Jessie Black Box Set 2

by Larry A Winters

  “You watch the Eagles game last night?” Harland said.

  Leary cringed inwardly, but nodded with what he hoped looked like enthusiasm. “Close game.”

  “Hell of a close game. If I had money on it, I think I might've had a heart attack. But I don't bet. You?”

  “No, I'm not a big gambler.” How the hell was he going to segue from gambling to asking this man if he could marry his daughter? He took a deep breath. “Mr. Black, there is actually something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Don't call me Mr. Black, Mark. I'm Harland.”

  “Okay, Harland. Anyway, I was hoping we’d have some time to talk because—”

  Jessie’s father looked up. Leary followed his gaze and saw Jessie returning to the table. She sat down, replaced her napkin on her lap, and smiled at both of them. “Did I miss anything?”

  “We were just talking about the Eagles game,” Harland said. “And Mark wanted to ask me about something.”

  Jessie looked interested. “Ask him about what?”

  Leary tried not to squirm, but the evening was not going according to plan. When it came to romance, nothing ever seemed to go according to his plans. Sometimes he considered it a miracle he was in a relationship with Jessie at all. “Just sports stuff,” he said lamely.

  It looked like Jessie might push for a better explanation, but at that moment, the waiter arrived with their entrées. The plates were distributed on the table and the focus shifted to the beautifully presented dishes. Lamb for Leary, beef for Harland, and Mediterranean sea bass for Jessie. Jessie leaned over her plate and inhaled, smiling with anticipation. Leary picked up his knife and fork and made a show of busying himself, hoping the conversation would be dropped.

  “This is so nice, having dinner with both of you,” Jessie said. “Especially after the day I’ve had.”

  “Jessie’s murder trial got postponed,” Leary explained to Harland. “She spent the last month obsessively preparing for it.”

  She shot him a look. “I wasn’t obsessed. I was diligent.”

  Her father nodded. He forked some food into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. He smiled and said, “Good steak.”

  “And that’s not why my day was hard. I got into an argument with Emily, and—” There was a buzzing sound and both Leary and Jessie reached for their phones. He saw Jessie’s father smirk knowingly. Leary’s phone was still, so it was Jessie receiving the call. She looked at her phone's screen and her face scrunched up in a way that Leary knew meant she was about to reluctantly excuse herself.

  “Work?” Leary said.

  “No. It’s Emily.” She glanced at her father, and Leary saw the indecision in her eyes. “It’s okay. I’ll call her back.”

  “No,” Leary said. He couldn’t let another chance to be alone with her father slip by. “You should talk to her.”

  “You sure?”

  Both Leary and Harland nodded. “It’s fine,” Harland said. “Just don’t let your food get cold.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be quick.”

  Leary watched her walk away, then leaned toward Harland, not wanting to waste a second this time. “What I wanted to talk to you about is…” He hesitated. “I need to ask you…. Damn, this is awkward.”

  Jessie’s father stared at him with an amused expression. “It's starting to be.”

  “You know Jessie and I have been together for almost five years.”

  “You make my daughter very happy.”

  “Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that. The reason—”

  Jessie returned before he could finish his sentence. The distraught look on her face drove all other thoughts from his mind. He jumped up and rushed to her side, almost knocking over his chair. “What's wrong?”

  She looked into his eyes. Her gaze was watery, stricken. “I need to get to Walnut and 17th Street. Can you drive me there?”

  “In the middle of dinner?” her father said. He had risen from his seat to join them. The three of them stood together in the middle of the dining room. Everyone seemed to be staring at them.

  “I’ll make it up to you, Dad. I promise.”

  Her father waved away her words. “If something’s wrong, don't worry about me. Do what you need to do.”

  Jessie looked relieved. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “But I'm taking your food home with me. I'm eating well this week.”

  “It's a deal,” Jessie said. She smiled, but Leary noticed her smile failed to reach her eyes. She tugged his arm, and they hurried out of the restaurant and into the night.

  5

  Burnt plastic. Gasoline. Smoke. She smelled the accident before she saw it.

  “You want to tell me what’s going on?” Leary said. He pulled to the side of the road where a police barricade cut off access to the intersection of 17th and Walnut, the address Graham had given Jessie over the phone.

  Jessie couldn’t answer him yet. Feeling nausea rush up her throat as she climbed out of his car, she put her hand over her mouth.

  Rescue workers milled around the remains of a Volkswagen Jetta. Smoke billowed from the misshapen husk. The car had apparently slammed into the brick wall of an apartment building—narrowly missing the glass entrance to a pizza place next door—colliding with enough force to crumple the vehicle like an accordion. The impact must have caused an explosion, because the car and the shattered wall were singed black. There were no flames now, but the remains of the car were charred and dripping with the water that had been used to douse the fire. The air stank.

  Leary put an arm around her, but she gently pushed him away.

  “I think I knew the person in that car,” she said.

  He looked at her, eyes wide. “Who?”

  Emily Graham made her way through the police officers and rescue personnel to Jessie’s side. Seeing her was a relief, despite the recent tension between them.

