In Front of My Eyes

I love to look in people's windows.  It was just plain curiosity that made me do it.  How did people decorate their homes? What colors did they paint their walls...you know, innocent little facts that are petty and meaningless to anyone else but me.  I wasn't a peeping Tom if that is what you are thinking.

It all changed for me (looking in windows) two weeks ago.

I was walking home from work and found myself on K street, in Washington DC.  The block was filled with obscure homes, some as old as 100 years.  Most of the window were protected by metal bars, to keep their residents safe.  But there was one small house that was void of such isolation.  The light coming from one of the rooms, shined brightly.

My innate curiosity became the best of me as I walked toward the window.  Was it a bedroom?  Maybe it was the kitchen, its' resident preparing a hot meal.  Just a qick glance told me it was a small bedroom, large enough for only one dweller.  A bedroom set and television set were all I ciuld see.

As I turned around to make my way up the pathway, back to K street, I heard muffled voices coming from the window that had been left ajar.

"Stop it.  Your hurting me". (woman's voice being muffled)

"You have ruined my reputation with your vile stories and lies. I could just kill you."  "You have to be punished and there's nothing you can do about it."

I inched back toward the window only to see a fair haired man of about six feet tall, brutalizing and choking a woman. I gasped and qickly threw myself to the ground.

I looked up and down the street to see if there was anyone else around,  But I was totally alone.

I made my way back to the street and reached for my cell ohone.  I deftly dialed 911.  It felt I was waiting an eternity before someone finally came on the phone.

"Hello, 911...what is your emergency?

I just saw a woman being murdered on K Street."

"What is the address please"?

I looked to see the number of the house, but could not seem to locate a number anywhere.

"I am sorry sir,  but I can't locate the address.  It is getting dark now so it's hard to read any numbers."

"Well sir without an address I can't help you."

"Can't you just trace my location through my cell phone.  I kniw it can be done.  They do it on the police shows all the time."

"It's not the same in the real world, "Please hold on so I can get a detective on the line with you"….and then the line went quiet.

I looked down at my cell phone and became dismayed when I saw that I was no longer connected to 911.  So I called back again to see if I could talk to someone that would fake my call seriously.

This time, a woman with a slight siuthern drawl answered the phone.  I quicky reported the murder, not giving her a chance to dismiss my raves and rants as just another crazy citizen trying to mislead the police or waste their time.

"What is the address where you witnessed this murder?"

"I can't read the adress on the building."  But it is the only building on the street withour bars on the windows".

"I am sorry, but I cannot find you without a street number."  Do you know what number block your on?  Maybe we could have better idea about your location."

Again I walked up to see if I could see any other building with a number.  I finally found a number on the third house i looked at.  The number on the building was 899."

"I must be on the eight hundred block, because the number on the door reads 899.

"Thank you for that information.  Please hold on while I confirm your location.  "Thank you she responded."  The phone went silent again.

A few minutes later, the operator came on fhe line again.  She sounded almost apologetic when she said that there was no street number with 899 listed on K Street.

"What are you taking about.  I am in front of the building now and it definitely shows as 899 K Street.

"Sir, can you please let me know what kind of crime have you seen committed tonight?"

"I saw and heard a woman bejng choked by a man!  Please, I know what I saw.  A poor woman was choked to death by a fair haired large man about six feet tall. That is all I can tell you.  Now will you please send a policeman here before the guy gets away?

"Well again we cannot confirm the address you are at.  We need to have a valid address."

"Sir, may I ask how it is that you came to witness this so called crime?"

"I was on my way home from work when I heard loud voices coming from the window, and hearc the man saying "I am going to have to punish you for the disgrace you caused me."

"You heard all that, just walking down the street?"

"Well sort of.  I was by the window when I heard it".

"What were you doing by the window.  Did the owners of the house know you, or did they knew you were by their window?"

"Well, actually no, of course not."

"Are you in the habit of listening to people's conversations 

is illegal without their knowledge?"

"You said that you heard the man threaten the woman being threatened did you actually see a dead body?

"I saw the woman on the bed and she wasn't moving."

"That doesn't prove that she was dead.  She could have just been sleeping".  

"There is a detective on the way to meet you. Can you pleaae stand outside on K Street?" He is on his way now."

I stood on the street for abour half an hour before the detective finally showed up.  

The detective stepped out of his car and approached me in a lazy stroll.  "I'm Detective Sam Green. I am told you witnessed a murder on this street tonigh"

"That's correct, Detective, right here in front of this house."

"Sir, have you been drinking this evening?".

"No sir, I answered without hesitation.  "I witnessed the murder right here, by the window over there."

"I know this street very well.  Been working on this beat for over ten years.  This house has been empty for at least seven years.  The owner of the house was killed in that room.  The case was never solved.  So unless you believe in ghosfs, and I myself don't believe in ghosts, I suggest that you go home and sleep it off (whatever it is that you're on) and leave police work to the police.

It's funny, but I opened the local newspaper to the front page news.  The headline read DETECTIVE SAM GREEN SOLVES COLD CASE MURDER OF BEAUTY QUEEN LESLIE CARTER.

The police had duped me, pushing my curiosity right through the window.