The Graveyard Shift

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Lee Lofland — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:30:05 +0000

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the families of each of these brave officers.

Deputy Sheriff Brian Harris, 41

Kane County Utah Sheriff’s Office

August 26, 2010 - Deputy Brian Harris was killed while tracking burglary suspect Scott Curley. Curley set up an ambush and used a rifle to shoot Deputy Harris. The suspect was captured several days later. Deputy Harris, a Gulf War veteran, is survived by his wife Shawna and two daughters, 13-year-old Kirsten and 10-year-old Kristina.

Family and friends gather to mourn the passing of Deputy Brian Harris

Accused cop killer Scott Curley (sheriff’s office photo)

Chief of Police Paul Jeffrey Fricke

Hawk Point Missouri Police Department

August 27, 2010 - Chief Paul Fricke was traveling on Highway 47 near Hawk Point when his patrol car slipped off the pavement. He then over-corrected and his car hit a utility pole on the opposite side of the road. Chief Fricke died at the scene of the crash.

Officer Matthew Tokuoka, 39

Hoonah Alaska Police Department

Sergeant Anthony Wallace, 32

Hoonah Alaska Police Department

August 28, 2010 - Officer Matthew Tokuoka was off duty and was driving with his family when he stopped to talk to fellow officer Sergeant Anthony Wallace. While Tokuoka and Wallace stood outside their cars a man walked up and opened fire, striking both officers. The officers were transported to the hospital where both succumbed to their injuries.

Officer Tokuoka’s wife, Haley, and their six-year-old son and two-year-old daughter were in the car at the time of the shooting. Tokuoka’s mother was visiting from out of town and was also in the car when her son and Sergeant Wallace were ambushed.

*Officers, please use caution and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Be vigilant for potential ambush situations.

Stay safe and wear your vests.

New And Unusual Cop Stuff

Lee Lofland — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:50:16 +0000

Even cops have to keep up with the times. And to do so, the folks at the drawing boards must devise new products for use in the field. Here’s a peek at what’s rolling off the assembly lines these days.

Unlike traditional car seats, ABS Transport Seats offer room for elbows and handcuffed wrists. The ABS material makes clean up (with a garden hose) a breeze, too. You know, for those accidental bladder incidents, and the drunks who just can’t seem to hold their liquor, beer, pickles, pizza, cotton candy, hot dogs, and ice cream.

Toshiba makes the ultimate CopTop computer called the Portégé M780 Tablet PC. It’s even designed to take the rough and tumble activity that goes hand-in-hand with patrol work.

The Weather Tracker is a hand held weather monitoring device that also features a ballistics calculator. So, whichever way the wind blows a savvy shooter will always remain on target.

It’s a pen. No, it’s a weapon. Or, is it an evidence collection device? The answer is… all three. The UZI Tactical Pen is capable of note-taking and ticket-writing, but its specially designed top delivers a painful punch when used as a weapon. The top also collects torn flesh from the suspect for later DNA analysis, if needed.

Pro-Guard’s level II Ballistic Ticket Board is capable of stopping three rounds from a .357 at a distance of fifteen feet. The level I board can stop three 9mm rounds from the same distance. The board’s ergonomically placed handle also comes in handy.

Bust-A-Cap baton tips screw on the end of a standard ASP (expandable baton). Once in place the officer then may use the baton as a glass breaking tool for gaining entry to locked vehicles, etc. Perfect for rescuing trapped crash victims.

SafariLand’s Lightning Spray-On fingerprint powder is perfect for those hard-to-dust areas, such as ceilings and some vertical surfaces. The spray comes in all the traditional colors.

Cops and Guns: Are You Using The Wrong Words To Describe Them?

Lee Lofland — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:19:25 +0000

You write about cops, private investigators, detectives, CSI techs, and federal agents. And you spend a lot of time researching. Lots of time. And a great deal of that valuable time is spent participating in citizens police academies, attending writers conferences, emailing cops and former cops, visiting police stations, and reading blogs, such as this one.

Sure, you want your details to be good. No, you want them to be fantastic, maybe even perfect. So why do we still see books with cop facts that are totally wrong, especially information and terminology regarding firearms and ammunition?

