No One Is Innocent

by Gayle Tiller

  I turned off the TV and grabbed my briefcase. I jumped in my car and headed to my office.

  When I got in, there were twenty-seven messages. A few were from the reporters. Five messages were from Reverend Michael Baylor and the rest were from clients.

  I erased the media's messages and Michael's messages without hesita-tion. I wrote down my clients' calls.

  The phone rang. I let it ring my customary three times and answered it.

  "Myers Detective Agency."

  "Hello Jasmine. This is Reverend Michael Baylor. I've been trying to get in touch with you."

  "Michael, I am no longer on Kristal's case. I suggest that you talk to Kristal's lawyer or her new private investigator whoever that is."

  "Jasmine, it's important. I need to see you as soon as possible."

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  I said firmly, "I told you I am not on the case."

  "All I need is a minute. I am across the street from your office."

  I peered out my window and I saw him. I was tempted to say "no." But what was the point? He probably would come over anyway.

  Begrudgingly, I told him that I would see him.

  A couple minutes later, he appeared at my door. He said, "I need you to come with me and leave everything here."

  "Why?"

  "Please just do it. It's very important."

  When I looked into his eyes, the power in his eyes was too overwhelming. I wanted to say "no," but I couldn't.

  I asked, "What about my keys?"

  "Just take the key to your office."

  I unhooked my key ring and took my key ring. I asked, "Where are we going?"

  "Don't worry."

  We got into a rented vehicle and got on the 880 freeway.

  I asked, "Where are you taking me?"

  He answered, "I can't tell you."

  Forty minutes later, we got off the freeway at the 98th Avenue exit and drove to Brighton Temple Baptist Church, which was the largest African-American church in Oakland.

  "Why are we here?"

  "Because I needed to discuss something with you."

  "Why did we go all the way to Oakland?"

  Michael said nothing and led me downstairs to the basement.

  Sitting on a battered couch was Chuck who was wearing a pair of jeans and a faded blue tee shirt.

  I said, "Michael, I have to leave. I shouldn't be here."

  "Jasmine, Chuck needs to talk to you."

  "Michael, you are harboring a fugitive. That is against the law and you could be charged with a felony. I don't want to get involved."

  "It's too late."

  Why was it that all of Kristal's men were so damn loyal to her? It was like she had some kind of strange mystic power over them.

  Chuck cleared his throat and said, "I know you don't want to have anything to do with Kristal because of your ex. But Kristal is innocent and so am I."

  "Chuck, if you are, you need to turn yourself into the police."

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  "It's not that simple. I have some information. But I believe if I go to the police, they will destroy it."

  "Why?"

  "It's just a gut feeling."

  "Chuck, that's not good enough."

  "Yes it is. They never really helped me with my father's disappearance.

  There is no way in hell that I would go to them now."

  "What do you want from me?"

  "You need to go through Ralph's e-mail. Ralph was e-mailing the Chief."

  I began to get angry and I said, "His e-mail. I already went through the e-mail that is how I discovered that Kristal had… "

  I wanted to say "fucked," but I remembered that I was in the presence of a minister. I then finished my sentence with "an affair with my husband. And Michael and she did everything but have so sex so Michael could claim he wasn't violating any of the ten commandments."

  Michael looked embarrassed and said nothing.

  Chuck said quietly, "You checked Kristal's e-mail, but what about Ralph's?"

  "There were e-mails, but there was nothing to the Chief or about Bill Roberts. There was nothing on the hard drive."

  Chuck responded, "That's because he erased it from the hard drive.

  But Ralph's Internet service provider would have copies of it. I believe that if you get this e-mail, you will find the real killer."

  "And how do you know that he was e-mailing the Chief?"

  Chuck said, "Because he told me. He trusted me."

  "Trusted you? You were sleeping with his wife."

  "I told you before that he didn't know. No one knew."

  "How come your niece knew about it?"

  "My niece thinks every African-American woman is my girlfriend."

  "But you had a picture of Kristal in your wallet."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Your niece told me and her best friend who is the granddaughter of the Mayor. And you must have told someone about the apartment, because the police raided it."

  "No, I never told anyone."

  "Did you write down the address?"

  "No."

  "Then how did the police find out about it?"

  "I don't know."

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  I wanted to tell him that I knew the answer. They knew about the apartment, because the person who had bugged me had tipped the police off. But I said nothing.

  Michael looked at me and said, "Jasmine, I know someone has been checking you out and a bug was placed in your briefcase. James told me.

  That's how the police found out."

  "Are you saying that the police are bugging me?"

  "Either them or the murderer is leaking information to them. Why do you think I told you to leave everything in your office?"

  "Yeah, I figured that's why you were acting so mysterious."

  "Jasmine, you have to get Ralph's e-mail and help us."

  "Michael, I will think about it and let you know.

  "Jasmine, I know you will do the right thing."

  "What is going to happen to Chuck? Are you going to keep him here?"

  "I can't tell you that. But when the time is right, he will turn himself in."

