I love procedural crime dramas. The shocking discovery of the evil deed, the villain vanished in the wind, the victims’ relatives screaming at the police to do something, another victim missing but not found yet so perhaps still savable, the mobilization of the entire police force to help, the frenzied press ramping up the pressure, the intrepid detectives analyzing clues from dozens of sources—when well done, it’s so exciting!
Unless it’s for real.
The mother and brother of award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were murdered on the south side of the city of Friday. Her 7-year-old nephew, Julian, is missing. I see the Amber Alert everywhere. It’s been active continuously for three solid days. Even the silliness of MySpace took on a grim tone as the Hudson family posted a $100,000 reward on their blog.
Now the police have found the body of a young black child in a west side neighborhood. The police have not officially identified the body, they haven’t even leaked it, but the press is reporting that the body was found in a white Suburban SUV with license plate X584859. Everyone who’s driven on Chicago’s expressways this weekend knows that vehicle and that license plate.
I want my fiction back.
The police have confirmed the body is Julian King. There was no possibility of good news, of course. Even if the body hadn’t been Hudson’s nephew, it was somebody’s poor child.Update:
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