Trudy was getting late. She had to pick up her son from school, do some grocery shopping for the special dinner her husband was throwing his friends and then there was this other thing. She had to hunt down her next prey so she might get through another month.
In the same city,one day later, Inspector Steve slammed the receiver down after it rang again for the twentieth time that day. This was the fifth case of homicide in the last two months in their otherwise crime free city and phones hadn’t stopped ringing. With every passing day the police was getting more and more flak from the media and the people. Demonstrations were being held against them and careers were treading on thin ice .Few had even started questioning their methods and skills but they didn’t know what Steve knew. The pattern in the killings was hard to miss. All the murders had taken place at night. Victims were well built single men in the age bracket 20 -30 who lived alone and far from the nucleus of the city. They were found poisoned and naked in their houses with no sign of a struggle or blood anywhere. Interestingly the T V had been left on in the otherwise suspiciously clean rooms considering they housed bachelors. The forensics had promised a breakthrough with their impending reports but Steve knew better. He knew these were not some impulsive accidents but meticulously planned acts orchestrated by a cerebral killer. Sensing an approaching headache, Steve decided to catch a break and play with his daughter Mira.
As Mira started acting out the name of a movie of her choice, Steve’s smile began to resurface again. He knew his little angel was going to be a fine actress one day what with the impeccable hand gestures and facial expressions she displayed while playing charades. He had so far guessed that the second word was a dog breed and that the first one was a number connected to their TV as she kept pointing there. It didn’t need much thinking thereafter as he correctly guessed the movie to be 101 Dalmatians with 101 being the channel number on the TV currently. It was then that a fleeting thought hit him. Steve rushed to his study room all the while connecting the dots on the serial killers case. A chill ran down his spine as he realized how the killer had been actually giving them a lead to the date of the next murder through the channel number on the TV screen at the current murder site. No wonder he had left everything untouched and organized while leaving behind this minuscule anomaly as a challenge for them. Steve knew there was no time to waste. Promising a huge surprise for her and her kid brother, Steve left Mira in her bed and rushed to his office. On his way to office, Steve messaged his wife while thinking how the clue had always been right there at the heart of the crime scene but they had never bothered to look. “You go ahead honey, I am on my way home –Trudy”, his loving wife of six years messaged him back.
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