Clerow, Robert Foxworth, Kool Kat , Chance Howard and I all met at the Coroner's Office the next morning.
''Here's some photos of the body ...see the wounds? The abdomen...the chest and the neck.....What do you think?" said the coroner...
Robert, Chance and I studied the enlarged glossies just fine......I looked at the way the cuts were administered..
''Left Handed...Who ever killed him was left handed.. They also were swinging wild.....I don't think the person was taller than Hugh either." I said.
"VERY GOOD KEVIN...Very good...I thought I was the only one who noticed that...I had to tell the Homicide detectives the same thing..They didn't notice that...but I picked it up right away that the killer is a lefty." he said.
Robert Foxworth smiled, so did Chance Howard....Kool Kat and Clerow seemed baffled.
''How inebriated was he?" I asked.
''Oh hell... He had six times the legal limit for alcohol in his system...We also found a huge amount of marijuana......He was high and drunk enough that he probably didn't feel too much pain at the time of death.." said the coroner.
"Okay...thanks man." I said and we all walked out...
"Well Kev...you know as much as the cops know." said Robert Foxworth...
"Well I had to start somehwhere to get a feel for which way I wanted to go....Gus and Minay both said that Joe Willis seemed to be giving him the chills...Seemed to be everywhere he went...." I said.
"Joe Willis? The developer?? He's one of Rollie Rollerson's pals...I can't see him even hanging out in this part of town...He's kind of hoity toity." said Robert Foxworth...
"Yeah, but he was....and his name has come up too many times for him not to be a person of interest....I've got to find him and talk to him." I said.
"It aint like he's hiding out Kev, I have his phone number and his address and his work number and work address." said Chance Howard..
Robert laughed....I looked at Chance.....
"Damn man, who are you?" I asked... Clerow and Kool Kat busted out in guffaws of laughter...
"What?" asked Chance sheepishly.
II-
"You know Kev...I asked myself the same thing...Why was a guy like Joe Willis drinkin in my bar...I mean, I aint tryin to put my spot down...but neither me nor Gus attract cats like him with six figures." said Joe Neptune, the bartender and owner of the Mermaid Club, where Kool Kat, Clerow and I found ourselves drinking cold beers a few hours later.
"So he was in here?" I asked...
"Yeah..a couple of times....and both times...that guy, Hugh Benet, who got killed was in here....He was in here the night Hugh came in here with Millie....That was the night Hugh got killed and he was in here the night before that when Hugh was in here with Gypsy." said Joe.
"Gypsy??", Who is that?" I asked.
"Sexy little number.....She is a regular....Hugh met her in here , took her home ,banged her brains out!" said Joe Neptune..
"How do you know?" I asked .
"Cause she told anyone who would listen, how huge he was, how long he could stroke and how she had multiple orgasms and how nobody ever made her feel like that and how she wished he'd call her back...She made us all sick.. that next morning." he said.
"Did they meet again?" I asked.
"I doubt it..he was in here with another girl the very next night and of course he got killed that night." said Joe Neptune.
"She sounds like someone I need to talk to." I said.
"Funny thing, Gypsy aint been around since Hugh got killed..." said Joe.
"Hmmm." I said.
III-
Clerow drove up in front of the High Rise where Joe Willis lived...If this was some gangster, We would normally have parked a few blocks away...but for all intents and purposes, Joe Willis seemed like a normal citizen... I told Kool Kat to hang back . I got on the elevator and went up to see Joe Willis myself!
I rang his doorbell and to my surprise, a sexy young woman answered the door.It was Valarie Brown..I defintely knew who she was...But I could see that she didn't remember us meeting about a year ago in the offices of Hype Magazine where I work.
"Hi ,Ms. Brown, is it? my name is Kevin Morris, I'm a private investigator....Is uh Joseph Willis here? I asked.
She looked a little strange....Then she looked around outside...She motioned me inside....
"Look , I suppose you're here about Hugh Benet's murder huh?" she asked.
''Yes...but what have you got to do with this?" I asked.
"My name is Val...Valerie Brown and I remember you...You work at that magazine that Rollie sits on the board of directors for...We met! Last year I believe! Kevin right?"
''Yes, that's right...I didn't think you remembered me." I said.
."..The police have already been here, but I lied...I told them that I didn't know Hugh...and Joe said that he didn't know him either...but that's not true...I lied because Joe was here and he's very, very jealous...but I was uh, ruh, kind of with Hugh two nights before he died." she said.
"You were?" I asked... Man, this guy got around...He had a bangin fiance, slept with a gorgeous woman the night he died and possibly the night before that and here was another woman he was with the night before that!!!!! If these girls had boyfriends....the suspects wanting to kill Hugh Benet was many, I mused.
"Look...I shouldn't even be talking to you about this...and you can't tell Joe...he'd kill me...He already suspects that Hugh and I did something and like I say..he's very jealous..." she said.
"What happened?" I asked.
