Smells Like Murder

SMELLS LIKE MURDERA crime hits home series revolving around Cole's life | Book OnePeyton Dinwiddie Copyright © 2023 Peyton DinwiddieAll rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Contents Title PageCopyrightThank You GiftChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveAFTERWORDExcerpt from Book Two – The Silent InvestigationBooks In the SeriesOther books by Peyton DinwiddieAbout the author Thank You GiftAs a token of appreciation for showing an interest in this series. Grab yourself a free copy ofPARENTS DON’T APPROVEYou’ll also be amongst the first to know about my upcoming releases, chapter teasers on books that I’m working on. Chapter OneUSA“We are live in two...one...and...” Justin snapped the fingers on his left hand at Cole. The camera was at the ready to transmit the news live, perched on Justin’s right shoulder.Cole missed the live recording action by two seconds because he was distracted by a very short fireman running toward the burning house with a very big fire extinguisher. Justin’s finger-snapping brought him back to his senses, and he adjusted himself quickly, looked directly into the camera, brought the microphone close to his mouth, and grinned sheepishly.“It’s been crazy out here since 4:55 a.m. as firefighters have been struggling to put out the last flames at the white house at 2 Crescent Road. We are on location at the accident scene, and to be honest, it’s grim here. Seven people are reported to have sustained varying degrees of burn wounds from the fire, which started in the middle of the night as the owners of the house slept.” Cole continued to prattle into the microphone, broadcasting his reportage to over ten million viewers across the country, watching the ten o’clock news on Bright Broadcasting Television (BBTV).Behind Cole was a chaotic picture of confusion, grief, and properties in ruins. Many people ran around. Some of them stood there, still looking at the completely torched building that had burned to the ground, while others video-recorded the incident. Firefighters in their coveralls scampered between the fire truck and the charred house with the extinguisher hoses, spraying water mixed with gaseous substances to put out the faint embers that remained after the main inferno had disappeared. Several police officers and their cars patrolled the neighborhood to ensure the rescue mission went smoothly.The Smith family, who owned the destroyed building, were nowhere to be seen because they had been hurried away to the hospital. The family consisted of the husband, Tyler, his wife, Monica, his mother, Sandra, and the couple’s three children, Sam, Lilian, and Shane. Luckily, they all survived but with varying degrees of burns.“The good news is that, at the time of filing this report, no life was lost. An eyewitness told us that Mr. Tyler Smith, the husband, attempted to commit suicide by deliberately setting the building ablaze with all the occupants inside. Fortunately, the rescue team arrived before it was too late. The losses keep rising, but we hope things don’t get worse than this. BBTV will keep you updated as new information emerges,” Cole continued, carrying on his journalistic speech with gusto.He slowed down when Justin signaled for him to wrap it up.Cole sighed, scowled momentarily, and then grinned again. “This has been Cole Sherman for BBTV,” he said indifferently, then lowered the microphone before Justin could wrap up the recording.“And...cut!”Cole already cut and threw the microphone at Justin as he walked toward their van.“Hey, dude!” Justin exclaimed.Cole heard the microphone drop to the ground with a thud, but it didn’t stop Cole from opening the BBTV van’s door and letting himself in, abandoning Justin to his fate.He smiled at Ben, their forty-five-year-old driver. Ben looked at him critically, seemingly confused at the reason for his amusement. “Where’s Justin?” Ben asked with concern.Cole waved his right hand. “Don’t worry about him; he’ll be fine. Let’s go. I need to be somewhere in...” he paused and checked his Apple smartwatch “...fifteen, and I don’t want to be late. The event I'm going to cover starts in thirty, but I need to get my tuxedo from the designer, have my hair fixed, get my mani-pedi done, and I have a dentist’s appointment before then.”Ben stared at him blankly.Cole grinned at him and rubbed his palms together. “It’s going to be one of my best reports this quarter; just watch.”An angry figure approached the van, interrupting Cole’s tirade. It was Justin, stomping toward the van in a fury with his camera in one hand and the microphone in the other. Cole sighed when he realized he had unwittingly done it again. He assumed that he must have tipped the poor cameraman to his boiling point.No sooner had Justin settled in with his equipment than he embarked on a barrage of complaints against his annoying colleague. “Dude, you need to improve your skills because you lack the manners and ethics this profession demands. You would make a better rock star with those tattoos all over your body and your Mount-Everest-sized mohawk than a journalist. You are crazy and disgusting!”Justin’s raging only elicited jeers from Cole. Seeing Justin wet his pants over trivialities was one of Cole’s favorite pastimes.◆◆◆ Bile rose in his stomach as he dragged his feet closer to Mr. Don`s office, the stout, slightly bearded BBTV MD. Don was the boss overseeing staff activities at the station. He ruled over his employees as if they were his subjects and he was their king. All of the journalists, writers, newscasters, reporters, news editors, scriptwriters, producers, cameramen, and technical crew feared Don because of his strict demeanor. Although Cole was a tough guy who hated to be bossed around, he knew his bounds when it came to Don.He had gotten an email from Don