Body of Evidence

by Roy Glenn

  “SVU.”

  “So Mrs. Daniels got there at eight-thirty, and she left before eleven. Now you told the court that you’re a personal trainer. Is that correct?” Paxson asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You go to people’s houses, and you tell them how to work out, get them in shape. Is that what you do?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You must be pretty good at it because we had the darnest time getting together with you. You must have a lot of clients?”

  “I do alright,” Wade said humbly.

  “Do you have a client by the name of Martha Townson?”

  Wade paused for a second and then an uncomfortable look came over his face. He looked at Panthea. Marcus looked at Wade and then to Panthea.

  “Is that one of your clients, Mr. Long?” Paxson pressed for an answer.

  “Yes, she’s one of my clients.”

  “You see her every Tuesday and Thursday night. Is that correct?”

  “Yes,” Wade said softly.

  Paxson wandered casually to the jury box and leaned against the rail. “I didn’t hear what you said, Mr. Long.”

  “Yes,” he said louder.

  “Now on the night in question, did you keep your appointment with Mrs. Townson?”

  “Yes.”

  “What time did you leave Mrs. Townson’s house that night?”

  “’Bout seven-thirty, eight o'clock,” Wade said quickly.

  “Now this is important, Mr. Long. Which was it, seven-thirty or was it eight o'clock?”

  “It was closer to eight.”

  “Mr. Long, didn’t you in fact leave Mrs. Townson’s house at eight-thirty that night?”

  The look on Wade Long’s face told Marcus the answer without him having to say it.

  “Mr. Long, you have to answer the question,” the judge instructed.

  “I left there at eight-thirty,” Wade finally said.

  Marcus dropped his head. The optimism he was feeling earlier had left the room. He glanced over at Panthea, her expression hadn’t changed. It was as if none of this held any meaning for her.

  “You told this court that Mrs. Daniels arrived at your house at eight-thirty. Were you in two places at once?”

  “No, sir,” Wade said, now seemingly unable to even glance in Panthea’s direction.

  “What time did Mrs. Daniels get to your house?”

  “She got there at nine thirty.”

  Paxson turned around and looked at Marcus. “I believe he is your witness now Mr. Douglas.”

  “Your honor,” Marcus said and stood up slowly. “I would like to request a recess to discuss these developments with my client?”

  The judge looked at his watch. “Court is adjourned and will reconvene at one-thirty this afternoon,” he said and stood up.

  “All rise.”

  The moment Panthea walked into the room right outside of the courtroom, Marcus was hot on her heels. He pulled the door open, waited for her to walk in, followed, and slammed the door behind himself. She knew he was upset. As a matter of fact, the way he had tightly clutched her elbow and guided her out of the courtroom when the judge called the recess had made her wince. But she knew far too many eyes were watching for her to even frown or appear the least bit uncomfortable.

  They had been standing in the room for a good two minutes before she even had the courage to speak to him. “I know you’re mad,” she said softly with her back still turned to Marcus, staring at nothing on the wall, willing herself not to break down and cry. Her knees felt like water and her cheeks were hot.

  “I’m not mad at you, Panthea. I just want an explanation from you,” he demanded firmly.

  She tried to gage the sound of his voice, but there were no signs that he’d soften anytime soon. Panthea slowly turned to see his nostrils flaring and his eyes narrowed. Marcus was pissed. Her heart sank to her toes, and she fought off the urge to cry.

  “Um, I was alone, just driving around,” she shrugged, picking at her manicured French-tipped nails. She looked up at him, “Well, that is until I went to Wade’s house.” She rushed to his side and reached out for him, but Marcus jerked away.

  The line was drawn.

  Panthea looked at her hand suspended in mid-air and couldn’t believe his reaction to her touch. Never since they’d become intimate had he ever resisted her advance. Panthea straightened her shoulders where she stood, blinked back tears before she spoke.

  “I don’t know how long I drove around before I went to Wade’s. I don’t know exactly what time I got there. You remember when Detective Silver asked me what time I got there I said I didn’t know. You remember that, don’t you?”