  I looked at Chuck suspiciously and asked, "Is that true?"

  "As soon as we get all of the evidence, I will turn myself in."

  "I just want to let you both know one thing. I was never here.

  Understood."

  Chuck responded, "Yes, I understand."

  Michael said, "So do I."

  Michael escorted me out of the church's basement and drove me back to my office.

  When he let me out of the rented car, Michael said, "Jasmine, I know you will do the right thing. You are an honorable woman."

  I said nothing and closed the passenger door.

  When I got into my office, I sat down at my desk and exhaled deeply.

  A part of me hated Kristal and wanted to have nothing to do with her.

  But Mama had taught me that you always have to do right. You can only prosecute the guilty and not the innocent. It was wrong to abuse power for power's sake.

  I pulled out the authorization papers from Kristal's file and stared at the papers for a long time. What if Chuck was wrong and there was more evidence against Kristal or something else? My heart had already been ripped into shreds this week and I knew I could not cope with any more emotional trauma. I had no man to comfort me except for James who was Kristal's lawyer and a man who I could never give myself to.

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  I was tempted to throw the papers away. Kristal had hurt me like no one had done before. Why did I have to get the e-mail? Couldn't someone else do it?

  I realized that she had no one else to do it. Chuck was a fugitive and they probably knew about Michael and Keith. Sure, James could get a court order, but that would put the DA on notice. I was in a fucked position and I hated it.

  I thought about calling Ralph's Internet service provider, but I remembered that my phone could be tapped. Yes, I had gotten rid of the bug from
my briefcase, but who knows if the bug had been replaced.

  And with Raul being on vacation, there was no way I could be certain.

  I then took the authorization papers, Ralph's death certificate with my keys and left my office.

  * * *

  I waited an hour at Ralph’s Internet provider before a husky woman greeted me. She was in her late thirties and wore too much blue eye shadow and mascara. I introduced myself and said, "I have authorization to review Ralph Woods' e-mail files." I showed her the authorization papers.

  She glanced at the papers and said, "This is signed by Kristal Woods.

  Who is she?"

  "His wife."

  "I'm sorry, but we can only release the information to the party."

  "Ma'am, Ralph Woods is deceased." I then showed her Ralph's death certificate.

  "Sorry, I can't help you. You are going to have to get a court order."

  Ms. Blue Eyeshadow was not going to prevent me from getting access.

  A court order might take at least a couple of days and probably by then, all of Ralph's e-mail would be gone.

  I noticed on her desk a picture of a boy who was about two years old.

  He had unruly blond hair, his ears were too big, and lips were almost non-existent. He was not a cute child. In fact, he was borderline ugly.

  I smiled and said, "Your son is really cute. When he gets older, he is going to have a hard time keeping the girls away."

  Ms. Blue Eyeshadow blushed and said, "You really think so."

  I laid it on thick and said, "Yes, he is going to break a lot of ladies'

  hearts."

  "He looks just like his daddy."

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  They say love is blind and in this case, it definitely was. I didn't know how long I could keep lying to Ms. Blue Eyeshadow so I decided to tell the lie that she needed to hear.

  "Ma'am, Kristal Woods is expecting her first child and there is a strong possibility that the baby may have some birth defect. A birth defect runs in Ralph's family. Ralph was in communication with a doctor about how to test for this birth defect and its cure. Kristal needs to get in touch with him as soon as possible."

  "Can't she just call the doctor?"

  "She doesn't have his name. Before his death, Ralph mentioned he was e-mailing the doctor who he found on the Internet."

  "What's the birth defect?"

  Shit, I could make up something. But who knows how smart Ms. Blue Eyeshadow was. I said, "You know it's some long convoluted name."

  "Why can't you ask Mrs. Woods' doctor to help her?"

  "Because only this doctor on the Internet knows about the cure and how to test for it. It's all in the experimental stage. With this information, Kristal's baby could be saved. And Kristal doesn't want to lose the baby, because she and Ralph had to try for years. She is already in her late thirties and she may never be able to get pregnant again."

  "Are you sure that the baby has the defect?"

  "I don't know for sure. But what would you have done if you had found out while you were carrying your son that he had birth defect and there was a way of curing it?"

  Ms. Blue Eyeshadow was silent for a few seconds and said, "For the baby, I will release it."

  Thank God she bought that bullshit. I was even beginning to believe my story.

  Ms. Blue Eyeshadow accessed Ralph's account and made a copy of Ralph's e-mail on a disk for me.

  She said, "Ralph Woods had this account with us for the past three years. This is a copy of every e-mail he sent and every e-mail that he received. I hope that this helps the baby."

  I smiled and said, "Thank you very much for your help."

  I left and headed toward my office.

  When I got back to my office, I clicked on my computer and popped in the disk and scanned it. I made a copy of the disk and put a copy in my safe.

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  I pressed the search button and typed in "Richard Carpenter." There were 156 e-mails. I typed in "Bill Roberts." There were two e-mails. These had to be the right ones.

  The phone rang. It was my father.

