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Alt.Binaries.Movies.Snuff
"No no no," Ford said, putting his drink down. "What they did was: they brought this woman over who's like a British Judge Judy, and all she does is humiliate the contestants."
"That's the point of the show?" Jake asked.
"Pretty much. You have to survive on the show by not getting booted by the other players."
"It's like 'Survivor,'" Jake countered.
"Yeah," Ford said. "And get this, their 'Celebrity Episode' is cast members from the first 'Survivor' series."
"You're kidding," Jake said.
"No," Ford said, taking a sip of Carffee and gobbling a handful of durian chips.
"So they're having the stars of the show they're plagiarizing on their knock-off show?"
"That's it," Ford said. "And they're on Regis Philbin's set."
"You talk about that show with that woman," The Queen said, approaching their table and taking a seat. "She ver' mean. She talk to me like that I say, 'ooh!' and hit her with a punch."
"She'd be funny if she were witty," Ford said. "Her snaps were all done by Don Rickles in the 70s. Even their web page is lame."
"Web page, bah," The Queen said. "That a bad thing, this inter-net thing. Ver' bad things on there."
"Well," Ford mumbled, "yeah, but you have to go looking for them."
"No!" Phuong snapped. "My grandson, he watch murder movies. Watch on computer. I get my son, he tell you."
She stood slowly, then walked into the back room. A moment later, she returned with her son, Khiem.
"Hey Chris," he said as he approached the table.
"You tell," The Queen said, indicating Ford and Jake. "You tell about Ken and that movie."
"Oh yeah," Khiem said. "My son got this MPEG from a newsgroup. Like some kind of snuff flick."
"Do those really exist?" Jake asked.
"Probably faked," Ford said.
"Well, the guy who posted it claims it's real," Khiem said. "There was real wacky letter with it about how some crime site turned him down for an interview and he wanted to become an Internet celebrity."
"What did you just say?" Ford asked. When Khiem started to repeat himself, Ford waved him off. "Nevermind, I heard you. I just can't believe you said it. Can you call your son and ask him what group he got that file from?"
"Sure," Khiem said. "I'll be right back."
Ford looked confused for a moment, then reached inside his leather jacket and pulled out a brand new cellular phone.
"Lorna wanted to be able to keep tabs on me," he said to Jake, with a defensive tone of voice.
He dialed a few numbers, then held the phone up to his ear. It didn't take long for him to get an answer.
"Banana, this is Chris," he said. "Listen, I need you to look into a file that was posted to a newsgroup. Yeah, how did you know? You're kidding. You have a copy? Do you think you could find out where it came from and Email me a copy with the letter? Thanks Banana."
He closed the phone and threw it in his coat. Taking a quick bite of durian and washing it down, he stood up and threw his coat on.
"I take it we're leaving?" Jake, taking a cue, got up as well.
"You know that evidence I showed you that I was withholding from Lambert?" Ford asked him. "The guy who said that MurderLibrary.com turned him down?"
"Yeah," Jake said patiently.
"He just went public."
"On the internet?"
"Yeah, and if I'm right, the movie that The Queen's grandson was watching is the same one that's on that CD. I need to get back to the station."
Ford walked in with a purpose. He headed directly toward his desk and opened the locked side drawer where he kept the cooler full of Carffee. Tucked underneath it was the envelope containing the letter and CD from MurderLibrary.com. So intent was Ford on his mission that he failed to notice the level of quiet in the squad room.
"Fish, I think we got a break," he said.
"Hey Chris," Simonyi said from the other side of the room. Ford looked up and the entire department was crammed into or around the break area.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"You'd better get over here," Simonyi replied. "There's something on TV you need to see."
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