Under Suspicion

Prowler

“Prowler”

Scene:  That afternoon; Lincoln two-four-five responds to a possible four-five-nine.  Wry and Earnest knock on a door in a quiet residential neighborhood.  Man opens door and lets them in.

Wry:  I’m Officer Wry and this is Officer Earnest.  You called about an attempted burglary?

Man:  Yes.  I mean, I called you guys, and I suppose it was an attempted burglary, but....

Wry:  (Sighs.)  Why don’t you start from the beginning?

Earnest:  And by beginning, we mean, what is your name and is this your house?

Man:  (Nods.)  Yeah, sorry, I’m a little rattled.  I’ve never had to call the cops before.  Anyway, my name is Tod Stolls. And I don’t live here. This is my sister’s house; I’m just here visiting for the week.  My sister’s name is Marie Jacobs, and her husband’s name is Kevin.  Oh, and their daughter lives here, too.

Wry:  Okay, Mr. Stolls, we’ll check all that out.  But about today:  what did you see, and when?

Mr. Stolls:  Well, Marie usually watches Megan get off the school bus every afternoon, but today she had to report for jury duty, and I said I’d keep an eye out when the bus comes.  So I walked across the street to the corner—Marie doesn’t allow smoking in the house so I took the opportunity to have a cigarette—and saw the bus stop at the other end of the block.

Earnest:  To clarify, you were at this end of the block, and the bus dropped off at the other end?

Mr. Stolls:  (Nods.)  Yes.  Anyway, I saw Megan get off the bus and walk down the street to the house.  I finished my cigarette and crossed the street and we came inside.

Wry:  How long after that did you see the prowler, or burglar, or whatever?

Mr. Stolls:  It was about fifteen minutes, or maybe twenty.  Megan had gone to her room to change clothes and I went into the kitchen to fix her a snack.  I was walking down the hall—

Earnest:  Excuse me.  Which hall?

Mr. Stolls:  (Gestures.)  This one here.  I was coming from the kitchen and when I passed the bedroom door, I saw a guy outside, looking in the window.

(Mr. Stolls shows the officers where he was standing, and the window in question. Earnest goes outside to check the area around the window.)

Wry:  Whose room is this?

Mr. Stolls:  Mine.  Well, it’s the guest room.  (He and Wry return to living room.)  At first I wasn’t going to bother calling you guys, but this isn’t my house so it’s not really my call.  I checked with my brother-in-law, and he wanted me to call it in.  I mean, if it was just me, I wouldn’t care too much, but like I said, this isn’t my house, and I want my sister and her kid to be safe, so... here we are.

Wry:  How old is your niece?

Mr. Stolls:  I think she’s eleven.  No, wait, she turned twelve a few weeks back.

Earnest: (Returns from outside.)  I didn’t get too close so I wouldn’t disturb anything, but I’m not sure there’s anything to see anyway.  It hasn’t rained in a few days and the ground is hard as rock.

Wry:  Thank you, Mr. Stolls.  We’ll pass this information along to detectives, and they may come by to see if there’s any sign of the prowler.  But even if they do, there’s likely not much that can be done.  Unless we catch someone in the act of prowling, or even trespassing, there’s not a lot we can do.  In any case, if you or your sister have any questions or you remember something else, our number is on your copy of the incident report.

Mr. Stolls:  Thank you, officers.  I appreciate your coming by.

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                                                        To be continued....