So A Lady Got Killed Across the Street

Vancouver's 17th homicide of the year. Nobody's too sure what happened. It got me to thinking about all the things I know have happened on my street. I've only been here five years and I know of a homicide, a beating, a man shooting a rifle off for no particular reason, a rape, an armed stand-off, a disappearance, people going off balconies, numerous car accidents and sundry fires. I got to thinking about what else has happened on my street and figured it's an ideal research project as it's both an old street and a relatively short one.

Update, Wednesday Evening.

Tonight I was passing by the building where the lady was killed. I was told it happened in one of the ground floor apartments on the front. The last three days the curtains have been pulled shut and unchanged. Tonight there was a light behind them. I went around the side, in the parking lot, to see if there was someone inside. There was a very small ground level patio with a railing around it. Behind was a glass sliding door, and white curtains also pulled shut. I could see the light had a fan blade flickering beneath it.

Then I saw the cat. Big, long-haired and grey. Yellow eyes. Of the kind stalwart in the belief that being very still guarantees invisibility. I thought it could be a stray, prowling on the patio. Then I noticed the bottom of the curtain swaying with the beating of the fan, cat hairs stuck to its hem, backlit by the flicking light. The sliding door was open just enough for a cat.

So I either got the wrong apartment, or somebody is holding some kind of very practical vigil which includes proper care of the pets of the deceased.