Wednesday, May 18, 2005

5/18/05a

6:56 am. I'm set up in a middle class neighborhood just south of my Subject's house. His front porch lights are on, which is a good sign. No vehicles in the driveway and the garage door is closed. No activity. Time to settle in for the long haul.

I got off to a good start this morning. Four hours of sleep. Nice. I would have slept longer, but one of my investigators was having trouble writing reports last night and I had to play editor. She's a pretty good investigator. Former cop. Just having trouble with the administration stuff.

Another of my guys keeps getting picked up by the Subject. Yesterday it happened for the fourth time in a row. I asked him what he's driving. "...a yellow Hummer or something? What's making you stand out?" He says he drives a non-descript sedan. "Tinted windows?" I ask. "No", he says. Well, there you go. Gotta have tinted windows or you might as well be a fish in an aquarium. I instruct him to get some tint installed and we will re-imburse him. I hope that takes care of it. I ask him if he's been setting up his surveillances in the Subjects' driveways or something. He doesn't think I'm funny.

Close call this morning. I forgot my pee bucket so I had to improvise with an empty Mt. Dew bottle. Later, I accidentally grabbed the wrong one and had JUST brought it up to my lips to take a big swig when I noticed how warm the bottle was... Eek. Don't want to make that mistake again. I decide to chance irritating the neighbors. I crack my door and dump the pee out along the curb. I smile to myself. Just my little contribution.

7:53 a.m. Young black male, 9 years old, wearing baggy shorts, blue t-shirt and a backpack walks east down the street toward Subject's home. He follows the walkway to Subject's front door and enters the house without knocking. Hmmm. Who could that kid be? Looks like he's heading off to school.

7:54 a.m. Kid steps out of the house, drops his backpack outside by the door and re-enters through the front door.

7:57a.m. Kid comes out again. Make up your mind. An old lady in a white housedress and slippers stands at the doorway and appears to be chewing him out. She's wagging her finger at him and shaking her head from side to side. You're in trouble now, kid. You pissed off grandma.

7:55 a.m. Grandma re-enters the house. The kid waits a few minutes and then goes back in again. Is he waiting for a friend? Maybe Subject's son?

8:04 a.m. Grandma walks out the door and peers down the street as if looking for something. The bus? She's got a medium-sized youth t-shirt on a hanger in her right hand. She sends Eddie Haskell away. He walks down the block and pretty quick a bus comes and picks him up.

Now I'm thinking that Subject's son missed the bus. This means that he's going to need a ride to school in just a few minutes. I prep for a mobile pursuit. I lock down my equipment that could be damaged if I make sharp turns. I put any food and beverages away. I get my camera ready on a stationary tri pod. I put the keys in the ignition, but I don't hop up front just quite yet. Too bad the vehicle isn't outside in the drive. That means that unless I get a good look at who's driving, I might be following grandma instead of my Subject.

More to come.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

A cliffhanger! So what happened next?

Eww on the near miss with the urine.

Anonymous said...

hmmmmmmmmmmm, there's been a yellow Hummer parked outside my place the last few days.

Anonymous said...

yellow hummers are everywhere in the LA area he should come work out here!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to applaud Polly for the aim and accuracy to get the pee into the Mountain Dew bottle in the first place! I'm a guy and I would have trouble doing that!

Anonymous said...

didn't judi blog about a certain funnel type apparatus for women in just such a situation.

Anonymous said...

...and having read all that, I reflect that there are times, like right now, when I'm glad I'm not a P.I.