  “Thanks for calling me,” Jessie said.

  “I thought you’d want to know.”

  Jessie tried not to shudder. “How many people were in the car?”

  “Just the driver. Female. Like I said on the phone, the car is registered to Kelly Lee. We’ll need a few hours to confirm that she was the driver.”

  “A few hours?” Leary said.

  Graham turned to him. “The body isn’t in good shape.”

  The body. Jessie swallowed. She had to struggle to voice the next question. “She died?”

  Graham gazed at the wreck. “It’s pretty bad, Jessie. We’re talking body-parts-separated-from-the-body bad. And everything is severely burned. The ME is going to have to do some work.”

  Leary shook his head. “Jesus.”

  “What happened?” Jessie said. “Was there another car involved? Did the driver just lose control?”

  “I don’t think they’re sure yet.” Graham gestured at a group of men and women studying the wreck. “There weren’t any witnesses—none who’ve come forward, anyway. No cameras on this intersection, either. We’ll have to wait for AID’s findings.”

  Jessie knew that AID stood for Accident Investigation Division, the Police Department agency tasked with investigating crashes in Philadelphia. She watched them work, feeling her skin crawl at the methodical way they examined the horrific scene. Leary made another attempt to put his arm around her shoulders. This time, she let him.

  “Is AID aware of what Kelly told the police?” Jessie said. She struggled to keep her voice neutral, but saw Graham’s expression tighten.

  “I passed along the information.” Her tone was cold.

  “They know she thought she was being threatened?”

  “I just told you I passed along the information.”

  Jessie nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

  The detective shrugged. “I doubt they’ll do anything with it.”

  “What?”

  “I told you how the department feels about Kelly Lee.”

  Jessie wanted to be civil, but she couldn’t contain her anger. “That can’t matter now. A
woman is dead. The police need to look into a company called Boffo Products Corporation, and its chief executive, a man named Douglas Shaw. Shaw may have targeted Kelly in order to shut down a lawsuit that would have hurt his company and exposed him to criminal charges. There’s motive here. Suspicious circumstances.”

  Leary looked at Jessie. His eyes narrowed. “Why am I starting to get the feeling I’m not in the loop here?”

  “That’s up to AID,” Graham said.

  Jessie pulled her aside. “Emily, come on. You’re a cop with integrity. I need you to help me here.”

  “Am I a cop with integrity?” Graham’s face suddenly twisted with a look of disgust so visceral it made Jessie take a step back. “That’s not what Kelly Lee claimed in the complaint she filed against me.”

  Jessie felt her mouth hang open. For a second, she had no words. “You never told me.”

  “Not something I’m super proud of.”

  “What happened?”

  “What do you think? Lee and her scumbag client made up some lies about me. The city settled the case. We all signed nondisclosure agreements.”

  Jessie felt an ache in her chest. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

  “Why?” Graham leaned forward, getting in Jessie’s personal space. “Lawyers like Lee fulfill a vital function, right? Isn’t that what you believe? To stop bad cops like me.”

  “It must have been a misunderstanding. Maybe Kelly was misled—her client lied to her.”

  “She’s the liar. I got off lucky. God knows how many good cops’ careers she ruined. And not just cops. She’s sued doctors, firefighters, even other lawyers. This….” She gestured at the horrific accident scene. “A lot of people would call this karma.”

  “Would you?”

  Graham turned away. Jessie could see her gnaw at her lip. “I don’t believe in that stuff.”

  “I know. You believe in justice. Maybe Kelly was what you say—a liar—but if she was murdered, that’s a heinous crime. We can’t let a killer walk away just because the victim had flaws.”

  Graham shook her head. A rueful smile crossed her face. “Not my call. I told the investigators Lee thought someone was following her. What they do with that information is up to them. My conscience is clean.”

  “Jessie?” Leary said, joining them.

  “I’ll tell you everything later,” she said to him. Then, turning back to Graham, she said, “Kelly was frightened for her life. Now she’s dead. Don’t you think that warrants a real investigation? Shouldn’t the Homicide Division get involved?”

  “This is AID’s case until they find evidence to suspect a homicide.”

  “There must be something you can do.”

  Graham frowned and watched the AID investigators with a melancholy expression. Someone made a joke, and several cops laughed. Graham’s expression was like stone.

  Leary looked at Jessie with concern. “We should probably go,” he said. “Let the accident investigators do their job. Come on. I’ll drive us home.”

  6

  The next morning, Jessie tapped the doorframe of her boss’s office and smiled at him when he looked up from his papers. “Got a minute?”

  Warren Williams let out a sigh. His face creased with the beleaguered expression she’d gotten used to during her years working for him in the DA’s Homicide Unit.

  “Is this a bad time?” she said.

  “No, come on in. I’m just wiped out. I’ve been waking up at 5:00 AM every morning for the past six days.”

  “Why 5:00 AM?” Jessie navigated carefully from his doorway to one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk. It was a short, but perilous, path, since there were documents piled on every available surface, including the floor. Her leg touched the edges of a tower of paper, and her breath caught in her throat, but the precarious stack didn’t spill. She reached the chair with a small sigh of relief.