I won’t jump on the cordite bandwagon again (No, no, and no cordite!), but I will address the terminology that I often read in crime novels. That’s where a lot of the trouble begins. Starting with…

Shotgun v. Rifle

I see these two used interchangeably, and they’re not. Not even close. Yes, they’re both considered long guns, but a rifle has a barrel with spiraled grooves cut into it that cause the projectile (bullet) to spin (think a football thrown by a quarterback). The spinning increases accuracy and the distance the round can travel. Normally, shotgun barrels are not rifled.

Snipers use rifles, not shotguns.

A shotgun has a smooth barrel that’s designed to fire a shell containing several small pellets called shot. When fired, the shot spread out allowing a greater chance of hitting a target. However, a shotgun is basically accurate only at closer distances. But, hitting a moving target, or smaller targets, is much easier with a shotgun than with a rifle.

Officers make use of shotguns at distances of 75 yards and less (distances vary).

Handguns vs. Firearms vs. Pistols vs. Revolvers

I might create a little buzz with this one, but yes, there’s a difference between a pistol and revolver. A revolver is a handgun with a rotating cylinder that feeds ammunition, one bullet at a time, to its proper firing position each time the trigger is pulled. A revolver is a handgun, and it is a firearm.

A handgun, such as the ‘Glock or Sig Sauer, is actually a semi-automatic pistol. Ammunition is fed to the firing position by a spring-loaded magazine. A pistol is also a firearm.

Clip vs. Magazine

It’s a magazine that’s loaded with bullets and inserted into the pistol carried by your protagonists. A clip is actually something that stores ammunition and refills magazines. So please don’t confuse the two. Officers do not shove a fresh “clip” into their pistol when reloading. Magazine, magazine, magazine!

Ammunition

One round of ammunition is a cartridge.

Pistols, revolvers, and rifles do not fire shells.

Silly writer, shells are for shotguns…

The images and information below are from ATF’s website.

Handgun - Pistol

Note: This illustration shows the primary characteristics exhibited in the Pistol category. Since pistol configurations differ significantly, various models in this classification may exhibit any of the illustrated components in a revised configuration, but not necessarily all components shown will be incorporated in any one given design.
A diagram showing various parts of a pistol and their defined names: the muzzle, grip safety, ejection port, etc.

Handgun - Revolver

Note: This illustration shows the primary characteristics exhibited in the Revolver category. Since revolver configurations differ significantly, various models in this classification may exhibit any of the illustrated components in a revised configuration, but not necessarily all components shown will be incorporated in any one given design.

- A diagram showing various parts of a revolver and their defined names: the cylinder, ejector rod, hammer, etc.

*Notice*

- Only 23 days left until the Writers’ Police Academy! We still have room for you!

- Entries are pouring in for the 200 word short story contest. Have you sent yours? The deadline to enter is September 10. The Golden Donut Award sure would look nice sitting on your desk!

- TNT television is sponsoring an exciting contest to be held exclusively on The Graveyard Shift. Details coming soon! Prizes are really cool. Think Memphis Beat and Rizzolli and Isles. TNT is a sponsor of the Writers’ Police Academy. And, TNT Knows Drama!

Crime Scene Forensics

Lee Lofland — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:16:01 +0000

Portable body screen prevents rubberneckin’ looky-loos and reporters from seeing the body or other evidence at a crime scene.

Evidence collection kit contains:

