I rub the sleep out of my eyes and splash some water on my face. Hands on either side of the sink, I lean in and critique myself in the mirror. Those are some serious bags under my eyes. I really need to figure out a way to actually sleep. Maybe I will go to the walk-in clinic after work. Jess suggested it last week, and I really should have done it then. If I get something to help I will wait until Friday to take it. That way if I don’t wake up for two days it isn’t a big deal. Of course, today is only Wednesday and I am not sure if I can wait for Friday. Oh well, at least my teeth will look good today. Sighing loudly, I open the medicine cabinet and reach for my tooth brush. Something glittery in the corner of the cabinet catches my eye. Is that a gold ring? That’s totally weird. Other than the crappy watch that loses time, I don’t have any jewelry. Picking up the ring, I wonder if the stones are real. My knowledge is limited here. Perhaps it is an emerald? Is that the green stone? Never had any interest in jewelry. Where the hell did this come from? Perhaps the cleaning staff found it somewhere and assumed it was mine? Although, I don’t remember it being there last night and they come Tuesday mornings. I would have seen this, I know it. Frowning, I place the ring back where I found it and wash my hands. I don’t know where it has been, nor do I know how it got here. As I brush my teeth I make a mental note to call the cleaning company later. They are usually good at emailing about any unusual occurrences. Last time it was when they found a plumbing leak though, so more of an urgent matter.

Work was horrible. I have no idea why the slowest day of the week would suddenly become the busiest. Perhaps to punish me, but pretty sure that is happening already. The line in the walk-in was ridiculously long too. At least the pharmacy wasn’t busy. They had these silly little pills in stock as well. That was good. Doctor suggested taking a half pill tonight just to test my reaction. I did tell Jess what I was doing. She is my manager anyway, and if I don’t show up tomorrow morning she will know why and come check on me. I made sure to give her my address and door code. Sometimes medication doesn’t do what it is supposed to do, and things have been known to go horribly wrong. I pour a glass of water and chop a pill in half. My dinner. Damn. I really hope this works. I pop the half pill into my mouth and drain the water glass on my way to the bedroom. By the time I get ready for bed, it should start kicking in. I put the pill bottle in the medicine cabinet beside the ruby ring and close the door. I don’t even reach for my toothbrush. Wait. Ruby? I turn and open the cabinet door again. Yes. A very red stone surrounded by diamonds and set in white gold. What the hell? I described an emerald ring in yellow gold to the cleaning company. The reply said they did not find or notice a ring. Maybe I am more tired than I thought. I must be starting to hallucinate. Shaking my head, I walk over to the bed and undress. My eyelids are very heavy. This little pill seems to be working already. I put my watch on the nightstand beside the emerald ring and slither into the blankets. Wait. Is that another ring? The one from this morning? How did it get here? How….?

I slowly open my eyes. I think I slept. 4:32am according to my watch on the table. Wow. That is freaking wonderful. I still feel super tired, but I SLEPT! That is a miracle! I climb out of bed and head for the bathroom. I think a shower might wake me up just a little bit more. And coffee. Definitely need coffee. I turn the water on to warm up and place my towel within reach of the tub. This is going to be a great day! The shower is lovely. The shampoo even smells better than normal. Did I open a new bottle recently? I look at the shampoo bottle. It is absolutely not the kind of shampoo I buy. Why do I have this in my shower? How did this even get here? That doesn’t make sense. I have never bought such an expensive shampoo before. Or have I? I have been super sleep deprived lately. Perhaps I was a bit of a zombie on the last shopping trip. I put the bottle down and finish rinsing my hair. I should start writing things down. This insomnia is killing my mind. Wrong shampoo, weird jewelry. Right. Jewelry. The rings. I still need to figure that out. Maybe I should take them to the police? That won’t answer how they got here though. I will take them to work and show them to Jess, see what she says. She has not been struggling with insomnia and has a reasonably sane mind. I pull the towel off the counter to dry myself and something falls on the floor. Damn. This is worse than I thought. I don’t remember putting the towel on anything. I finish drying off and get out of the tub, stepping hard on whatever dropped on the floor. “What the hell?!” I bend and pick up the offensive item. It is one hell of a heavy, fancy earring. I don’t even have pierced ears. This is insane.

I am staring at the things collected on my table. Shampoo, two fancy rings and a similarity matched pair of earrings. Things that are not mine and have been found laying around my bathroom. What the hell? The cleaning company called me back already and explained they did not see any jewelry in my house. The woman that cleans the townhouse is the same one each week and she would have remembered finding them. This kind of stuff really doesn’t just show up, so someone must be missing them. Grabbing my phone, I quickly text Jess and let her know I am awake, but not coming in yet. This might sound crazy, but I really want to take these to the police. I put my now empty coffee cup in the sink and grab a baggy from the cupboard. The bus to that area of town leaves in 10 minutes. I need to get my butt moving! Upon arriving at the stop I see the bus is late, but that is just fine. It gives me some extra time to calm my nerves. Why am I so nervous? Because they just appeared in my house, and that is super weird. I get a seat near the front of the bus so I can watch where we are going better. My mind is running a thousand different scenarios through it. I still have no plausible explanation. Pulling the cord for my stop I remind myself to breathe. I have no reason to be nervous. The owner is going to be happy to get the jewelry back. Maybe not so much the used shampoo, but definitely the jewelry. I adjust my mask and sanitize my hands at the front door of the police station. There isn’t much going on in here this morning. No line-up for reception, so I might make it to work at a decent time after all.

The police officer on the other side of the table clearly doesn’t believe me. I have zero idea what is going on. Reception took the items to the Sergeant and then everything went sideways. The Sergeant, this officer, and another detective are all staring at me. From what my overtired mind can decipher, a woman was murdered and her jewelry was stolen. According to the insurance records and photos they showed me I have some of her jewelry and no idea how. That reads as suspicious behaviour to the police. The detective says a judge has signed a warrant and currently there are other officers searching my townhouse for evidence. Evidence of what, I am failing to understand. Someone put these things in my house! Why will they not listen to me? I sigh and look at the annoying man across from me. I am way too tired for this. Another uniformed officer comes to the door and motions to the Sergeant to join him and the detective follows. Hopefully they come back with good news. It seems like an hour before they return. The detective is smiling like the cat who just ate the canary. What the hell is going on? The Sergeant is reading me my rights! What did he find? What is happening? What do they think I did? Oh no no no no. I am way too tired for this! “Lawyer, please.” Are all the words I can muster as despair flows over me. The officers leave me alone in the room to wait for my court appointed lawyer. Whatever that means. I put my suddenly heavy head down on the table and sigh. A sparkly little pair of earrings on the corner of the table beckons. They were not there when the policemen were there! What the hell? How did that happen? I raise my head and reach for them, but darkness overtakes me and I sleep.