  Marcus relaxed a little as he thought back to Panthea’s interviews with Detective Silver. He remembered the detective pressing her for a time, and Panthea continuing to repeat, I don’t know. “I remember.”

  “The next day when he said that he talked to Wade, he asked me again.”

  “You said that you didn’t know.”

  “Right. Then he said Wade told him I got there at eight-thirty—”

  “You said, if that’s what he told you,” Marcus said and pulled out his cell phone.

  “I simply went along with it. I really just didn’t see it as a big deal at the time,” she insisted sincerely and waited for his reaction.

  “Well, it was a big deal, a real big deal actually, and one that may have cost us this trial and your freedom.” Marcus walked away from Panthea. “Janise, I need you to pull the transcripts of Mrs. Daniels interviews with the police and get them down here as soon as possible,” he said and pressed end.

  “I need to know you believe me,” Panthea pleaded and gently touched his shoulder.

  Marcus rubbed his face with the palms of his hands and sighed loudly.

  Panthea waited for him to say things would be okay, that he would find a way to fix it. But after more than enough of the awkward silence had hung in the air between them, she cast her gaze to the floor.

  Marcus could see her eyes pooling and her chest beginning to heave, but this time, he didn’t care. He couldn’t understand how she could let something as important as her alibi not being the truth go without saying anything about it. It seemed at times that Panthea had resolved that she was going to jail and wanted nothing more than to enjoy life, enjoy life with him until she was found guilty.

  “Everything is going to be alright, baby. I’ll find a way to fix this.”

  Panthea took a quick step toward Marcus and threw her arms around his neck. She began planting kisses all over his face.

  “I just love you so much,” she said between kisses.

  “I love you, too,” Marcus said just as Panthea’s tongue slivered into his mouth. Her kiss was warm and passionate and for a second, Marcus forgot where he was, and apparently so did Panthea. Before he could say a word of protest, Panthea had his zipper down and her hand in his pants.

  As they kissed, Marcus became more aroused. He gathered Panthea’s dress around her waist. Panthea, who had been hoping for just such an occasion, was wearing crotch-less panties and a garter belt. Panthea wrapped her legs around his waist and Marcus quickly backed her to the wall.

  Panthea was so wet; Marcus slid his dick inside her and pounded her against the wall. “Yes, baby, yes! Bang your pussy, baby,” Panthea said much louder than the situation allowed. Marcus stuck the end of his tie in her mouth and continued to pound away.

  The picture on the wall started shaking, so Marcus moved Panthea off the wall and finished her off on the table. Once they were done the two walked out of the room the same way they went in, defendant and her lawyer.

  26

  Garrett Mason had been on his way to meet Marcus at the courthouse, when his cell phone rang. He had nearly ran a red light as he reached for it. He suddenly remembered he was on his headset.

  “Hello?” he answered as he tapped his Bluetooth device to take the call. The connection was clear for a change.

  “This is
Silver. I’m calling with a bit of information I thought you might want to hear,” he said.

  “I’m all ears,” Garrett said.

  “Abril Arrington, a.k.a., Adina Banks,” Silver began, but Garrett cut him off.

  “Hold up. You can add Aerona Carter to her list of aliases. One of my operatives talked to the guy in LA name of Harrison Fuller. She was taking his money, too. She got his bank account password and was dipping to the tune of five grand a month.”

  “Busy girl. But her real name is really Aisha Kaufman, and she's wanted for bank fraud in Maryland.”

  “Maryland, huh?” Garrett asked. At this point, he was feeling pretty good about the way things were going. He was glad that Silver had stepped up and was apparently trying to do everything he could to make it right.

  “Yup, that’s what I was able to dig up,” Silver confirmed. “You might want to talk with a Detective Johnson there, but that’s a small department, so that means, face to face may be your best option.”

  “Okay then. Thanks for the lead,” Garrett said, and he tapped the Bluetooth to end the call.

