"Authorities are calling it a case of mistaken identity with a deadly twist. I'm Jenna St. James with Action Six news reporting from outside the former home of Samantha Johnson, a single mother trying to find her way in this world working two jobs and supplementing her income by selling something no one should ever have to sell...her memories..."
"AND roll background reel!"
Jenna watched the monitor as her location shot faded into the pre-taped package they had been working on all week. What a crazy story. And of course they were going to do what they could to make it even more dramatic. It was sort of her signature storytelling motif. But honestly with this one there wasn't much to add, just some dramatic music, a few fade outs and a shot of the children at the funeral that she was particularly proud of. Very emotional without being exploitative at all. At least in her opinion.
The trial was going to be a whole series on its own, she hoped. Right now the killer was still being evaluated for mental fitness, but Jenna was hopeful there wouldn't be a plea deal or guilty by reason of insanity pre-trial motion. She already had the courtroom scenes planned out in her head. She had the perfect black business suit to wear. Serious, yet still very sexy. Not that she thought she needed to be sexy, but it was television, it didn't hurt to be sexy.
She turned her attention back to the monitor and heard herself...."Samantha arrived home after a long day at work to find Alicia McGovern sitting on her front porch. Security cameras show Samantha approaching Alicia appearing to ask her if she could help her with anything...then the encounter escalated..."
Of course they didn't know how friendly Samantha was, there was no sound on the tape, just a grainy image. But there was no reason to portray her as anything less than a saint. Alicia was the villian. Just waiting on Samantha's porch for her. Calmly drinking a cup tea. Samantha's favorite brand of tea. Wearing clothing that looked like it could have been taken out of Samantha's closet. If Jenna had seen someone at her house doing basically a cosplay of her she wouldn't have been friendly that's for sure. But Jenna had cultivated a distinct look for her career. To see someone else mimic that? She would have...Oh here was a good part, she really liked how she had cast her voice just a touch lower here she felt it gave her more gravitas.
"When the police arrived Alicia McGovern had not moved. She was sitting on the porch with the phone she had used to call 911 in her hand. The gun a few feet away where she had calmly placed it after brutally murdering Samantha Johnson, mother of two..."
She loved that part. Brutally murdered. Not that there was any other way to murder someone, really. Brutal and murder sort of went together. But it still gave a good punch to the story. And adding again that Samantha was a mother. That was important. There were people who were very uncomfortable with the idea of selling memories, and she didn't want them to turn on her victim. Not when there was a News & Documentary Emmy in play.
She watched for awhile longer waiting for her big moment.
"...this sleepy California suburb was about to be rocked, not just by the brutal murder of one of their own but by the claim from Alicia McGovern that SHE was the real Samantha Johnson and she had shot the imposter in self-defense and she had the memories to prove it..."
She was pretty positive this was her year. She might as well start shopping for her award show dress right now.
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