QR Code Murders: Study

“What’d you study to get your degree?” Yawquisha asked.

“Computer Information Systems.”

“Sounds fun.”

Kim burst out laughing. “You’re serious?”

“Absolutely. That’s what I’ve been learning online with YouTube clips. One of the things, anyway.”

“I’m just glad I’m not riding a desk right now. I don’t mind it, though. Trust me. It gets exciting when you tap into the software realm and uncover all sorts of baddies.”

Yawaquisha absorbed Kim’s words. She observed her own sense of self in every syllable.

“You know your way around cameras and the Internet. That’s impressive you’re able to make a living based on your gumption and self-taught nature. You should be proud of that.”

“I am.”

Kim laughed again. The car rolled on like a spaceship coasting through the sky. The gravel stratosphere launched them to the next crime scene.

“Alright. Same set up. I’m sorry you had to take your last video down. This time, only cover interviews.

Kim walked up to the victim who had still been a fresh kill. The QR Code looked bright in the sunlight. It was like a stamp on the bicep, just like the rest. Kim looked at one of the uniforms’ work phones. It featured a video of the deceased, Gang Gang DelStop or Gavino Pritchard. She observed the mannerisms and noticed the graffitti of another QR code five blocks from where Pritchard had been found.

The precision of her policing led her to her car to discover the connection between the two codes.

“We’re leaving already?” Yawquisha asked.

“Yes. Thanks to you and your sleuthing, we pinned a code on the wall of an abandoned building. This time, the goddamn thing is near crumbling and we can’t make out the exact code from the video. So we hike.”

“Yawquisha prepared her smartphone and sent out posts to her social media sites.

She didn’t give exact locations, though.

“Now, you can start rolling. There’s no bodies here.”

Yawquisha felt a surge of energy course through her body. She ambled out of the vehicle with a fire in her mind and steady hand on the camera. She took shots of the QR code. It looked like a jack-o-lantern. Pieces of brick were strewn all over the ground. Kim lifted them and fit them like a Tetris puzzle.

“Stand back!” Kim shouted. It was gentle though. Yawquisha responded and retreated from the scene.

Kim took her work phone and snapped the code. It displayed a mock of Pritchard’s funeral. An actor laid in repose and the rapper’s opposition all gave their two cents on what they planned to do to the slain seventeen-year-old.

Kim saved all the data and Yawquisha was able to take a few more videos of the place.

“That computer science degree…did you get it after you were hit those times in Iraq?”

“After. Way after. That’s right before I became a 2ndLt. I served as the lead in an information systems battalion. I was low on the list in terms of other officers but I led my enlisted guys with respect and they returned it.”

“I would’ve expected the Delaware State Police to glue you to an office chair.”

“They saw the Marine in me and decided I should be on the streets, I guess. But of course I’m solving murders that relate to technological systems anyhow.” She shrugged.

“That’s true. These codes are like little capsules of where and how to find the next vic and to stop all future perpetrators. This will die down, I’m sure, if I know how to use the Internet.”

“Exactly. You just have to let these waves ride out and do your goddmandest to disrupt another person from falling.