  Garrett called Marcus to let him know what he’d found out about Abril Arrington a.k.a. Adina Banks a.k.a. Aerona Carter. “But come to find out that her real name is Aisha Kaufman, and she’s wanted for bank fraud in Maryland.”

  “I think you need to get right up there,” Marcus said. That bit of information was certainly welcome news and came at just the right time.

  “How’s things going there?”

  Marcus turned to Panthea. “Not good. Wade’s alibi was bogus. Mrs. Daniels got there after nine-thirty, not eight-thirty like he said.”

  “I knew that muthafucka was shaky. That just about does it for the home team, doesn’t it?”

  “You know me, Garrett. I’m at my best in the clutch.” He took Panthea’s hand and kissed it. “I still got a trick or two up my sleeve.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope so for her sake, because the ball is on the two yard line and there’s less than a minute to go.”

  “You just do what you’re doing and get back to me as soon as you’re done.”

  Garrett arrived at BWI airport and set out in his rental car to Annapolis. He arrived at the police department located on Taylor Avenue and found Detective Johnson waiting for him as promised.

  Detective Johnson reminded Garrett of Clint Eastwood in his younger days. He was tall, lean with blond hair and blue eyes, and he spoke with a slow southern drawl.

  “So, your girl has been passing hot checks down there in Atlanta, too?” Johnson asked. “She really gets around.”

  “Yeah, she does, but this time she got the short end of the stick, and I’m not talking a bad check. She had been going by a number of different aliases and had stepped up from writing bad checks.”

  “What was she into, Mr. Mason?”

  “Tricking men out of their money. Well, I believe one of those men got mad enough to do something about it. The woman you were looking for, Aisha Kaufman, was murdered several months ago in Atlanta,” Garrett told a stunned Detective Johnson.

  “No shit.”

  “Yes, sir. She basically got rich men to fall in love with her. Then she’d get them involved in some non-existent business and taking them for large sums of money. That is in addition to pulling cash right from under their noses.”

  Johnson looked around as if someone might hear his next words.

  “Well, I guess there’s no point in keeping this from you. I mean, if she’s dead, she’s dead—nothing much we can get from her on no bank fraud charge.” Johnson reached in his desk drawer and dug around in there for a minute before pulling out a file and handing it to Garrett. “She wasn’t a suspect, just a person of interest. But she was wanted for questioning in connection with two unsolved murders.”

  “No shit,” Garrett said and scanned the file.

  “Yes, sir. You’ll see it says right there in that file,” Johnson said and pointed at the file. “This Aisha Kaufman was alleged to be involved with both of the victims. One was six years ago in Chicago. Victim’s name was Lamar Winston. There’s a detective Washburn up there that you may want to have a word with. The other murder was ten years ago in Houston. That victims name was Otis Grimes,” Johnson admitted.

  “How’d they died?”

  “Winston was poisoned. Grimes was hit in the head.”

  “You mind if I make a copy of this?”

  “Not at all. Like I said, she dead. Ain’t gonna be making no bank charge stick to her now,” Johnson said and took the file from Garrett.

  While Johnson left to make copies, Garrett called Marcus. He quickly recapped the conversation he had just had with detective Johnson. As he expected, Marcus was glad for the news, especially after Panthea’s alibi went south. Marcus suggested that, in the interest of time, that Garrett go to Dallas, while Olivia headed for Chicago and see what more they could find out. “This is great work you’re doing, Garrett. I want you to know how much this means to me,” Marcus said and Garrett looked at his cell phone strangely.

  “Sure Marcus no problem. You know me, big dog, whatever it takes to get the job done. I think with all the evidence that we’ve accumulated and with Silver working to make up for him dropping the ball early in this thing, we just might pull this thing off,” Garrett said as Johnson returned with copies of the important, but non-sensitive documents in the file. “When I hang up with you, I’ll call Olivia and get her in motion and I’m gonna head out to Dallas.”

