that I was going to wait that long.
"Ms. Bergman, I can't wait three weeks. I need to see her today. It's related to the deaths of the three firefighters. I think I know who killed them."
"So do I. It was Kristal Woods and Chuck Roberts. It's hard to believe that they did it. But I guess no one really knew them."
"Kristal and Chuck are innocent. It was someone else. And I need to speak with the Mayor personally about this."
The woman eyed me suspiciously and said, "Who killed them?"
"That's between me and the Mayor. If I don't see her, I think she will be terribly embarrassed later."
"Ms. Myers, I am the Mayor's number one confidant. You can tell me."
"Sorry, I can't do that."
"You will have to wait three weeks to see her."
This woman or should I say bitch was really getting on my nerves. I said in an icy tone, "I see that you don't want to be cooperative. I'll just go to the media."
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"Ms. Myers, let me check the Mayor's calendar again. I just found an opening. She will be out of a meeting in the next five minutes. I'll buzz her office and let her know that you are here."
I smiled and said, "Thank you for accommodating me." Bitch.
A couple of minutes later, the Mayor came out of her office.
She said, "Jasmine, it is so good see you."
I wanted to say, "You're full of shit." Instead, I said, "Yeah, it's good seeing you also."
The Mayor led me into her office and sat me down on a leather sofa.
"Jasmine, how is your father doing?"
"He's fine."
"Your father is doing a superb job for us. He has been able to successfully link Kristal Woods and her friend Chuck Roberts to the murders.
Now, all we have to do is to find Chuck."
"Do you believe that Kristal killed them?"
"Kristal was like a daughter to me. I really thought I could change her life around. But I guess I wasn't able to. You know about her parents."
I decided to play innocent and said, "I don't know anything about her parents."
"Oh, I thought you knew. It's not like it is a secret. Kristal's father is in prison for killing two people and her mother is mentally ill. It's just too bad that she had to follow in her father's footsteps. I was hoping that she would be different."
"What about Chuck Roberts?"
"He just fell in love with the wrong woman. Sometimes love will make you do things that you shouldn't do. It's just too bad."
"I don't believe either Kristal or Chuck killed any of the firefighters."
"Jasmine, the evidence is overwhelming. It can't be anyone else."
"There is circumstantial evidence, but that doesn't mean that they did it. I definitely think it was someone else."
"Like who?"
"Like someone who is within the fire department."
"Chuck Roberts is a firefighter and he had motive and opportunity."
"No, not him. Someone who holds a lot higher rank than him.
Someone whose life and career would be ruined if his criminal activities were exposed."
"Jasmine, if you know of criminal activities in the department, we will investigate thoroughly. We don't condone such behavior."
"Maybe your administration doesn't, but past administrations did."
"Jasmine, who killed the firefighters?"
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"Mayor Britton, I don't think I have to name this person. You know who it is. And once I get all the evidence that I need, it will be given to the proper authorities."
"Jasmine, I have no idea who you are talking about. Just tell me his name."
"Mayor Britton, you are a very smart woman. It's not that hard to figure out what his name is."
"Jasmine, I suggest that you tell your father about this. He is the head of the homicide unit. You wouldn't want him to be embarrassed."
"Of course not. I will tell him when the time is right."
"You just do that. Now, I must get back to work so that I can prepare for a meeting that I have with Fire Chief Grady later today."
She then escorted me out of her office.
The Mayor obviously knew about whom I was talking about and yet she refused to yield any information. What was she hiding? And why was she hiding it? Was she
somehow a part of Melvin Grady's drug dealing? The Mayor couldn't be that stupid. But then again, Mayor Marion Berry had smoked cocaine during his term in his office. So Mayor Britton might not be any smarter.
* * *
It was already past 10:00 at night, when I got back to City Hall. I needed to go into the Mayor's office to find out whether the information that Kristal's mother had told me was true. I pushed the button to the six floor. When the doors opened, I saw an elderly female janitor in the lobby.
I said, "Hi, I need to pick up my purse that I left in the Mayor's office."
The janitor replied, "Lady, you need to come back in the morning. I can't let you in the office."
"Look, I really need my house keys. Without them, I can't get into my house."
"Lady, you should call a locksmith."
"I live on the Eastside. There ain't no locksmith who is gonna go to the Eastside at this time of night."
"Then you should stay in a hotel room."
"I can't do that either. My credit cards are in my purse and I only have $5.00 in cash. If I don't get my purse and my house keys, I am going to have to spend the night in my car."
"Why didn't you come back here earlier?"
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"I've been at meetings all night and it wasn't until I got to my house I realized that I left my purse here."
"Lady, you could have left your purse at one of those meeting places."
"No, I already called the African-American Center where my meetings were and they didn't find anything."
"Can't you stay at someone's house?"
"No, I can't. My best friend is out of town. And it's not like I got a man or anything."
"You ain't got a man. You sound like the rest of the single black women in San Jose. There is just not enough of our men to go around."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. But I am still looking for that man who will rescue me and give me everything I need."
"We all are. Even me in my old age. But don't count on finding Prince Charming. I've been looking for him for years and all I found was a bunch of no good cheaters and liars."
"I definitely know what you mean. But can you help me out with getting me my purse?"
"Okay, this is against the rules, so don't tell nobody."
"Alright."
The janitor opened the door to the Mayor's office and followed me into the office.
God, I needed to get rid of this woman. There was no way that I could search the Mayor's office with her right next to me.
I said, "Thank you for help. I don't want to keep you from your work.
There were a couple offices in the suite that I was in today."
The janitor peered at me, "Are you sure you'll be okay in here by yourself?"
"Yeah, I should be able to find the purse within a few minutes. Hope-fully, they didn't turn it into the loss and found."
