Column Chronicles: Nick Cretin and the killer numbers

Nick Cretin and the killer numbers

Frank Cotolo
February 27, 2026

Nick Cretin, P.I.E. (Private Investigator Extraordinaire) was up to his neck trying to find a new kind of killer. This was a murderer tagging his victim with sets of specific numbers.

"The numbers must be clues," Nick said to his landlady.

"Speaking of numbers, she said, "you owe two hundred for the rent."

"How can you be so insensitive?" Nick said. "Innocent people are being slain by a sadistic criminal tagging victims with numbers. I'll pay you next week."

Nick studied police photos of the victims. Each body found had a tag around the neck with numbers on it . Nick read one tag: 678. Then another: 20349875. They another: 5724. He was suddenly sure about them.

"They're not scores. They're numbers meant to throw us off," Nick told the police detective. "The murderer thinks we'll try to find a pattern or a code or a clue in random numbers."

"You mean the murderer wants us to concentrate on the tag numbers as if they will reveal the identity of the killer?"

"Isn't that what I just said? Yes. The numbers are random."

"Then we better call him The Random Number Killer."

"Brilliant, detective. Call the press."

Three more murders surfaced the next week. Again, each body wore ad a tag around the neck with random numbers on it. Nick read one tag: 45 and then another: 0645.

The detective said, "Is zero a number? And why is a driver's license on one victim's chest?"

"Maybe the killer dropped his driver's license while placing a tag of numbers," the detective said.

Nick smiled. He knew then that the killer was the person whose photo was on the driver's license. Police arrested the person whose photo was on the driver's license after the person whose photo was on the driver's license confessed.

"You solved another one, Nick," the detective said.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.