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it didn’t burn any potential advertisers. “How do you know about
     this? There’d have to be some kind of facts. Proof.”
    “Come on, it’s got a real cheapo lining. It’s not worth over three hundred fifty pesos.”
    Miguel nodded. “The man who runs the cartel, he is a bad man and he killed my brother. I would like to see him brought to
     justice.”
    “Couldn’t you go to the police?”
    “Ah, senorita, you do not understand how the law works in Mexico. You get pulled over in a car and you pay the policeman not
     to write you a ticket. It is the same with all things.”
    “Police on the payroll. Right.” That made sense.
    “Okay, fine. Four hundred. But I’ll have to borrow money from Maddy. Maddy, can I borrow fifty pesos? I think that’s like
     five bucks, right?”
    “They have dug a long tunnel out in the desert. They use it to transport the drugs from Mexico to America. My brother, he
     used to work for them as a driver before he was killed. Before he died, he told me where the tunnel is.”
    Jodi waved the purse in Miguel’s face. “Four-fifty? Come on, dude. I really want this purse.”
    “Wow.” I tried to sound casual, as my insides did the Snoopy dance. I’d found a whistle-blower. Someone actually wanted to
     blow a whistle at me. Give me information no one else knew. This was something that happened to Newsline producers, not little old local news me. “That’s such a great story. I’d love to hear more about it. Seriously. Can you call
     me with all the details?”
    “ Si .” Miguel nodded. “I will call you tomorrow.”
    “Okay, fine. Five hundred pesos. And that’s my final offer.”
    “Sold. You are a shrewd barterer, chica .” Miguel winked at me as he took Jodi’s money and wrapped up her purse. I smiled back. “If all Americans were like you, my
     nine children would starve.”
    Jodi grinned stupidly, pleased by her bargaining prowess. She was going to be so pissed tomorrow when she woke up and realized
     she’d spent fifty bucks on a cheesy Louis Vuitton knockoff that had Xs instead of LVs on the pattern. As her best friend,
     I should have dragged her away a long time ago. But at this point it was easier to let her have her simple purse-buying happiness.
     Besides, she could live with the loss of fifty bucks.
    I, however, had a feeling this story was going to change my life forever.

CHAPTER THREE
    FROM: “Victor Charles, MD”
    TO: “Madeline Madison”
    SUBJECT: re: cosmetics that kill?
    Dear Maddy,

    Thank you for writing to me regarding your story on “Cosmetics That Kill.” However, in all my forty years as a doctor at this
     major medical institution, I have never once come across a single case where cosmetics were responsible for someone’s death.

    Perhaps you’d be better serving the community by doing a story on a new over-the-counter diet drug that uses herbs hand ground
     by Aboriginal tribe members. As the company’s paid spokesman I’d be happy to extol its virtues to your viewing audience and
     I’m sure it’d be a great ratings booster. I could even provide you with a patient who lost over fifty pounds in one week by
     taking this pill.

    Your favorite TV doc,
    Victor

    P.S. The FDA has not yet approved this drug (you know how they are!) So I would suggest you don’t bother contacting them to ask them if it is safe and effective, but rather take my word
     for it. After all, I am a doctor.

    Bing!

    [email protected] : hi!

    I squinted in puzzlement as an instant message popped up on my computer the next day at work. We weren’t really supposed to
     be IMing on the job. The IT department had even put a block on our computers so it’d be impossible to download an IM program.
     Luckily, AOL’s service had a Java Express version, which meant it could run online and there was nothing to download. Let’s
     just say the brilliance of such a concept wasn’t lost on our department.
    In fact,