Chapter 10: Scaremonger

Seemingly in disbelief at the figure she heard, Kara froze, "Are you crazy, Murph!"

  "You know it's impossible." Kara exhaled and turned her head back to the screen, "How much?"

  Murphy also knew that there was no way that any TV station, could take a hundred thousand dollars for a homicide news video, the person who died was just a rich man, it's not like he was a celebrity like Tom Hanks or Spielberg.

  The price just now, was more like a test, Murphy pulled over a chair and sat across from Carla, "Fifty thousand dollars!"

  Carla didn't even look at him, "Time is very tight, don't joke around, Murphy, how much is it."

  Murphy repeated in an extremely serious and grave tone, "Fifty thousand dollars!"

  "That's impossible." Kara's eyes flicked from the screen back to Murphy, her pale blue pupils looking unusually bright, "I need a more realistic figure."

  "I gave you two." Murphy, obviously not joking, said once again, "Fifty thousand dollars!"

  The expression on Kara's face faded, "Five thousand dollars, that's the highest number I can give."

  Murphy shook his head outright and said in a reminiscent tone, "It's not black people or Mexican immigrants who are dead this time, it's very rich white people!"

  He deliberately emphasized the 'white' tone, "Extremely wealthy white people, shot in their own mansion, a housewife dead on her bedroom floor! I know you, Carla."

  Looking straight into those bright light blue eyes, Murphy said quickly, "I know how excited you were when you saw the video, and I know it's definitely worth more than five thousand dollars to you!"

  Slapping her right hand heavily on the arm of her chair, Carla stood up, circled around Murphy, and returned to the front, saying condescendingly, "Ten thousand dollars."

  Murphy knew that fifty thousand dollars was impossible, and also made a concession, "Forty thousand dollars!"

  Carla was expressionless, "Fifteen thousand dollars!"

  "Thirty-five thousand dollars ..."

  "Twenty thousand dollars ..."

  "Thirty thousand dollars!" Murphy stood up and with the advantage of his height, looked down slightly at the woman across from him, "Thirty thousand dollars!"

  "No way ..." Carla took the initiative to take a step back, using the distance to bring the two sides' gazes back to the same level, "It's impossible, there's no precedent for this, $20,000 is my highest bid, there's no way I can put a month's worth of expenses all on top of your video."

  "Fine then." Murphy reached over and unplugged the data cable, retrieved his storage disk, and without even looking at Carla, walked straight to the office door, "This deal looks like it's not going to work out."

  "What are you going to do?" Kara's slightly urgent voice sounded behind her, "You're going somewhere."

  Murphy turned and pointed in the direction of the Disney building to the west, "To ABC TV, I contacted the people there before coming over and they're very interested."

  With that said, he looked straight at Carla, "You know, Ms. Faith, I've always considered you my most reliable partner, and while other networks offered big bucks for this video, I came to your side first because I thought it was worth it, that it would help your career, and that it would allow me to get the right kind of return."

  It was a heartfelt statement, but Carla brushed it off without a trace; how much could anyone who dared to make such a video be trusted in what they said?

  It wasn't like she was a little girl full of fantasies.

  "The head of ABC news department has contacted me many times."

  Seeing that Carla was still considering it, Murphy continued to make believe, "They'll offer a higher price, I'm driving over there now in perfect time."

  He turned and was ready to go when Kara finally couldn't help but yell, "Stop, Murph!"

  Murphy turned back around and stood in the doorway looking at Kara, Kara clasped her hands to her chest, her face changed to a different expression and her tone began to soften, "After working together for so long, I thought we'd been friends for a long time, is that the kind of attitude you're going to use with a friend?"

  Murphy rolled his eyes, "I'm willing to give the station away for free if you own it."

  He made a point of looking at Carla's towering chest and delicate face, "Really then, I'd offer you any news video as a way of showing my affection for you."

  Pretending not to hear the seemingly sincere, but actually lying nonsense, Carla took a deep breath, "Putting thirty thousand dollars on a news story would drive me crazy."

  The other man's attitude and tone had loosened and Murphy, who had the advantage, added more fuel to the fire, "I think you're forgetting that the culprits have escaped and are still at large, mingling with the crowds, and those who have family members, especially those who live in the suburbs and think they're safe, will be too nervous to sleep, and will be constantly watching this story unfold."

  Murphy picked up the memory disk again and shook it, "This video will have viewers turning to Channel 6 and following your show for a long time."

  Carla was silent for a moment, finally nodding slowly.