The janitor's face brightened and said, "Let me check down there to see if anything is down there. I'll be back in a few minutes." The janitor then left.
I walked into the Mayor's office. I had five minutes to go through everything. It seemed like an impossible task.
I opened the filing cabinet and glanced through the files quickly. I found nothing of relevance.
I tried to open the Mayor's desk. It was locked. I pulled out my lock pick and popped it. I opened the middle drawer. There were only pens and paper clips in it.
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I pulled open the bottom drawer and found a thick file labeled confidential-community leaders. I pulled it out and there were sub-files of over a hundred leaders in the community including Kristal, Patrice, Ralph, and Keith.
I pulled out Ralph's file and there was only a statement that he was the President of the Black Firefighters and generally was a trustworthy person. In Kristal's file, there was nothing in it except articles relating to awards that she had received and a statement that she was a community activist. Patrice's file had a statement that said she was the leader of the community and she should be treated with respect.
Keith's file was the thickest file. There were no notes in the file. Instead, there were over fifty newspaper articles where Keith had been quoted in. There was also a clasped manila envelope labeled "Do not open until after death."
What the hell did that mean? I rechecked the envelope noticed that it was clasped shut but not sealed. I opened the clasp and pulled out a document and two photographs.
It was a birth certificate. On May 21, 1968, a baby boy Keith Sayers was born to Marion Sayers in Oakland. The box for the father of the child was marked unknown.
There was a photo of a young white woman with a light-skinned African-American baby. On the back of the picture, there were the words
"Keith- my baby boy who I gave up for adoption." There was also a picture of the white women with a young African-American man. On the back, there were the words, "Keith's father-Terrance Clayton."
Shit, the Mayor was Keith's mother. Goddamn and she never told him.
That was totally messed up.
And who was this Terrance Clayton? Was he still alive?
I felt that I had just intruded on Keith's privacy and I felt funny about it. I needed to make copies of the birth certificate and the photos, but there was no time.
I heard footsteps. Damn, the janitor was back. I quickly put the photos and birth certificate back into the envelope and re-clasped it. Then I put back it in Keith's file.
I put the file back inside the major file folder, closed the drawer and re-locked the desk with my lock pick.
I opened my briefcase and pulled out my purse.
I heard the janitor approaching the door. I said, "Gosh, I just found my purse. It was on the floor next to the Mayor's desk."
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The janitor said, "I'm glad you found it, because there was nothing downstairs."
"Thank you for your help."
"Now, you aren't going to tell anybody about me letting you in the office."
"No, I won't tell anybody. You have my word."
I shook her hand and left.
* * *
Today had been an eerie day. How the hell did Kristal's mother know about the file? Someone must have told her, because there was no way she could have dreamt about it. But the information wouldn't help Kristal's case. What was I going to do with it? Blackmail the Mayor to find out the truth about Melvin Grady? Which would be a stupid move unless I wanted to land my ass in jail.
And Eric, I couldn't believe that he was in the psych ward. Maybe if I had given him money, he wouldn't have gone off on the deep end.
Damn, you just never know what was going to happen to people.
So far, I was hitting the wall on this case. I was learning about my past, Keith's past, and his wife's past, but nothing relevant to this case. This was too damn weird.
Keith's father might be connected to the case somehow. But this was unlikely, because I would have heard about him by now. He certainly didn't live in San Jose and after 37 years who knows if he even lived in Oakland. He could be dead, be a patient in the psych ward or in prison.
The way that things were going now, nothing could surprise me. Not a goddamn thing.
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17
Chapter
New Chapter
I had been on the Internet for over two hours and my head was beginning to ache.
I surfed for Terrance and there was nothing about him in the newspaper archives in any of the California newspapers and there were no lawsuits filed against him.
Whoever this Terrance Clayton was, he never had made a name for himself.
Wait a second, Terrance might have gone to Berkeley like the Mayor had. I checked the alumni office and his name popped up for the Class of 1967. Cool. But there was no address listed. It said to contact the Alumni office for information.
I called the Alumni office and said, "Hello, I am trying to locate an alumnus."
The woman said, "What is his name?"
"Terrence
Clayton and he graduated in 1967."
"Is he family?"
"Yes." Well, he used to be. I guess technically he was my ex-father-in-law. So I wasn't lying.
"Okay, it says on the card that we are not to give out his address unless it's family member. So I guess I can give you his address."
She recited me the address. He was living in Oakland. Thank God, he was alive.
* * *
The place where Keith's father's lived was an old decaying home. The outside needed to be painted and the grass was completely brown. There were a couple of boarded up windows and the screen door was torn and rusted. 135
An old African-American woman opened the door. She must have been at least eighty years old. Her skin was severely wrinkled and all of her teeth were missing. Her housedress was much too big for her small frame and her house shoes were full of holes.
I smiled at her and said, "I am here to see Terrence Clayton."
"Come on in. I am his mother."
The woman led me into the living room, which contained a badly stained couch and old rotting wooden chairs. Next to the couch, there were piles of newspapers.
"So ma'am. When are you expecting him?"
"No time soon. I guess you don't know."
"Know what?"
"Terrance done passed away a few years ago. So what can I help you with?"
"Sorry to hear that. I was hoping that he could provide me with some information."
"Are you related to his kin?"
"To his kin?"
"Terrence had a baby boy by a white girl a long time ago. The white girl became the Mayor of San Jose. Terrence tried to tell folks. But no one believed him, because of his problem."
"His problem?"
"Yeah, my boy had a problem with drugs. First, it was heroin and then he turned to cocaine. That's what killed him."
"Sorry to hear that."
"So are you related to his son?"
"No, I am not." This was true, because Keith and I were no longer married.
"That's too bad. I had a feelin' about you when you walked in. Anyway, what type of information are you looking for?"