I caught up with Teddy Tinsel outside of Swishing Sweets, an adult entertainment club in Southtown owned by none other than Marcus Trent himself.
First, I had to find Phil Farley and convince him [SFX: FistFight background] that I meant business.
(Faded in from background)
Dodgely: "Who’s the goon who beat me up the other night."
Phil Farley: "Teddy Tinsel."
Dodgely: "Where is he?"
Phil Farley: "In Southtown."
(Fade out.)
When I say I caught up to him I really mean that I nailed him in the face with the business end of a trash can.
[SFX: Crash]
It was lucky I brought the can, because Teddy Tinsel, despite his sweet name was another giant of a man.
Dodgely: "Listen to me buddy, you know who I am?"
Teddy: "No."
[SFX: Punch]
Dodgely: "Yeah you do, you smacked me around two nights ago."
Teddy: "I don’t know you."
[SFX: Punch]
Dodgely: "Well, guess what Teddy. Today’s the worst day of the rest of your life."
[SFX: Punch]
Dodgely: "I’m a cop, and you’ve assaulted a police officer. That’s five years upstate."
Teddy: "What? I didn’t know you was a cop."
[SFX: Punch]
Dodgely: "Well, now you do, Teddy. But, now it’s too late."
Teddy: "Wait a minute, wait a minute. There’s gotta be something I can do."
There WAS something he could do. He could turn state’s evidence on somebody. And, it didn’t matter that that somebody didn’t exist.
Teddy went to the police an hour later and turned stoolie on a poker buddy. The buddy had told him about a job he’d pulled for some rich guy outside of the city. Evidently, he’d killed the rich guy’s wife for him. Put a bullet in her head. Teddy didn’t know who the poker buddy was, but he knew the rich guy was named…
Teddy: "Trent, Marcus Trent."
[SFX: Sirens, police, flashbulbs, "extra, extra"]
The press loved it. I’d say they had a field day but it was more like a field month. Marcus fought for his innocence every step of the way, but it finally came down to those photos. The last day of the trial rolled around and I came to the courthouse to watch the circus; and found myself sitting next to my old pal, Freddie.
Freddie: "Good work."
Dodgely: "What are you talking about?"
Freddie: "I know what happened."
Dodgely: "I told you he did it."
Freddie: "Well, we’ll see won’t we?"
Dodgely: "Today’s the day."
Freddie: "Yep."
[SFX: Court room sounds]
Freddie: "That poor sap."
Dodgely: "Who?"
I was a little annoyed and hoped that he wasn’t talking about Marcus.
Freddie: "His brother."
Dodgely: "Whose brother?"
Freddie: "Marcus Trent’s."
He pointed at a sorry looking fellow sitting a few rows behind Marcus and his lawyer. The guy was a complete wreck.
Freddie: "Kevin Trent. He seems to be taking it harder than Marcus even."
Suddenly it felt like a cloud had settled just below the ceiling of the court room.
Dodgely: "I didn’t know he had a brother."
Freddie: "Yeah, it’s funny."
Something wasn’t right here.
Dodgely: "What’s funny?"
Freddie: "My best detective, Hardy, thought it was Kevin that had done the dirty deed. He was convinced. But, then Tinsel showed up outta nowhere and knocked the theory outta the water."
Dodgely: "He thought it was Kevin."
Freddie: "Yeah, the only problem was that there didn’t seem to be any motive. There was the big insurance policy, but Marcus was going to collect on that, not Kevin. It just didn’t hold up."
Something wasn’t right. Marcus was about to be convicted and something was wrong. I stood up and started out of the court room. I needed some fresh air. I needed some time to think.
Freddie: "Where you going? You’re gonna miss the show."
Dodgely: "I’ll catch it in the papers, Fred."
As I pushed through the doors at the back of the courtroom the smell of flowers filled my head. I knew that perfume, and suddenly everything fell into place. I had been played.
Continue Scene 7