  But Murphy's request didn't end there, something that had been considered on the way over, "I consider you a friend, Carla. And I like your dedicated attitude, but you need to know that thirty thousand dollars isn't the only thing I'm asking for."

  Looking at Murphy with surprised eyes, Carla seemed to have just met him.

  "When you broadcast this video ...," Murphy aggravated his tone, "I asked the announcer to introduce my work and subtitle it, to let the viewers know that it's from my company - -Stanton Studios! A highly specialized video production company!"

  He couldn't be a freelance journalist forever, and as soon as he had the money, he was surely going to turn to the movie business, and this could be an opportunity for publicity.

  Carla looked at Murphy, unable to say a word.

  Until now she hadn't realized that this young man, like herself, also had a strong sense of enterprise and would do anything for it.

  After saying those words, Murphy approached Carla and raised one hand, "How about it, can we close the deal?"

  Although it was tempting to slap the expressionless face opposite him hard to see how thick his skin could be, Carla really needed that video very much, just like he said, it was a sharp tool that could catch the audience's eyes for a very long time and increase the program's ratings!

  Raising one hand, Carla slapped it on Murphy's hand, "That's it, deal."

  Both parties reached an agreement, and after Carla made another call to her superiors, Murphy didn't have to wait too long to receive a check for thirty thousand dollars, but he didn't leave, instead, he stayed in the TV station's editing room and waited for this news to air.

  He had more work to do after this news aired.

  The time slowly approached six in the morning, and with a bell ringing, Channel 6's morning news kicked off, and Murphy stood in a corner out of the way, watching Carla's side carefully, wanting to see how the woman would play this video out.

  "Double take, camera one double close-up." Carla stood in front of the workbench, skillfully issuing instructions, "Prepare the title I want in big letters, it's 'House of Blood', make no mistake!"

  Murphy clasped his hands to his chest and looked over there with interest, although he had provided quite a few news videos before, this was the first time he had watched the behind-the-scenes manipulation of a news program.

  "Last night, a home invasion robbery occurred in the Santa Monica Valley, four people are currently dead ..."

  The news switched to the top of the video, and just as the footage began, the female announcer matched the typed credits and said quickly, "This video was bought exclusively by Channel 6 from Stanton Studios, a company specializing in video production."

  Hearing this, Murphy couldn't help but smile, the broadcasted footage was properly edited by the TV station, and some of the too sensitive content was also dealt with, but the bloody and exciting images still appeared in the news program through some clever ways in order to stimulate the audience's eyeballs.

  During the broadcast, Carla repeatedly asked the announcer to emphasize the ferocity of the case and the fact that the culprit was still at large and might commit another crime at any time ...

  Even if he wasn't considered an insider, Murphy could tell that Carla was utilizing the way of creating panic to increase the appeal of the show.

  As for whether or not it would actually cause panic, Murphy wouldn't care, Carla wouldn't care, and the TV station wouldn't care, or else they wouldn't have left the police and the victims alone, and dragged their feet for the price of the video for such a long time.

  Carla cared about the ratings of the show, Murphy was concerned about how to use the story to bring in high revenue for himself.

  "It's really brutal that violence of this magnitude spilled over into the most upscale and safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and that the criminals got away with it ..."

  After emphasizing again the brutality of the case and the criminals getting away, and reminding viewers that the program would be watching for updates, the story was declared over.

  "Insert commercial." Carla had just finished ordering when the phone in the editing room rang and she immediately picked up the microphone, "Carla Faith here."

  "Good job, Carla!"

  It was the voice of one of the station's executives, "Very exciting, very compelling news."

  Putting the phone down, Carla was in a rather good mood, and after finishing the episode, the first thing she did was turn her head to look at the spot in the corner, where the asshole was still standing, with a rather smug expression on his face, as if he had just done something remarkable.

  After thinking about it, Kara walked over and said, not too politely, "Why don't you leave?"

  Murphy shrugged and replied, "Excellent news, and after the way you guys have rendered it in words, I can't help but want to see what happens next."

  Although she had a full of opinions about Murphy, Carla still recognized his ability, and even appreciated him a little, being able to shoot such a news video could never be simply attributed to luck.

  "You're not bad at filming either." Carla rubbed her brow, "The photography skills have improved greatly from before."

  "Thanks." Completely ignoring the curious gazes around him, Murphy said tentatively, "You should be at the end of your shift, right?"

  Carla nodded lightly.

  "I've heard there's a great Italian restaurant nearby called Kabarit." Murphy extended an invitation, "Do you like Italian food, Carla."