1 ea. Master Carrying Case, with foam inserts and divider (21″ L x 14″ W x 10″ H)
1 ea. Shirt Pocket Long Wave 4 Watt UV Lamp, with batteries
1 ea. 5½” Straight Hemostats
1 ea. 6″ Scissors
1 ea. Retractable Tip Carbide Scriber
1 ea. Disposable Scalpel with Retractable Blade
1 ea. Black Evidence Marking Crayon
1 ea. White Evidence Marking Crayon
3 ea. Marking Chalk
20 ea. Nitrile Barrier Gloves
4 ea. 1 oz. Plastic Evidence Collection Jars
4 ea. 2 oz. Plastic Evidence Collection Jars
5 ea. ½ oz. Metal Evidence Collection Containers
5 ea. 1 oz. Metal Evidence Collection Containers
5 ea. 2 oz. Metal Evidence Collection Containers
10 ea. Evidence Security Bags, 5″ x 8″
10 ea. Evidence Security Bags, 9″ x 12″
10 ea. Evidence Security Bags, 12″ x 15″
10 ea. Paper Evidence Security Bags, 5¼” W x 3½” D x 10¾” L
10 ea. Paper Evidence Security Bags, 7″ W x 4½” D x 13¾” L
10 ea. Paper Evidence Security Bags, 12″ W x 7″ D x 17″ L
10 ea. Kraft Evidence Security Envelopes, 6½” x 9½”
10 ea. Kraft Evidence Security Envelopes, 9″ x 12″
5 ea. Small Evidence Boxes, 2¼” L x 1¼” W x ¾” H
5 ea. Small Evidence Boxes, 2¾” L x 1¾” W x 1 1/8″ H
5 ea. Small Evidence Boxes, 3½” L x 2½” W x 1½” H
1 ea. 3½” Diameter Magnifying Glass
1 ea. Flashlight, with batteries
1 ea. Sawtooth® Evidence Tape, red
1 ea. Permanent Ink Evidence Marker
10 ea. Paper Evidence Tags
10 ea. Plastic Evidence Tags

Animal cruelty forensic kit containing items such as:

Bags, tags, tongue depressors, swabs, presumptive blood tests, thermometers, protective gear, and insect collection material and containers.

Trace evidence metal detection spray (or powder). Solution is sprayed on a suspect’s hands for the purpose of detecting traces of metal from tools and/or weapons. Investigators illuminate the test area (hand) with a UV light to make the minute particles of metal visible.

Sometimes, the actual shape of the object can be seen on the crook’s hand.

*Notice*

- Only 24 days left until the Writers’ Police Academy! We still have room for you!

- Entries are pouring in for the 200 word short story contest. Have you sent yours? The deadline to enter is September 10. The Golden Donut Award sure would look nice sitting on your desk!

Prison Visits From The Comfort of Your Own Home

Lee Lofland — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:02:10 +0000

Are you tired of dressing up, getting the kids ready, and driving several hours just to spend an hour or so chatting with your spouse using a grubby telephone from behind thick body-fluid-stained glass? Sure, the surroundings are pleasant—metal chairs bolted to the wall, all the roaches you’ve ever wanted to see, and orange jumpsuits for everyone. Oh, and the company is simply to die for, literally.

Now there’s a product that allows you to visit your incarcerated loved ones from the privacy of your own home. iWebvisit has created an online video conferencing system that, if approved by the corrections facility, works with all PC and Mac computers. No, it’s not the same thing as a contact visit, but it sure helps relieve the stress that’s associated with visiting a prison inmate.

Just think, no more standing in line with Charles Manson’s relatives. No more guards pawing through your purse touching things that should only be fondled by your own tender fingers. No more metal detectors, handing over your car keys, strip searches, dogs sniffing your body, officers watching your every move, or carrying change for the vending machines in little clear, plastic pouches. And, finally, there’s an end to meeting your spouses “friends” from cell block C.

So sign up today and visit the loved one of your choice.

Notice

- Only 25 days left until the Writers’ Police Academy! We still have room for you!

- Entries are pouring in for the 200 word short story contest. Have you sent yours? The deadline to enter is September 10. The Golden Donut Award sure would look nice sitting on your desk!

*Sorry for the brief post today, but we’re experiencing internet troubles here in the Georgia swampland we’re calling home, for now. I think something may have damaged the connection outside. Wonder what it could be?

Weekend Road Trip: Photos of You

Lee Lofland — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:34:08 +0000

Writers conferences are great for learning our craft. They’re also the perfect place to keep up with the latest news, trends, and industry gossip. But the best part of attending writers conferences is meeting new friends and connecting with friends we’ve known for years. Here are a few of the good folks I’ve met along the way.

* Entries are pouring in for the Writers’ Police Academy short story contest. Have you sent yours?

* Please remember to show your support for our good friends at Amber Alert Systems. Help them find lost children faster! This is the last weekend of voting.

Vote here:

http://www.refresheverything.com/findlostchildrenfaster
Wayne M. Merry, Founder
Because We Care!
Amber Alert Systems
follow us on FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Amber-Alert-Kiosk-Systems/216932051753?ref=ts
www.amberalertsystems.com

Friday’s Heroes: Remebering The Fallen

Lee Lofland — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:29:48 +0000

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the family of this brave officer.

