Cal.E.'s Korner

(Ring) Oh, hi, D.C. What have you been up to?

D.: Learning to speak Russian.

C.: ???

D.: Because when you and T. Puppy Katt were messing around with my computer, y'all changed the language...

C.: To Portuguese, which you now speak.

D.: NOt well. Anyway, now this website is in Rusaian, so I must lern that language, too, I suppose. I cannot read the directions to turn it back to English if the directiioons are in Russian, and I don't know how to read the Russian language. That's not what I want to talk about today, though>

C.: OH? What do yo want to talk about?

D.: This synopsis. I wrote it, and then let a...freind read it. This is what that freind came up with for a synopsis of MURDER8: THE INERT INGREDIENT.

Synopsis

In 2032, disgraced former detective Jay McGruder remains haunted by letting the world’s most wanted criminal, Taylor, escape decades prior—and by a deadly secret he desperately needs to protect. Jay believes his only chance at redemption requires meeting Taylor unarmed in an empty park.

Seeking help, Jay turns to his best friend, Texas Ranger Chief Mark Joliet. Mark agrees on one condition: Jay must contact an anonymous assassin via a four-word text on a burner phone. Taylor is now a powerful politician, so the hit must remain untraceable. Jay accepts the dangerous mission to clear his conscience. Years ago, he orchestrated the death of a cartel boss by instructing José Leal to poison his uncle’s cigarettes with fentanyl ("Murder 8"). José was caught and now sits on death row, leaving Jay burdened by guilt since José once saved his life.

Jay's secret began years earlier when he allowed a nursing instructor and his students access to the Harris County Morgue. Alice Jones, a student and daughter of Jay's rookie mentor, became obsessed with "cadaver number eight"—the victim of Jay's hidden crime. Despite this, Jay and Alice fell in love, married, and started a family. Overwhelmed by guilt, Jay eventually confessed the truth to Alice. Realizing the deadly consequences of knowing his secret, Alice immediately regretted pressing him.

Their marriage fractured further when Taylor targeted Jay’s family, attempting to kidnap Alice and their child to force Jay into revealing José’s location. José holds the key to Taylor gaining control over the two most powerful cartels in the Western Hemisphere. Though Alice’s father rescued them, Taylor escaped once again, leaving Jay’s family in constant peril before fleeing to South America.

Taylor’s ultimate ambition is complete dominion: controlling the cartels and becoming President of the United States. However, Taylor is operating on a hidden deadline. As a descendant of a Nea Sapiens bloodline—fallen angels interbred with humans—his lifespan is capped at eighty-four years. Now an octogenarian, he has only four years left to achieve his ultimate goal using his superhuman strength, intelligence, and heightened senses.

In 2032, Jay makes his final move to stop Taylor. At their park standoff, Taylor holds a .357 Magnum to Jay’s head, giving him thirty seconds to choose between using secret intel to free José or saving the free world from Taylor's control.

Working alongside Mark’s anonymous assassin—a sniper capable of hitting a target from over 1,000 yards with open sights—Jay executes a trap to neutralize the criminal mastermind. They successfully ambush Taylor; however, after a call is placed to the acting governor of Texas, Taylor’s body and his bodyguard vanish without a trace. The truth behind who killed Taylor and where his body went remains a mystery for the next twenty-five years.