章 12: Chapter 12 Drama
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot echoed from the speakers of the laptop. Murphy watched the screen as two African American men jumped into a car and drove away calmly. Their actions didn't seem panicked or rushed, indicating they weren't amateur robbers.
This was a video clip Murphy had cut last night. The police had just announced a $100,000 reward for it. By turning in this video, Murphy had a great chance of getting that reward, in addition to the $30,000 he had already received. Through this news video, Murphy could earn a total of $130,000!
For an ordinary person, this was a huge sum, but for Murphy, who wanted to make a mark in the film industry, it wasn't that much.
Human greed knows no bounds, and Murphy was no exception. He wanted more.
So, in his plan, he never intended to hand the video over to the police. Instead, he was preparing to direct a spectacle himself.
After careful consideration, Murphy had a suitable script framework, excellent actors, and he would also serve as the director and cinematographer. With just the right location, the spectacle could begin filming.
This was an extremely rare directing opportunity, one that even Steven Spielberg and James Cameron wouldn't have!
Sitting in front of the laptop, Murphy watched the video repeatedly, imprinting the images of the two African American men and the car firmly in his mind. For the incredibly realistic spectacle he was planning, these two men were the perfect lead actors.
This would also be the first film Murphy planned, filmed, and produced.
Murphy was very cautious. He didn't want to mess up his first directing opportunity, as failure might cost him his life!
When the video reached the close-up of the car, Murphy pressed the pause button, freezing the image of the car's license plate.
Jotting down the license plate number, Murphy opened Google's search page and found the relevant official website in the United States. After selecting California and entering the license plate number, he knew that in this information age, as he had told Karla Fess in the morning, not only could you find enough information with just a name, but also with a license plate number.
Seeing the vehicle registration information displayed on the screen, Murphy smirked. This information might not be accurate; the car he saw last night could have been stolen by the African Americans. But this matter required luck, and no one could guarantee that the spectacle would develop exactly as the director had envisioned.
If Murphy couldn't find the people from last night, he could still pretend to remember the license plate number and provide clues to the police to claim the reward idea.
After firmly memorizing these details, Murphy thoroughly deleted the video and internet traces, patiently waiting.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, night fell over Los Angeles once again, revealing the dark side of the City of Angels concealed beneath its brightness. Some criminal activities and violent elements that were hard to see during the day began to stir.
Murphy also took action under the cover of night.
The black Ford car, shrouded in darkness, quickly arrived at Bennett Road in West Hollywood after leaving downtown Los Angeles. The houses here were hidden under tall trees, forming a typical American middle-class community dominated by detached houses.
It was neither as chaotic as downtown nor as quiet as the Santa Monica Mountains, but the roads in the community, bustling with passing vehicles, seemed orderly.
Murphy slowed down, scanning the surroundings, searching for the address he wanted.
After circling the area for more than half an hour, Murphy finally saw the address he had searched online. It was a white detached house with a neatly trimmed lawn in front. Along the roadside was a tidy iron fence, and beneath it was a black car parked.
Having watched the video so many times, Murphy recognized it at a glance. It was definitely the car from last night.
After driving past the house, Murphy circled back and intentionally parked on a nearby roadside with an empty space. Then he focused intently on the house and the car.
So far, his luck had been good enough, and everything was progressing as planned.
Perhaps those two men from last night didn't want to part with the car, or perhaps they thought they were discreet enough, so they hadn't made any effort to hide the car and had parked it openly by the roadside.
Of course, if they had seen the television reports, they wouldn't have felt so safe.
Murphy was confident that the two men would have never imagined that behind them lurked a viper, waiting for the right moment to strike.
However, Murphy couldn't be sure whether the car was still in the hands of those two men, so he had to take a chance. He had enough patience.
In the past year, it seemed that fate had played a huge joke on Murphy, making his life extremely difficult. Perhaps it was time for his luck to change.
This thought flashed through Murphy's mind. While what happened last night did involve an element of luck, it was more about his boldness and attention to detail, seizing any opportunity that arose!