''Hugh was a sound engineer...He was doing the sound and mike check for Downtown Rob Brown...who was doing a set for Rollie Rollerson...Joe had kind of pissed me off that night and he was missing in action all night...Hugh was checking me out...We were kind of flirting with our eyes....Hugh bought me a drink..we got to talking..one thing led to another and we wound up upstairs in one of Rollie Rollerson's huge rooms for a quickie....only it wasn't hardly a quickie....we were going at it hot and heavy for two hours...whoooooo, that man could go.....but uh, I guess you don't need to hear all of that huh?" she said.
"You were missing for two hours in Rollie Rollerson's house and you don't think anybody saw or missed you??"I asked.
"Rob Brown was still playing when we came out...you know? I don't think anybody noticed...but Joe aint been the same since that night..He's been cold to me and he's made little snide remarks and he's grilled me about other men over and over and he's probably had me watched too..." she said.
"You think Joe had a motive to kill Hugh?" I asked...knowing the answer...Of course he did..that's why he was following him to places he would never hang out.
"I don't know..Like I said ...He is very jealous." she said.
"Where is he now?" I asked...
"He went out to get some groceries...He should be back any minute now..." she said...
''Well...here's my card...tell him to give me a call...I really need to talk to him....and don't worry...your secret is safe with me." I said.
"Thank you....I feel very bad about what happened to Hugh...he seemed like a nice guy....That was the first and last time I ever saw him." she said.
"Okay Ms. Brown." I said and walked out of the door...I felt something akin to an explosion that hit my jaw no sooner than I opened the door....Joe Willis had cold cocked me...!!! To say that I saw stars was an understatement...I went flying.....
He was a big man, six feet three and athletic looking, not terribly muscular....He charged toward me..I got to my feet, but not before I absorbed another punch from him..a body blow that damn near folded me over..I sucked it in and returned with some blows of my own...about ten lefts and ten rights to his jaw that were snapping his head back and forth !!!
"Joe stop..stop...what has gotten into you?" screamed Valarie....
Joe tried to charge again..I hit him with several more lefts and rights to his body, then and uppercut and then
several more lefts and rights to his face, which sent him flying and into the wall..His lip was bleeding and blood was gushing from his nose..He got up and like a punch drunk boxer stumbled towards me and then fell flat on his face... Kool Kat and Clerow came running around the corner with guns drawn...
Valarie screamed....I held my hand up for them to halt... I helped Joe Willis get to his feet and the four of us walked him into his condo and sat him down...
''What was you niggas doin in here with my woman?" he screamed.
"Man , you better sit down and let us do the talkin...Cause the kind of beatin I'll put on you is far worse than what Kev here already put on you." said Kool Kat... Joe looked at the Big man and his common sense ruled the day...I had already tied fire to him...He really didn't want a worse beating.
''Alright, what you want?"he asked.
"Hugh Benet?" I asked.
"What about him? He dead aint he?" he asked... He reached over with his right hand and picked up a glass of water and took a swig.
"You didn't kill him did you?" I asked. Kool Kat looked puzzled at the way I questioned Joe Willis. I already had conclusions of my own that I had now come to. Clerow looked puzzled also.
"Hell no...I followed him though...I took photos of him and two of his trollips...I showed em to my girl here, who called herself steppin out with him at Rollie Rollerson's party, like I wouldn't know..Like somebody wouldn't tell me what yall was doin in the coatroom." he snapped.
''Joe I-" she said.
"Shut up, don't lie to me anymore...STOP THE LYING!" he yelled. For some reason, Clerow and I both looked at each other and smiled...The big man, Kool Kat..saw no humor in the situation..He was seething!
He went in the drawer and with his right hand he pulled out the glossies....Look, there is your boyfriend....Night after you gave him your good good...he had forgot all about you..There he is with some babe at the Mermaid club....There he is making out in the parkin lot of Josie's with yet another babe and leavin with her...That's your boyfriend..!!!!!.You was just another piece of ass to him!!" he yelled...
''Joe,I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry." she cried...
''So then you killed him!" yelled Kool Kat.
"I didn't kill him...I already talked to the cops...They said he was killed at three in the morning...I was here all night..She can testify to that...if you believe anything that comes out of her lyin mouth." he spat.
Valerie nodded her head in agreement.
"Okay...that's good enough for me..Sorry for all of this trouble ." I said and Kool Kat, Clerow and I left.
''Kevin, you're just leavin? He's lyin...he followed Hugh and he stabbed him to death." said Kool Kat.
''Yeah boss...Did you see his babe? If I had a babe like that and some dude pushed up on her...I might kill over it." added Clerow.
''Yeah, but he didn't do it." I said.
"How can you be so sure?" asked Kool Kat.
''Because...He's right handed..When we fought tonight..he lead with his right...He picked up that glass of water with his right hand...He pulled those photos out and handed them to me with his right hand...Plus he's too big!!..Our killer is shorter or at least Hugh Benet's height and is definitely left handed. The Medical Examiner said as much." I said.
"So we got nothin right?" said Kool Kat.
"We have someone else to talk to...This Gypsy person...The other girl he was with...She might know somethin useful." I said.
Kool Kat grimaced....
''Alright Kev... I'll follow your lead man." he said as we walked to my car.
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
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