A Citizen in Need

Mr. Tom Markus, the Chief of the Medina Police Department, WA, was in his office behind his desk. He felt tired after a long and busy day, the last day before the brief Christmas holiday. This year he was determined to get rest no matter what, spend some quality time with his family, and put all work-related thoughts on hold. A small mountain of mail was lying on his office table. It was late evening and reading the letters was the last thing he was going to do before going home. The next envelope he picked up had no return address. In the upper-right corner there were three stamps of forty-five cents each, which meant that someone two times overpaid for the delivery service, something that Mr. Markus did not see every day. The delivery address was hand-written in blue ink and it looked like the hand that wrote it was a little shaky. Inside the envelope Mr. Markus found a one-page letter written in the same ink and most probably by the same hand.

Dear Chief Markus,

I'm one of the most respected citizens living in your community and as I understand your main goal is to be "responsive to the needs and desires of the citizens of the community." At least, this how you state it on the Medina Police Department's website. And today I'm in need of your help.

For some time now, I have been suffering and I can't stand it anymore. The reasons for my suffering may surprise you, but here they are: I'm too rich and too famous to have a normal life. I can't go outside beyond my own backyard without being recognized and followed by someone who wants to talk to me, asking lots of questions, and expecting me to know the right answers to all of them. So, the only place where I can feel safe and relaxed is my own home. And even that is possible only if all the windows are blinded because people try to take a peek through my windows from far away using binoculars and even telescopes.

I'm so extremely tired of being stuck inside my house and not being able to do any activities all you simple folks do, like cycling, shopping, going to the movies, having a cheap beer in a bar full of strangers, or having a barbecue on my balcony with my wife... My wife is another reason I suffer. My wife is about to leave me. Ironically, she is leaving me not because I spend too much time in a bar, but because I don't spend enough.

I guess, I'm not describing the situation accurately. By saying that she is leaving I really mean that she asked me to leave, to go away. Now I know how mistaken I was to trust her, especially with our money. She has it all in her name, the house and all the bank accounts, and I'm left with absolutely nothing but my fame suffocating me. And if you think a good lawyer could help me, you might be right but I am not willing to fight for anything in my life anymore. I want to stop it all. I don't want to continue my crazy life, I want to have a different one. And this brings me to the very reason I'm writing to you.

Please, help me to disappear from this house and this life without anybody knowing, and appear someplace else where I can start a new life. I know, you have means to do such things, you have a witness protection program when you relocate people to the places where they can be safe. This is exactly what I need now.

I will be deeply thankful to you if you decide to help. Otherwise, I will go to my plan B, that is a death by suicide. The choice is yours. Make the right one, so you don't regret it later looking at my body hanging from my living-room crystal chandelier.

Thank you for your time,
A citizen in need.
P.S. I can't give you my real name yet, before you put me into your witness protection program. I'll patiently wait for your answer till the holidays are over. Have a merry Christmas!

The End