Officer Charles Collins, 56

United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection

July 11, 2010 - Officer Charles Collins was killed in an automobile accident while on duty in Alaska. His vehicle left the roadway and went down a 200-foot embankment after he’d left his duty station in Port of Eagle. His body was recovered August 15, 2010.

Officer Collins is survived by his wife and two sons.

Officer Collins’ vehicle

Police News, Forensic Facts, and a Horrible Crash

Lee Lofland — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:59:07 +0000

The times are changing. I remember when it took months hear from the lab regarding fingerprint submissions and blood typing (we didn’t have fancy DNA testing back in the day). Sure, I complained about the backlogs at the testing facilities. After all, we were arresting criminals left and right, and some had even served their time in jail and were back on the street before we received a positive fingerprint match from the experts. Now that’s slow! Unfortunately, it really happened.

But, there are new concerns these days, and not just with forensic labs. But let’s start there.

- According to CBS News, the FBI has a current backlog of 3,211 DNA cases waiting to be tested. That number doesn’t sound so awfully bad given the size and population of the country, however, it would take over two years to clear them. And that’s without adding any to the list during that period of time.

- 1,400, or more, of the 3,211 DNA cases waiting to be tested are missing persons cases, cases which are deemed low-priority when compared to murder and rape. Therefore, those cases have the longest wait time, meaning the chance of finding one of the 1,400 grows slimmer each day.

- State and department policies can, and do, interfere with DNA testing. In fact, in one case a state attorney general refused to test the DNA from one of her state’s prison inmates, a test that could have implicated the prisoner in a Florida homicide. Her reason for refusing to assist another state in their murder case? The governor of the state (now involved) says federal guidelines do not allow them to release that sort of information—a partial DNA match—to other states. Wait a minute! Isn’t CODIS a system run and maintained by the Feds?

Actually, there is an FBI bulletin relating to CODIS that specifically says it’s okay to share information. In fact, the bulletin encourages it. But, for now, the state of Michigan (the state in question) has refused to assist in catching a man who savagely beat, tortured, and stabbed a 76-year-old man to death. By the way, the killer used a fork to repeatedly stab the victim. And he used a bronze statue to obliterate the elderly man’s skull.

- On the other hand, the state of Maryland has great news to report. Since 2007 they’ve cleared a backlog of 24,000 samples, which resulted in 267 arrests—122 burglary and robbery cases, 16 murders, and over 100 sex-related offenses.

- The two Tybee Island, Ga. police officers who were accused of wrongfully using a Taser on an autistic teenager have been indicted. However, they were not indicted for the use of the Taser. Instead, they were indicted for lying and making false statements to investigators. The lies and charges all center around concealing the actions of a non-certified jailer who was present on the scene. The officers told a Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent that only they were present during the incident. It’s not clear as to what role the jailer played during the Tasering.

- A Wisconsin thief was nabbed recently thanks to a vacationing family’s digital camera. As the family posed in front of the state capital for a self-timed picture, a thief grabbed their bag and took off. The quick thinking photographer checked the image, and sure enough, the thief was clearly seen making off with the goods. Local police recognized the bandit and picked him up. He still had the bag with him at the time of his arrest.

Finally, thanks to Lt. Dave Swords for reporting this horrific crash on Hwy 675 near Beavercreek, Ohio. A state trooper’s dash cam captured the event as it unfolded. Oddly, the driver of the car had just been stopped by police and released.

The driver survived the crash!

Mark Young: Predicting Future Crimes

Lee Lofland — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:34:32 +0000

Mark Young retired from law enforcement after 26 years and turned his attention to writing. You can catch up with him at Hook’em & Book’em “where mystery readers, writers and law enforcement connect,” at his web site, or on the Clearwater River in the central Idaho Mountains during salmon and steelhead seasons.

Predicting Future Crimes

By Mark Young

Before jumping ahead about predicting future crime, I’d like to express appreciation to Lee Lofland for allowing me to trespass here on the fabulous The Graveyard Shift blog. Lee’s informative blog, his Writers’ Police Academy, and his book Police Procedures and Investigations are must-have tools for the crime mystery writer. Now, back to the future.