  "Hi Jasmine, I was just checking on you to see if everything was alright."

  "Yeah, I am doing a lot better."

  "You haven't changed your mind about Kristal's case, have you?"

  His question took me by surprise. What was I going to say I just saw Chuck who is a fugitive and got a copy of Ralph's e-mail by lying. No, it was better to continue to lie.

  "No, Dad. I am off the case for good."

  "Well, I have a meeting in a couple of minutes. How about dinner later this week?"

  "Sure, Dad. Call me back on Friday and we can set up a time."

  "Jazz, I forgot to tell you something. I love you and I am very proud of you."

  "I love you, too."

  I hung up the phone. I had never lied to Dad about a case before. Sure, I had refused to tell him about the details about cases before, but I had never told him such a blatant lie. But in this case it was justified, because someone in the San Jose Police Department was after Kristal. It was too risky to say anything.

  I then clicked on the first e-mail regarding Bill Roberts.

  To: Ralph Woods

  From: Richard Carpenter

  Re: Bill Roberts

  Date: October 3, 2005

  I received your e-mail. You wanted to know why I left the department.

  It was too dangerous for me to stay with the department. You know that I was investigating Melvin Grady about the disappearance of Bill Roberts.

  At the time, Melvin Grady had worked for the San Jose Police Department and he was a member of the homicide unit. I believe he and the others covered up the disappearance and possible murder of Bill Roberts. I am not sure what the reason was.

  It may have something to do with Angela Myers. But as you know, she died a few months later of breast cancer after his disappearance. So we cannot talk to her.

  Anyway, there is something else that I need to tell you. It has to do with the laundry mat where you used to do your laundry. That's where you will find the 180

  information about the drug dealing. I can't go into details, but you know what I am talking about.

  Call me so we schedule a meeting.

  Richard

  The e-mail confirmed Grady was a drug dealer. But what did my mother have to do with Bill Roberts' disappearance? She had been a prosecuting attorney. Had she found something on Bill Roberts? Or the union? Why hadn't Dad said anything about her?

  There was another e-mail from the Chief to Ralph.

  To: Ralph Woods

  From: Richard Carpenter

  Re: Bill Roberts

  Date: October 5, 2005

  Ralph,

  I haven't heard from you. I hope everything is okay. I want to ask you to stop the investigation and tell you the truth why I left.

  I left because of my investigation of Melvin Grady and the others who were involved with the homicide unit-especially the officer who was the chief investigating officer. I also have evidence about the drug dealing.

  The information that I found could destroy both the Police Department and Fire Department if it is discovered.

  They threatened to expose me if I went forward. I know you think that I am coward. But I had to leave, because they were going to out me. Tell everyone that I was gay and my lover had died of AIDS. This isn't San Francisco. I just could not cope with the pressure.

  You know that brothers would never accept a black gay man. To them, I would be a faggot who betrayed everyone's trust. The reality is no one would support me and that was something I could not handle.

  I want to tell you again that you need to stop investigating or they will hurt you-especially the chief investigating officer.

  I love you and Kristal like my own children. So please again, stop investigating.

  Richard

  Shit, Mark Lindsey was involved. Had he murdered Bill Roberts? And what for? And what did my mother have to do with any of this?


  I needed to see Chuck as soon as possible. I couldn't risk seeing Kristal. Besides I might cuss her out again. I was still hurting from finding out about the affair.

  I printed a hard copy of the two e-mails and put them in my safe.

  I left my office and headed toward Michael's church.

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  When I got there, Michael greeted me like he had been expecting me.

  He asked, "Did you get the e-mail?"

  "Yes, I did. Before Ralph's death, the Chief warned him that the he could be hurt by the chief investigating officer who had been investigated Bill Roberts' disappearance.'

  "Who was the chief investigating officer?"

  "A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with my father and he told me that it was Mark Lindsey."

  "Mark Lindsey killed Bill Roberts?"

  "I didn't say that. But also Melvin Grady played a role in part of the investigation." I didn't want to say anything about my mother, because I felt that I needed to protect her.

  "Okay, so do you think Mark Lindsey killed or had Ralph killed?"

  "I don't know. My father told me to stop investigating Bill Roberts or I could be hurt. But I need to see Chuck because I need to ask him a few more questions."

  "Jasmine, he has been moved to another location. I don't know where it is."

  "I need to see him as soon as possible."

  "I will see what I can do."

  I left and headed toward the Hall of Justice. When I arrived, I went to the records department.

  I clicked on Mama's name and found the list of cases that she had handled. There were not any listed against Melvin Grady, Mark Lindsey or anyone else in the department. Maybe nothing had been filed, because Mama only had started an investigation.

  I went to the library and pulled out the microfiche clips on criminal activities during those years. After two hours of reviewing this information, I found nothing. My head was throbbing.

  I looked for information about unions and found nothing.

  I then looked under Mama's name. To my surprise, there was microfiche under her name.

  There were a number of clippings about Mama's victories in criminal trials. Mama had received the Citizen of Year Award from Mayor Bill Roberts.