Wilmington, NC 05 - Murder On The ICW

Meriweather ," I cried. "Officer Meriweather !" I called to a second man wearing the Wrightsville PD uniform.
    Meriweather turned and walked toward us.
    Officer Hank Meriweather was someone who knew my family well. He had issued speeding citations to Melanie on many occasions, but mostly he'd lectured her about the risks of driving too fast for conditions. He was a good police officer, concerned with the well being of the citizens within his jurisdiction. He had been a friend of our father, the late Judge Peter Wilkes.
    "Miss Wilkes," he greeted me soberly. "It's okay, you can let her through," he told his colleague.
    "What's going on?" I asked Meriweather . "How is Melanie involved? Is she all right?"
    "We've got a serious problem here, Miss Wilkes. Get in my car and I'll take you to her."
    I removed the keys from the ignition, picked up my purse and cell phone, and got into the PD cruiser with Hank Meriweather . We drove onto Point Place where beautiful three-story cottages faced the water. Melanie had a listing here, the Bitterman place, as she had reminded me, with its own boat dock and worth several million dollars.
    Skillfully, Meriweather maneuvered the cruiser between what seemed like every cop car in the Wrightsville PD's fleet, passed a fire truck and pulled up behind an ambulance. Melanie's red Mercedes was parked in the driveway. I was almost too scared to speak.
    "What happened here?" I gasped.
    The doors to the house were standing open; police officers searched the grounds and crime scene techs rushed in and out of the house.
    Just then the paramedics came out, wheeling a gurney between them. On the gurney lay a fully zipped body bag. I stumbled out of the car.
    "Melanie! Melanie!" I cried and ran toward the gurney.
    Meriweather caught my arm. "Miss Wilkes, take it easy. That's not her. Your sister is not the victim."
    I watched as the gurney was wheeled to the ambulance. The construction team from the house next door that was under renovation crowded in the street, watching too. A news van was parked there, a cameraman moving in for the kill, live cam balanced on his shoulder.
    I turned back to the house and shock made my heart stop beating. Two uniformed officers were leading Melanie from the house. Her hands were cuffed behind her back.
    The news camera captured her perp walk to the police car. I thought she would be embarrassed and mortified, instead she lifted her chin and glared defiantly into the camera.
    "There's been a terrible miscarriage of justice committed here today," she declared hotly. "And I'm going to sue everybody involved."
    Meriweather's gripe on my arm tightened, preventing me from going to her.
    "Who is the victim?" I asked him.
    "Joey Fielding. Shot in the head. Fatally. She's really done it this time, Miss Wilkes," he told me sorrowfully. "This is no traffic ticket I can fix for her."

5

    What did the police know? Why did they think Melanie had shot Joey Fielding? These were the questions I asked myself as I followed the Wrightsville PD cruiser to the sheriff's detective division.
    At the first stop light I picked up my cell phone and called Walter Brice, an outstanding defense attorney, and a friend of our late father. I was put through immediately and felt lucky that Walt was not in court. I explained the situation to him and he assured me he would meet Melanie at the Detective Division downtown and be present during her interrogation.
    "She knows better than to say anything without me there," he reassured me. "Melanie is smart. And tough. So don't worry, Ashley, I'll take care of everything and if they arraign her I'll have her out on bail. I promise you. But it might not happen until tomorrow morning, so prepare yourself ."
    Melanie was no flight risk, that was a certainty. She had strong ties to the community. She was a billion dollar real estate producer, for pity sakes. If the D.A. was ever dumb enough to take this case to trial, he'd be hard pressed to find twelve jurors Melanie had not sold houses to or for. She was that well-known and that popular.
    How could they think Melanie was capable of killing anyone? Oh, she was temperamental and headstrong. She had her own way of doing things -- she was certainly not conventional -- but that did not make her a killer. No way.
    My next call was to Cam Jordan. Again I was put through right away. Cameron Jordan is the president of Gem Star Pictures which he founded. I like Cam. He is good for Melanie and I could never understand