Under the cover of night, Murphy waited in the car for almost an hour. Finally, the door of the detached house was pushed open, and a tall, muscular figure emerged. His bald head gleamed, blending perfectly with the darkness of the night.
"Is the show about to begin?" Murphy's lips curled upwards unconsciously. This man was one of the two men from the video!
The man walked out of the yard, glanced around habitually to ensure there were no abnormalities, then opened the door of the black car and got in. After starting the car, he drove off slowly.
When the black car had driven a distance, Murphy stepped on the gas and followed. There were other vehicles on the road, and with the considerable distance between them, the man didn't notice the ghostly pursuer behind him.
Tracking a potential murderer who might be armed, Murphy's courage was considerable, but he was also cautious, always maintaining a safe distance to avoid alerting the African American man to his presence.
Perhaps due to limited brain capacity or the belief that he was not in any danger, the man didn't notice Murphy. He even stopped at a self-service gas station along the way, then arrived at the outskirts of Beverly Hills, parking in front of a gray detached house.
Murphy parked about a hundred feet away, then glanced subconsciously at the handheld camera mount on the passenger side. He felt the urge to start filming, after all, he had installed the mount mainly for filming while driving.
After a few seconds of consideration, Murphy dismissed the impulse. It wasn't time to film yet.
The black car stopped in front of the gray house, and the man didn't get out. After about two minutes, someone emerged from the door of the gray house, catching Murphy's attention.
Although it was a bit far and the lighting wasn't great, Murphy confirmed based on the figure that this was the other assailant from the video!
"Looks like luck is really on my side today!" Seeing the second slightly overweight man getting into the car, Murphy couldn't help but mutter to himself. At this point, things were going even more smoothly than he had anticipated.
As the self-appointed director and cinematographer, Murphy wouldn't let the two best lead actors act alone. After the black car started again, Murphy followed once more, neither too close nor too far.
The plot was developing
even more smoothly than expected, but Murphy, as the cinematographer, had yet to start filming. The camera on the passenger side mount remained off.
At this point, Murphy's mindset became even more steady. To capture sufficiently exciting scenes, he needed not only an excellent director and actors but also a suitable location and an equally outstanding background.
Currently, the latter two conditions were far from being met.
After turning onto the main road, Murphy kept a slightly greater distance. He wasn't a professional, and he almost lost sight of the black car after a traffic light. Luckily, his luck was still holding, and after a turn, he found the target vehicle had slowed down. The distance between them gradually closed, and Murphy could vaguely see the man in the passenger seat gesturing toward roadside restaurants, seemingly looking for a place to eat.
They had entered Beverly Hills, surrounded by chain restaurants. These restaurants' main feature was their transparent glass walls facing the road, allowing passersby to see inside clearly.
Seeing these restaurants enclosed by transparent glass walls, Murphy hoped the car ahead would stop, and the two men would quickly go in to eat, as this would be the perfect location for the spectacle he wanted to direct.
Just as they were about to drive out of the road lined with restaurants, the car in front suddenly turned into a small alley on the right. This completely caught Murphy off guard. Due to the short distance between them and the fact that the other party was an extremely dangerous individual, Murphy didn't dare to follow. By the time they reached the intersection where the turn was made, he could only continue straight ahead.
The Ford car passed by the entrance to the alley, and Murphy glanced in that direction. The black car had stopped, and the two men were getting out. He quickly accelerated and drove a distance before turning around and heading back.
The two Assailants walked into a chain pizza shop on the side of the alley. Through the shop's transparent glass curtain wall, Murphy could see them sitting down, presumably getting ready to enjoy a meal. Murphy was sure they wouldn't leave for a while, so he parked his car in a perfect spot across the street, ideal for filming.
Glancing at the handheld camera next to him, Murphy didn't move. Instead, he took out his phone first.
Inside the shop, the two men had already sat down, presumably preparing to enjoy a meal. Murphy was sure they wouldn't leave soon. He opened the flip of his phone and dialed three digits—9-1-1!
As the director he appointed, Murphy was ready to call the police and have the other major protagonist, the police, make their entrance!
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