Fire Victim
Perry Okerstrom

		MYSTERY FIRES CLAIM THIRD VICTIM
	A third inexplicable fire has claimed the life of a 
	Queens area woman. Hedda Johnstone had lived in the 
	neighbourhood for the last thirty years.

	Hedda's corpse was discovered when her landlady 
	Marge Addison could smell 'cooking' coming from her 
	third floor apartment. She found Hedda's charred 
	corpse sitting in the rocking chair by the window.

	With no source of ignition, the NYPD are still 
	seeking the cause of the intense blaze. Fire 
	Commissioner Gordon is pursuing the most unusual 
	matter. "All that was burned was the woman," he 
	stated.
	
	NYPD are continuing with their inquiries.

Possibilities
1       Poor Hedda is the victim of spontaneous human combustion, a 
rare occurrence but not without precedent. Often the victim will be 
burned beyond recognition, in some cases without disturbing the 
surrounding environment.

2       Hedda has fallen prey to a cluster of Fire Vampires who find 
the city of New York populated with easy prey. Prey often too slow or 
weak to fight back. Investigators will find many such fires in the 
ghettos of New York.

3       Tesla is in New York demonstrating his new machine. This 
generator produces immense electrical charges which are then 
discharged to earth. Occasionally his machine produces ball lightning, 
which targets victims totally at random. The fires will stop when he 
takes the machine to Boston. There they start again.

Copyright (c) 1990 Perry Okerstrom