The shabby but otherwise nondescript house was riddled with bullets. From the look of it, an enforcer squad of the Las Cinco Muertes cartel had driven up and attempted to massacre the inhabitants of a drug lab hidden within. The lab had been well-armed and well-protected, and in the ensuing shootout all the survivors had bled to death.

A homicide detective, wearing gloves, picked up a cell phone from one of the enforcers. It had, as its last message, a text reading “WE ARE KEEPING THE STUFF.”

He compared it to another phone, already in an evidence baggie, from the drug lab. Its last two outgoing messages were “WE ARE KEEPING THE STUFF” and “UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING WHEN WE DELIVER IT TO YOU.”

The latter text had failed to send.

“This is what happens when you don’t have reliable Wi-Fi,” said the detective with a rueful shake of his head.

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