Chapter 1

The first time I was introduced to the term, “Temporary Insanity” was inside an interrogation room down at the jailhouse on main street.

It was couched by my court appointed lawyer furnished by the State for all felony crimes charged by the district attorney.

My lawyer was a real doll.

Her name was Roxie and she looked good enough to be a model or an actress.

I know I am in a lot of trouble here and shouldn’t be thinking about her nice-looking ass and such, but I can’t help myself because that is the kind of guy I am.

The scent of her perfume was wafting through my nostrils like tiny kittens on little toes causing my shaft to pop up at an indelicate part of our attorney-client conversation. I knew she saw it because her face blushed at my inopportune arousal.

We had just hashed out that I was at the scene of the crime and was arrested standing over the two stiffs with the murder weapon in my hand, but I assure you it was all circumstantial.

I saw that the blushing legal advisor had her lipstick on a little crooked and that she had obviously rushed there to answer the call from the defender’s office at one AM in the morning. I hoped I hadn’t been a cause for her to desert her bed partner, if she had one and hadn’t caused any interruption to ongoing coitus in the nocturnal hours.

I thought I could sort out the odor of recent sex not filtered out by the French perfume but it might have just been my overactive imagination, since I had been divorced for several months now and was basically sleeping alone in my bed with only a cat for company.

The cat was a stray left behind by a fellow apartment dweller and I took pity on it looking all skinny and unloved out in the hallway. In all honesty, I don’t know if it was he or a she and not being a nosy guy I didn’t even bother to investigate.

“Mister Hardman, I must insist you do not say another word to these investigators because they have no witnesses, and you have a plausible reason for being at the scene.”

She went on to describe the boundaries of “Justifiable Homicide, Temporary Insanity, and something called “Diminished Capacity”.

Unfortunately, her words went in one ear and out the other because I knew I was completely innocent and expected to be released as soon as they sorted things out.

I had been a pretty good cop at one stage in my life and thought I knew the Criminal Justice system better than most people.

I knew the ins and outs of Forensic evidence, Habeas corpus, other legal criminal terms, but never thought I would be on the receiving end of any felony investigation.

Roxie crossed and uncrossed her legs across from me and I determined that she had left her place forgetting to put on her undies and all her goodies were spread open in front of me in flashes of pink and black like an open invitation to the ball and here I was arrested and ready to go to jail for something I didn’t do.

The cops came back in and resumed their questioning.

I followed my lawyer’s advice and simply said, “no comment” to all their questions leading them to terminate the interrogation until the next day for the hearing.

Roxie placed her hand on my arm and assured me it was for the best and there was no way they were going to let me out due to the circumstances. I agreed with her because it is exactly what I would have done in a reverse situation.

My cell was small and had a capacity of four detainees.

The only other occupant was a weird looking dude with wild hair and a fucking beard that looked like a bird’s nest.

I told him my name was Jimmy not bothering to tell him my last name because it didn’t seem appropriate.

“Hey, Jimmy, what are you in for? They got me for pickpocketing. Do I look like a pickpocket?”

“My name is Harvey and I guess I am what you would call a “homeless person” because my landlady threw me out for being late with the rent.”

I avoided answering his question about looking like a pickpocket because in all honesty he certainly looked shabby enough to qualify for that sort of funny business.

He had a speech impediment, and his left hand was doing the Saint Vitus dance like it was on pep pills. That, and the fact that he was a bit slow and lacked energy convinced me he was no danger to me, but I kept on my guard just in case.

I fell asleep feeling like there was something that I forgot and I couldn’t remember what it was leaving me feeling like a sailor lost at sea with only water in every direction.

My dreams focused on the reason why I was up close and personal with the two stiffs in that downtown parking garage with a silly look on my face for the uniformed cops responding to a call for an altercation on the premises. I pondered why I hadn’t just left the scene of the crime. I think I was still acting like a cop and wanted to check out the facts of the incident.

I had been parking my car in the back corner with some difficulty because the office worker parked next to me had his driver’s side tires slightly over the painted line forcing me to exit my door squeezing right next to the concrete wall.

I remembered just as I was trying to get out, I heard what sounded like shots inside the semi-open garage. I wanted to hit the dirt with my military training but was unable to do so because of the situation. I heard a car peeling rubber to the exit, and I figured whatever had happened was over and was curious to see the details.

It was only about fifty meters to the bloody scene of the crime.

The guy was face down on the dirty garage floor. I didn’t have to feel for a pulse because the left side of his face was missing as the high velocity round exited his head. The poor loser didn’t have a chance and probably didn’t see it coming. I saw he was packing heat, but he never had a chance to reach for it because he was dead before he heard the boom of the murder weapon.

The broad was hanging out of the Escalade with her purse hanging on the door handle holding her in a sitting position. I thought she was still breathing but discovered it was just an illusion because of gas passing from her fast cooling lips. The round had caught her in her right eye, and she was probably trying to get to her companion when she got it.