An unnerving movie, Minority Report, came out a few years ago where crime is virtually eliminated in the year 2054. Cops acted on data from precogs, three mutated humans who can peer into the future. Using this futuristic prediction, an elite law enforcement unit tracked down these criminals. The crooks were identified, apprehended, tried and convicted before the crime was ever committed. Everything changes when these precogs turned their attention toward Tom Cruise’s character, John Anderton, leader of the Precrimes police unit. The police unit commander must flee for his life.

Unbelievable?

Take another look. Public attention went spiral a few weeks ago when they learned Google Ventures-the internet giant’s investment arm-teamed up with a CIA-backed investment company to pump money into a little-heard-of company called Recorded Future (RF). What caught everyone’s attention is this new company’s stated goal: monitor the web in real time and use this information to predict the future.

The company’s web site unabashedly explains how they intend to do this. First, they glean information by pouring over the internet highway-new publications, blogs, niche sources, trade publications, government web sites, financial databases and more.

Secondly, they extract information from these sources-identifiable subjects and events, including the times of occurrences-and they measure “momentum for each item” in their index as well as something they call “sentiment.” In short, they provide a peek into the future based on real-time data just collected.

Armed with this information, RF allows their clients access to the predicted future for a price. The company site explains: “You can explore the past, present and predicted future of almost anything. Powerful visualization tools allow you to quickly see temporal patterns, or link networks of related information.”

Based upon investments into this RF project, these “customers” include the CIA, Google, and you-for the right price. However, the CIA most likely will enjoy special privileges to this information since RF research is financed-in part-by intelligence agency monies. The CIA owns a chunk of this future-predicting company.

RF’s current customers include investment, finance and trading strategy firms; marketing, brand awareness and monitoring groups; public relations, crisis management, and advertising entities; and, of course, intelligence analysis, national security and defense agencies.

The CIA funneled their investment through a strategic investment firm, In-Q-Tel (IQT), created in 1999 with a tag line that claims: “Accelerating Innovation for the intelligence community.” Since its inception, IQT has broadened its scope of operations to support many intelligence community agencies, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the Department of Defense.

Like the rest of us in the late 1990s, the CIA came to realize that commercial information technology was advancing so rapidly that they found it hard to keep up. This was a difficult pill to swallow for an agency that prided itself on being on the cutting edge. IQT statement of CIA history acknowledged this point: “Throughout its lifetime, the CIA has operated at the cutting edge of science and technology. From the U-2 spy plane to the CONOMA satellite, CIA’s wizards of Langley earned a reputation for bold innovation and risk taking, working in advance of the private sector and other branches of government.”

Much to the CIA’s chagrin, however, information technology screamed ahead and left the aging intelligence agency struggling to catch up. By 1998, the CIA determined that technology needed to be a top priority for their agency. To that end, they chartered IQT to help access private sector innovations, pouring about $28 million dollars into its first year’s budget. IQT money is derived from private and public sources.

One company eyeing IQT as an investment opportunity found the CIA-backed company’s budget does not have to be released to the public. However, these investors learned IQT’s annual budget in 2006 amounted to $50 million dollars. IQT’s investment in other companies-like Recorded Future-usually meant buying “series A or B rounds” with their range of investment between $1-3 millions per project. In exchange, IQT receives an equity position in each invested company.

For a spy-financed operation, IQT is pretty open as to which companies they’ve selected to invest with each year. Each investment appears to be accompanied with a press release. Here are a few of the companies IQT channeled money to this year:

- August 10-SpotterRF, the first Micro Surveillance Radar Company, secures investment deal with IQT to support U.S. intelligence community.

- July 28-Pelican Imaging secures strategic investment from IQT.

- June 21-Innocentive and IQT establish strategic partnership.

- April 22-Lensvector secures development contract with IQT.

- February 3-IQT investment accelerates Arcxis Biotechnologies nucleic acid sample preparation and molecular diagnostic produce platforms.

- March 22-IQT extends strategic relationship with Longotek.

So how is RF going to use these investments from the CIA and Google?

A Wired magazine exclusive by Noah Shachtman on July 28, 2010, reported RF takes this collected and analyzed data and “applies some artificial-intelligence algorithms to tease out connections between the players.” Over 100 millions events are indexed by RF and hosted on Amozon.com servers. So how is the information used?