  “Sounds good,” Marcus told him and Garrett pressed end.

  “This should be all you need, but if you have any questions you feel free to give me a call,” Johnson said.

  “Thanks for the tip.” Garrett got back in his car and called Olivia.

  27

  Panthea sat thinking about the state of her life and how she had arrived at such a miserable place. She was miserable because she couldn’t spend endless hours in Marcus’s strong embrace. No other man had loved her quite the way he had. She wanted happiness, true happiness, and there was no doubt in her mind that she felt Marcus was the only real key to that happiness.

  She sat in her bedroom contemplating whether to call Marcus and meet for a quick rendezvous or just wait and pretend like she could resist the spell he had over her.

  She glanced over at her cell phone and willed it to ring. Hoping he’d be on the other end, begging to see her, pleading to spend a few stolen moments in her arms. But that never happened. The phone haunted her as she moved around the room, restlessly.

  “I should just call him,” Panthea said aloud, standing in front of the mirror.

  She looked up at her reflection, telling herself it wasn’t like they were teenagers taking part in puppy love. This was the real thing with her and Marcus, the real thing that deserved a fighting chance.

  “Nah, I’ve never had to beg a man before, and I don’t plan to start now,” she said, determined that she was simply not going to call him. Panthea strolled into her massive walk-in closet and looked around. As she looked at the clothes and shoes staring back at her, she shrugged her shoulders and decided what the hell.

  She stormed out, picked up the cell phone and dialed his number. She nearly tossed the thing against a wall after getting his voicemail.

  Why the hell isn’t he answering the phone? She wondered, Panthea was extremely pissed off about being ignored.

  She began to pace her bedroom again, wearing a trail through the thick carpet and a scowl across her face.

  Just as she was about to go and take a drive to clear her head, the cell phone shrilled to life, lighting up as it rang. Panthea’s heart nearly skipped a beat. After checking her caller ID, she smiled and pulled it up to her ear.

  “Hello?” she grinned.

  “Hello yourself,” Marcus’s voice rang out.

  “I’m so happy to hear from you,” she sang. “I’ve been thinking about you and us. And I just—”

  “Panthea?” Marcus interrupted.

 
; “Yes, darling?” she cooed.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Panthea pondered his question before she answered. Let’s see, she was separated from the man she loved, forced to remain a prisoner in her own home, her body all but ached for a touch that seemed to elude her. No, everything was not okay, nowhere near being okay actually. But she didn’t dare say that.

  “I think we should meet somewhere,” Panthea offered excitedly.

  “Panthea, I think we need to be careful, maybe even back off a bit,” he said, his voice shaky and sounding quite unsure.

  “What exactly are you saying?” Panthea began to panic. She certainly hoped he wasn’t trying to end the good thing they had going. The thought ran through her mind, and she instantly became infuriated. “I mean, what are you saying Marcus,” she demanded to know, raising her voice just a bit more than was actually necessary.

  “All I’m saying is; we need to be careful about being seen together. Pretty soon people may start asking questions or start thinking things,” his voice trailed off, and he realized just how wimpish he was sounding.

  “Marcus,” Panthea called out to him using that voice she knew often made him weak.

  “Yeah, I’m here,” he answered.

  “I need to ask a question, and I need your honest answer here,” she said.

  “Have I been anything but honest with you?” he asked straightforwardly.

  “I need to know if you believe we’ll win?”

  Marcus didn’t respond right away. He pushed his feeling for her out of his head. “Look, I’m doing everything I can possibly think of to ensure you remain a free woman. Nobody wants that more than me. I need to know that you understand that?” he pressed.

  “I do,” Panthea said softly.

  “Good, now, I need to run.”

  “Why do you have to go?” Panthea pleaded with him.

  “I’ve got something I have to do for court in the morning.”

  “I understand. But can’t you just talk to me for a minute. I’m going crazy in this house all alone. I wanna be with you, baby. Can’t we just meet someplace for a little while? I promise I won’t keep you long. It will be a quickie.”