Okay, first off I’m late. This was supposed to happen on Monday…I’m under some deadlines, but I had this stuck in my head, and in odd moments, I pounded it out.<\/p>\n
I want to point out…while this is exaggerated SOME – it is largely based on the experience Trish and I had when our home in Hertford, NC was robbed several years back. The names have been (mostly) changed to protect … well … someone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
EXT. FRONT PORCH – MORNING<\/p>\n
SERGEANT GROUSE, Old Mill Police Department, heavyset, mid 40s, close-cut hair stands, hands on hips, staring at a broken window.\u00a0 Gathered around him are DEPUTY BRIGGS, Late 30s, thin to the point of emaciation, his gunbelt nearly falling down where his hips should stop it, ALICE, a slender, attractive, well-dressed woman and her husband Bob, dressed for work in shirt and tie.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
Looks like someone broke in.<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
(incredulous)<\/p>\n
We called you and told you someone broke in.\u00a0 That’s why you’re here.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
Uh, well, yeah.<\/p>\n
(scratches his chin)<\/p>\n
Not much glass.<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
They threw the brick in through the window.\u00a0 The glass is on the inside.<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
(scowling)<\/p>\n
Who’s the PO-lice officer here, anyway?\u00a0 We’ll get to it, just hold your horses.<\/p>\n
BOB and ALICE turn and stare at one another.\u00a0 The two officers turn away from the window.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
We’ll need to look around inside.<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
You think?<\/p>\n
BOB grabs ALICE by the arm and pulls her to the side, trying to silence her.<\/p>\n
ALICE (CONT’D)<\/p>\n
(struggles)<\/p>\n
But...<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
I know, but we have to let them do their job.<\/p>\n
(to the officers, louder)<\/p>\n
Right around this way.\u00a0 We can go in the back.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
They break in through the back did they?<\/p>\n
ALICE starts back toward the officer, but BOB grabs her.<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
Uh..no.\u00a0 They went in through the window...kind of why they broke it, I think.<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
There he goes again...<\/p>\n
CUT TO:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
INT. FAMILY ROOM – MOMENTS LATER<\/p>\n
The group is gathered in front of an entertainment cabinet.\u00a0 Wires dangle, and most of the equipment is gone.\u00a0 On the floor, in a pile of broken glass, is a brick.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
Took your DVD player, did they?<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
And the stereo, the Play Station, the Nintendo Game Cube and a VHS.\u00a0 They left the remote for the DVD player...guess they won’t be able to do much with that.<\/p>\n
BRIGGS pulls out a soiled handerchief and carefully lifts the remote.\u00a0 He drops it in a ziplock bag and seals it carefully.<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
Why did you take that?<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
Evidence.<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
(losing patience)<\/p>\n
If they’d seen that, wouldn’t they have taken it?\u00a0 The only prints you’ll find on that are ours.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
Oh, we won’t be taking any prints.\u00a0 We got the equipment back at the station house, but no one’s trained to use it.<\/p>\n
(beat)<\/p>\n
Well, that’s not exactly true.\u00a0 Bessie White can do it, with the ink and the cards...but...<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
Then how are you going to find them?<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
I got me a plan.<\/p>\n
(taps his head)<\/p>\n
You’ll see.<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
(ignoring Briggs)<\/p>\n
We know pretty much all the boys likely to have done this.\u00a0 We’ll bring them in.\u00a0 Might find some of your stuff.<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
Do you need a report?<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
About what?\u00a0 They threw a brick, they broke your glass, they took your stuff. No one saw them, that about it?<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
Yes, but ...<\/p>\n
BRIGGS walks over and lays a grubby hand on Alice’s arm.\u00a0 She pulls back and looks at him.<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
You don’t worry, Ma’am. I’m gonna be on the streets tonight, and I’m gonna find ’em. You watch.<\/p>\n
ALICE<\/p>\n
How?<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
(grins)<\/p>\n
This here re-mote control is the key.\u00a0 I’ll wait until the little buggers are watching their shows tonight, and then I’ll have ’em.<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
How?<\/p>\n
BRIGGS<\/p>\n
(winks)<\/p>\n
I’m gonna walk down the street and flick this here re-mote until something either goes on, or goes off.<\/p>\n
The room goes silent.\u00a0 GROUSE scratches his paunch and frowns, as if lost in thought. BOB and ALICE stare at one another.\u00a0 BRIGGS salutes and turns.\u00a0 He steps out through the broken window, and is gone.<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
Is he crazy?<\/p>\n
GROUSE<\/p>\n
Like a fox, I’d say.\u00a0 That young man has one sharp head on his shoulders.\u00a0 Thinkin’ about putting him in charge of the Crime Lab...Worry for my job, at times, I surely do.\u00a0 You folks have a nice day.<\/p>\n
GROUSE eyes the small window for a moment, shakes his head, and turns.\u00a0 He exits through the back door.\u00a0 ALICE bends and reaches for the brick, but BOB grabs her<\/p>\n
BOB<\/p>\n
Now...honey...<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Okay, first off I’m late. This was supposed to happen on Monday…I’m under some deadlines, but I had this stuck in my head, and in odd moments, I pounded it out. I want to point out…while this is exaggerated SOME – it is largely based on the experience Trish and I had when our home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[51,52],"class_list":["post-901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sketches","tag-csi","tag-csi-anywhere"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sketchwar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}