Noah Shachtman

On RF’s website are links to several blogs maintained by that company, including one titled Analysis Intelligence. Several hypothetical cases are examined using RF technology systems. One case cited the July11, 2010 bombing in Kampala by Al-Shabaab terrorists resulting in the killing of over 70 people at the very end of the soccer World Cup. RF conducted the query into this terrorist organization searching for titles and descriptions of people connected to this group. They created a network chart which can be used to study that group over time.

In the next phase of this analysis, they sought out the head of Al-Shabaab and identified the leader as Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Subever. Analysts studied the RF matrix of links to see whether this man indicated Uganda would be the target. RF discovered this man-a week prior to the bombings-explicitly made threats toward that country.

Looking for potential targets in the future, RF began to compile a list of possible victims based upon information gleaned through the internet using “spatial and temporal analysis” (when and where these events happened) and “sentiment analysis” (the tone of the document). Between January 17-July 4 of this year, Al-Shabaab made direct threats against these targets: peace keepers in Somalia, democracies in general, Somaliland voters, foreign security companies, and U.S. troops if our military are ever sent to Somalia.

RF concluded: “Al-Shabaab has proven that they can execute sophisticated and coordinate attacks beyond their borders, attract foreigners like Omar Hammimi (an American-born terrorist recruited by Al-Shabaab) and are making threats … against a broad set of targets.”

Will this kind of analysis help to predict the future?

The CIA, Google and other organizations believe this is possible. Wired magazine reported that both In-Q-Tel and Google Ventures made their RF investments in 2009 shortly after the company was founded. The exact amounts were not disclosed, but are believed to be under $10 million each. IQT and Google have seats on RF’s board of directors.

All this should perk up the interest of crime fiction writers. Every one of these IQT investments listed above could be a tantalizing backdrop for the writer’s next novel. And Recorded Future? What a story that might make.

Can you image a novel where the grizzled homicide detective hunkers over a computer, coffee in hand, pecking with one finger on a stained keyboard. The monitor flashes Recorded Future. The detective types in a secret code and gains access to the future. He watches an image materialize, spilling his coffee across the desktop. His partner’s face flashes on the screen. A horrendous crime is about to be committed.

No. Wait. Minority Report already used that one. But you get the idea. See you in the future.

Set Up For Murder: Page 125 Of My Spiral Notebooks

Lee Lofland — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:33:47 +0000

A stolen truck.
A dead body.

A knife.
A life.
A wife,
No more.

He?
Calm, indifferent.
Uncaring.
Odd.

Kitchen counter.
Knife block.
Fifteen spaces.
Fourteen knives.

Bloody tile.
Bloody carpet.
Open eyes.
Not seeing.

Stolen truck.
Stolen papers.
Stolen tools.
Useless clues?

Why wasn’t he upset?
Why didn’t he seem to care?
Why did it take so long to call the police?
Why? Why? Why?

Found the truck.
Projects.
Dangerous.
Drugs.
Thief.
Apartment.
Me?
Not afraid.
Drug dealers, not monsters.

Knock knock.
“What?”
“A murder and a stolen truck.”
“So?”
“Why, it’s right outside, the truck.”
“So?”

Eight men stand.
“So I want to talk to the guy who’s driving it.”
“Wrong house.”
“Don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“Oh, he’s here. But I don’t think he stole the truck.”
“I’ll be outside. Tell him I’ll wait.”

Minutes pass.
Hope I’m right.
My gut usually is.
Door opens.

He sits.
“You didn’t steal the truck, did you?”
A head shake.
He paid you to take those things and then drive away, right?”
A nod.
“He killed his wife, right?”
A look down.
“Yes.”
“Did you get rid of the knife?”

“No. Haven’t seen it.”

Then I know where it is.”
“Let’s have a look inside the truck.”

Under the seat, wrapped in paper.
A bloody knife.

Paid to drive the truck.
Pretend it’s stolen.

Five-hundred dollars.
Stopped to buy crack.

Not knowing he’d been set up.

For murder.

* For Diana

- We are experiencing some technical difficulties with the blog. I hope everything will be okay soon. Thanks for your patience.