It’s Trifecta Weekly Challenge time and this one was especially difficult for me personally. Perhaps it’s because the prompt exposed two of my Achilles heels: brains and computers. Sad, huh? RULES: All entries must be between 33 and 333 words and need to include the following word using its third definition (both listed below).
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Burden of Proof
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“Keep digging.” Riggs pleaded.
Murtaugh could hear the desperation in his partner’s voice. It had only been six months since he lost Victoria. He was too close to these crimes. “You’re grasping at straws. Police combed the area for days. There’s nothing left.”
“How can you be sure?” Riggs protested. “We both know he killed all six of them but we’ve only got enough to get him for that last one.”
“Riggs, we don’t even have bodies, let alone evidence to link him to those women.”
Riggs kept digging. “What about the waitress?”
“Who?”
“The girl we questioned last month. The only one who got out alive. With the piercings … and tattoos, remember? “
“Please. I’m still having nightmares,” Murtaugh laughed.
“Yeah, she was rough … but smart.” Riggs agreed. “That’s what saved her. She paid attention to his schedule, knew when to act. She said he recorded everything on his computer … pictures, clippings, videos. Apparently, he liked showing them to his newer captures. I just wish she hadn’t waited to report him. It gave him too much time.”
“Then, tell me again. Why are we here?”
“They found the last victim here, right?
“Yes. And?” Murtaugh persisted.
“He knew it was his last kill for a while, thanks to the waitress. So, he had to dump everything .. the body, the tools and …”
“The computer,” concluded Murtaugh.
“Exactly,” said Riggs, just as his digging fingers hit the metal hard drive in the dirt. “His brain. I’ll bet everything’s on here. The girls, the methods, even the dump sites. And these barcodes will lead us right to him.”
Murtaugh interrupted. “Why wouldn’t he have destroyed it?”
“Because he’s one of them. The monsters who keep these grisly souvenirs. Usually the key evidence in their convictions. When Bundy was asked why he photographed his victims, he said, ‘when you work hard to do something right, you don’t want to forget it.'” Riggs turned to collect himself, wiping his eyes. “Let’s go nail his ass to the wall.”
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Anyone recognize my characters? Points go to the first one who leaves it in the comments.
And that Ted Bundy stuff? It was real. I did a little terrifying research by myself late last night during one of the worst thunderstorms in recent history. It’s a good thing the power didn’t go out or I’d still be holed up in the back of my closet clutching a butcher knife and a vial of holy water. (A girl’s gotta cover all her bases, from the mortal to the supernatural.) Anyway, this link was the most disturbing one I read. It’s not for the faint of heart, especially that second paragraph.
OldDogNewTits 