  Warren didn’t seem to notice. He was rubbing his eyes. “I heard on a podcast that most successful people rise early and meditate before work, so I’m trying it.”

  “You’re meditating?”

  He put his hands down and leaned back in his chair. “Well, no. For now, I’m just drinking coffee and trying to keep my eyes open. I’ll start the meditation after I get used to waking up.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” To her, it sounded like a crazy plan, but she didn’t say that to Warren. She’d come to his office to ask for some time to look into Kelly Lee’s death, not to critique his new morning ritual. “If it works for you, maybe I’ll give it a try. Listen, the reason I’m here.... I need a favor, Warren.”

  Warren rocked back in his chair and his head entered a shaft of sunshine that filtered in through the room’s only window. Instead of brightening his face, the crisp, fall sunlight seemed to accentuate the puffy evidence of fatigue.

  “And what favor might that be?”

  “You heard the Alvarez trial got postponed?”

  Warren nodded.

  “Well,” she went on, “now I have some time on my hands, and I think I have a good use for it. A friend of mine from law school was in a car accident last night. She died.”

  Warren watched her. The look of sympathy she’d expected did not appear. “I’m sorry to hear that.” His voice sounded strangely neutral and flat.

  “The thing is, I’m not sure it was really an accident. Yesterday, she told me she felt threatened, like someone might be following her. I’d like to spend some time looking into it.”

  “Isn’t that the PPD’s job?”

  “Yes, but….” She knew she needed to tread carefully. Throwing around accusations about the police shirking their responsibilities would not play well with Warren. “It never hurts to add a fresh perspective to the investigation, right? I’m a lawyer, so I have some insight into her daily routine. And I knew her. I think I can be helpful.”

  Jessie held her breath as Warren seemed to consider her request. “Does this law school friend’s name happen to be Kelly Lee?”

  Jessie tried to cover her surprise, but probably did a poor job of it. How did Warren always seem to know everything? It was like he had eyes and ears everywhere in the DA’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department. Everywhere in the city, it sometimes felt like. “I guess you already know that’s her name.”

  He leaned forward. “I do know it. I also know that calling her your ‘friend’ is a bit of a stretch. My understanding is you haven’t really spoken with her in about ten years or so. I also heard that the Accident Investigation Division found no evidence to suggest foul play. The formal report will be issued soon—probably today. There’s not going to be any investigation for you to help with.”

  Jessie felt her face redden. “You’ve been looking into this.”

  “Of course I have. It’s my job to manage this unit, including you.”

  She took a breath. “Well, if AID is not going to investigate, isn’t that all the more reason I should take a look? With my trial delayed, I have time. AID might be right, but why not double-check? It will give me something to do, keep me busy, and I can feel like I’m helping Kelly, since I can’t help her in any other way.”

  The smile that creased Warren’s face was utterly devoid of mirth. “Being your boss brings me plenty of challenges. Keeping you busy isn’t one of them.”

  “Is that a yes or a no?”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Lee was not a popular figure within Philly law enforcement circles. Any ‘double-checking’ of the AID investigation is not going to be viewed as helpful. You’re going to make enemies. And when you make enemies, my life gets harder. I can find you something to do if you’re really so bored and directionless, believe me. That won’t be a problem.”

  “Warren—”

  “Let me be clear. Do not use the resources of this office to pursue any kind of investigation involving Kelly Lee.”

  7

  Jessie was on her second cup of coffee when Leary entered the coffee shop. She watched him scan th
e room. When he finally spotted her in the dark corner where she’d chosen a table, he smiled. It was almost enough to make her feel better.

  “Not your usual coffee source,” he said as he took the seat next to her. “Did Alish close his store today or something?” He was referring to the convenience store near the DA’s Office where Jessie religiously purchased her morning coffee.

  “Alish never closes his store.”

  He smiled again. “That I believe.”

  “I picked this café because we need to talk. That’s hard to do in a convenience store—no matter how good the coffee is there.”

  “You do know we both work for the DA’s Office now, right? Finding a place to talk isn’t much of a challenge.”

  “We need to talk privately.”

  Leary looked intrigued. She sipped her coffee and watched him process her words. “This is about Kelly Lee’s accident?” he said.

  “Warren doesn’t want me to get involved.”

  Leary pulled his chair closer to hers and touched her arm. “I’m sorry. I know you feel like you need to do something.”

  “No one else is.”

  Leary made a face. “That’s how it appears.”

  “After all these years, Warren still worries I’ll do something stupid, create political problems for the DA’s Office. He treats me like a rookie.”

  “I don’t think that’s the case. From what I’ve seen, you’re basically his right-hand woman. He trusts you with all the most important murder cases. He defers to your judgment constantly, and seeks it out.”

  “In the courtroom, yeah. But outside the courtroom, it’s a different story. All I want is a chance to make sure Kelly Lee’s accident was really an accident.”

  “Don’t you see Warren’s perspective, though?”

  Jessie put down her cup. “What?”

  “I’m just saying, especially in today’s climate, police misconduct claims are extremely serious.”