We were drinking our evening cup of steaming tea. The camcorder kept changing hands between us as we checked how far into the evening we could see through its powerful lens. We checked the road, the traffic and the beautiful sunset. We kept suggesting to each other what else we could try and watch.

I turned my attention to the duplex apartment that we always found fascinating. We kept watching it from the bedroom window everyday, wondering who stayed there and how they lived. Its a lovely apartment.

The lights were on. That made me happy since I could now snoop at the contents of the place. Suddenly, a female figure appeared dressed in a white toweling robe, her hair disheveled. She seemed to be shouting at someone who was out of my range. Something happened and she cowered. I knew it was wrong of me to be watching, but I was unable to put the camera down. I pushed the record button instead.

Two men appeared in my field of vision now. They were dressed in black overcoats, which was funny because it was an exceptionally humid evening. The first man was holding something pointed at the lady who was now half-lying on the couch. Something happened. The lady cowered again and the lamp on the side table shattered. The second man took something out of his pocket and rushed to the lady. Nothing happened for a few moments. The moment passed. The second man moved away from the lady and she slipped to the floor and lay there.

The whole episode hit me hard. By the time I realized what I may have witnessed, both the men were standing at the French window looking straight at me. I stopped breathing when I saw they were pointing towards our window. I must have turned a shade of white because my husband noticed something was wrong even before I had said anything. I passed the camcorder to him and he played the whole recording. By then the men had vanished.

We were at a loss. We were fairly certain the men would be at our door steps in a few minutes. We thought of locking up and rushing to the police. Then we wondered how much they would understand us with our broken Thai. Our second option was going over to the embassy. While we were still musing…

… we had finished our cup of tea and toast. We decided to stop our fantasy right there, put the camcorder back in its case and get on with our evening chores.

Before you start wondering – we cooked up the murder while watching the empty duplex and the parking lot. But what would we do had it been real??