Unknown Texter

Dear Shell,

It's that time again, time for another writing assignment. This one I thought would be fun, but it ended up feeling more like work instead.


Writing Prompt #6. You're sitting at work one day and receive a text message from an unrecognized number. The text says, "I have the money and hid the body." You think this is a practical joke from a friend, so you play along at first. But the more texts you receive, the more you realize that it isn't a joke. Write the text conversation you have with this unknown texter.



I glanced down at the display on my phone; I had an incoming text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Knowing how often my friend Mary changed her cell phone number, I hit accept.

“I have the money and hid the body.”

“Hey Janice, come check this out. Mary is sending me cryptic messages from a different cell phone number.” I called one of my co-workers over. She looked over my shoulder and laughed.

“Hm, how’s this for a reply.” I quickly typed out the words “Was the money where I told you?” and hit send.

“Yes. You were right; the old lady didn’t trust banks.” was the reply.

“Old ladies never do.” I replied in text.

“It was too easy.”

“Did she put up a fight?” I hit send again.

“No, I went in as you suggested, pretending to be a friend of her daughter.”

“I told you that would work.”

“Like I said, it was too easy.” The reply from the unknown number sent shivers down my spine.

“How long did it take?” I paused before hitting send.

“Not long. They shouldn’t find her body for a long time.”

I started to feel uneasy. “Janice, I don’t think this is Mary. She wouldn’t go this far for a joke.”

Janice and I looked at each other. “I’ll call the police. See if you can find out any more information. A meeting place or something.” She wrote down the cell number of the incoming texts and ran back to her desk to call the cops.

“Where are you?” I sent another text, my stomach churning at the thought of some poor old woman being killed.

“At home. Don’t forget, you’re meeting me here at 4 to get your half.”

“Janice! The killer says I’m meeting him at his place at 4. See if the cops can trace the text messages.” I yelled across the office.

“They got it! I gave them your cell number and the number that the text came from. They said they know where to find the killer at.” She ran back over to my desk.


Later that night, watching television, I saw a news clip where the police were dragging two men out of a home. The newscaster mentioned how an anonymous tip told them where to find the two men responsible for a series of murders across town. Their latest victim was a rich old lady from the better part of town.

As of 10pm that night, they still hadn’t found her body.


Shell