4,096 words
17-minute read
"Yes. After the wife is asleep, we can use the guest bedroom. Once she gets to sleep, I can leave her until at least eight o'clock this evening."
"When will you give her the sleeping pill?"
"If you are up for this, I will give it to her right now, and she will be asleep for the day in thirty minutes."
I was working on a shower in a master bedroom ensuite when a young black woman and an older white man entered the bedroom and had a whispered conversation, as shown above.
On alert for something nefarious about to happen, I stood quietly listening to the plan to drug someone and then carry out a plan that wasn't yet clear to me.
"Yes, give it to her so we can continue. I am afraid of her discovering us."
"Okay, if that is what it will take."
The conversation ended as they quietly closed the bedroom door, and when I heard no more noise, I turned off the recorder on my phone.
I leaned against the sink counter for a few minutes to think about my next step.
Determining that I wasn't sure what they planned to give the woman. I was cautious and unsure if I should get this shower repaired and forget about it or if I should get involved by showing myself and letting them wonder what I might have overheard.
The conversation sounded so threatening to my sensibilities that I decided to leave the shower and go through the house to my truck to get a tool. I didn't need to go out into the house except to see what they were up to, and I didn't need any tools.
I armed myself. I hung a claw hammer through the loop on my tool belt.
I proceeded down the hall to the stairs and again overheard the conversation at the bottom of the stairs. I stopped and listened again.
The man was talking to someone as though they were having a hard time hearing, so he was talking louder than a usual conversation.
"Mary, it's time for your pills."
"George, darling, I just took some, didn't I?"
"Yes, those were needed, too, according to the Doctor."
"Okay then."
A silence settled in the room.
"This medication may make you dizzy, Mary. You better lay down after you take it."
"Who else is here, George?"
"No one. Honey do... was coming, but he didn't show up."
"I thought I heard a woman's voice. Was there a woman here, too?"
"No, Mary, I think maybe you heard the TV."
"Okay. Give me the pill. I am out of water please bring me some."
"Let me help you to bed first. Then I'll get you some water."
"I can get there without any help, George, I am not a cripple."
"Okay, Mary, Just taking care of you, that's all. I'll get some ice water from the refrigerator."
Now, I hustled back to the ensuite and determined that I could hide there until I had more information.
George spoke up, "Here, put these in your pocket."
I was in a dilemma. I heard conversations about a woman who was going to be dosed with a sleeping pill that would knock her out within a half hour of taking the dose and cause her to sleep for over ten hours.
I heard a lot of shuffling and realized someone was coming down the hall. I was trapped if they came into the bathroom, because the shower had a clear glass door.
Next, I heard the bedroom door close, and then the bathroom door opened.
I held my finger to my lips and uttered 'Shhh."
Mrs. Morgan smiled and whispered. "George told me you didn't show up. Excuse me, Honey do... I have to pee. George is going to bring a pill to me that might make me dizzy, so he wants me to lie down. Sorry to disturb you working there. "
She pulled down her pajama bottoms and sat on the toilet as though I wasn't there. I turned away and debated, 'What is next?'
I could hear the tinkling and was embarrassed beyond words.
When she was washing her hands, I said, "When you leave, close the door, Mrs. Morgan. George doesn't need to know I am here. Can I see what he gave you to bring up here?"
Mrs. Morgan handed me a pill box with three different warning labels. Poison, do not drive, and sleep-inducing, all bright colored and printed in bold black.
I looked at the pill, which resembled my 81-grain aspirin, so I substituted the one in my pill carrier.
She thanked me and went to lie on the bed.
I asked her. "Please don't tell George I am in the ensuite. What he doesn't know might be better."
"Okay, Honey do... I won't say a word."
In less than a minute, the bedroom door swung open, and George came in with the water and a plate of cheese and crackers.
"Okay, Sweetheart, lie here for a half hour. If you aren't dizzy, you can get up. Thanks for bringing that pill up here for me. Let's make sure you are comfortable."
I could tell he was tucking her in for a long sleep when George said, "Do not be surprised if you become sleepy. That side effect is very common and means you need to rest."
"Okay, sweetheart, thank you for taking care of me."
"That's it, Mary. Drink a little more water, please."
"I'll check in on you in fifteen minutes or so."
I heard the bedroom door close, waited a few minutes, and went to Mrs. Morgan's side and asked Mary, "Did you take that pill?"
"No. It fell out of my hand, so I faked it."
I said, "I am going to get some parts, I will be gone about a half hour, and then I will be back to finish the shower. Okay?"
"Okay, Honey do..."
I stepped outside the bedroom door after listening for George and hearing nothing.
As soon as I was in the hallway, I could hear voices from the room down the hall. I slunk along, being quiet as a mouse, and listened outside the door. The unmistakable sounds of sex, moaning, and skin slapping told the whole story quickly, if not quietly.
I went down the stairs and out the front door to my truck parked about two houses away.
When I got to Walgreens, the pharmacist looked at the pill, then said, "Honey do... that pill is a controlled substance. Wait a few minutes, I will print out the rules for dispensing, and restrictions on even having an inventory of that pill."
About three minutes later, a uniformed pair of City Police came into the pharmacy and walked up to the pharmacist, who simply pointed to me sitting and waiting.
"ID, please."
After a short wait, the officer said, "You have the right to remain silent..." and then the rest of the Miranda spiel required to arrest someone."
After acknowledging the Miranda reading, he asked me, "Tell me what you brought in here, and where did you get it?"
"I do not know what it is. That is why I brought it here. I got it from a customer a few minutes ago. Her husband planned to give it to her, his wife, and I intercepted it.
"Was it a prescription?"
"No. It was in a pill box. I gave her an 81-grain aspirin instead, thinking, if it were safe, I would give it to her after I got it identified here."
"I'd overheard her husband represent it as an extra pill the Dr. wanted her to take."
At that point, the officers heard the entire story, and after a few questions, one said, "We have to make a report. We will interview her husband, George, you said right? George Morgan?"
"Yes, hired me."
"I haven't met George."
"Mrs. Morgan told me he was at the store when I arrived, so I moved my truck out of his driveway, down the block, and went to work on the job she'd hired me to do."