When the Dogwoods Bloom

"If you can give me a good reason why it will be beneficial to the paper to further investigate these murders, you can take all the time you need to get your story," as he leaned over and pointed his finger just inches away from my face, "But if I see this investigation hurting the paper in any way, shape, form, or fashion, not to mention my own reputation, you will immediately cease any other action involving this matter. Do I make myself clear?” "Crystal clear, Sir!" "Now tell me more about these two murders,” he said, as he sat down in his chair, and put on his glasses. I took out two photographs, one photo of each of the bodies of the two girls that had been found murdered, and began to explain. "Sir, this is the first victim, Maria Cordello. She was thirteen years old and had been living on the street prostituting herself for the last three years." "My God!" Mr. Jacobs interrupted, "my youngest child is ten." "Why do they do it?" he asked in disbelief. "It's really simple, they have nowhere else to go. Schools are now for the more elite students, the parents can't afford to keep them, so the only alternative is the street," I tried to answer him the best I could. "Continue, please," he requested. "The next victim," I said handing him the second photograph, "Ling Woo, was an Asian teenager, whose parents are naturalized citizens. She is also thirteen and has been a prostitute for about two years. Both girls were put through some kind of ceremony or something." "How do you know?" he asked interrupting once again.