QR Code Murders: Raconteur

Kim took the Greenville assignment in stride. She had time to scope the house she would buy at her retirement. Yawquisha made her way to the vehicle.

“Did you get enough of the city?”

“If you mean covered enough, yes. I’m never going to get enough of it, though.”

Kim smiled. “We’ve got another break in. No injuries or fatalities, just some cash and jewels taken.”

“I’m going to get enough footage of the place to keep the ideas rolling,” Yawquisha proclaimed. “I have a new angle here and I wish to use it. It’s something that I know will be a view getter.”

“You do it for the views?”

“Not just the views. For the story. But the more views the more money. And that allows me more chances to cover other stories.”

“Where are you now?” Kim asked.

“I’m at one hundred million one hundred and sixty seven views,” Yawquisha shared.

Kim nodded her head. “That’s damn good!”

“It’s still away from my goal.”

“What’s your goal?”

“I want at least ten billion views over the next five years,” Yawquisha declared.

“That’s a lofty goal.”

“I’m going to achieve it, too.”

Kim pulled up to the crime scene. She walked past the yellow tape and allowed Yawquisha to come to the crux of the matter. She looked at the shards of glass and the mud stains. She asked a uniform.

“Hey, did we get forensics on this already?”

“They’re coming in the next ten minutes.”

Kim had been squatting. She came up from that position. She stepped around the footprints and noted.

“This was pretty sloppy. I can tell the forensics are going to have an easy one on their hands this time. Good for them. Good for us.”

Yawquisha recorded every word Kim spoke. There was an enduring sense to the case that Kim wanted to get back to the city even though she breezed through the suburbs.

With the information that she had collected from the scene, she knew that the person was probably a male, about six feet tall, two hundred ninety pounds and had a vendetta against the family. He probably had a weapon but….

Kim rushed into the house. “Everybody out, the place is––”

An explosion tore through the home. It was all a ruse to blow up the residence. Whoever did the job did it sloppily on purpose to lure cops to a house and try to take out as many as possible. Kim just had her hair singed slightly and some bloody knuckles from scraping the concrete. Yawquisha captured all of this. She shot the whole thing from beginning to when the fire crew went in and extinguished the blaze.

She offered a bit of commentary. “Detective Jergensen attempted to inform her fellow law enforcement authorities that the house was going to blow. She got there just in time. No fatalities. She just got some scrapes and others got first degree burns. This could have been much worse if the detective had not figured out how the place was set to blow up. Once she determined the only way the people are going to understand something is through force. So, we’ve got rapper murderers in the city and a bomber disguised as a burglar in Greenville. Is there a connection there?”

Kim had her hand wrapped and gauze and looked like she was preparing for a twelve round bout. When she linked back up with Yawquisha, more gallows humor issued from her lips. She stared at Yawquisha.

“What?”

“Are we at ten billion yet, raconteur?”

“Not quite, Columbo.”

Kim let out a soundless laugh.