I watch WAY too much CSI...

OK, so yesterday morning I went out to my car to get in and go to work and this is what I found:

Notice anything missing??  During the night someone knocked off the driver side mirror.  All that was left was the base and 3 little wires sticking up!! 

The housing for the mirror was found about 30 feet from my Jeep and the mirror part was laying somewhere in between.  That meant that whoever did this was going at a pretty good clip down our little cul-de-sac.  I couldn't believe that they didn't knock on the door and say they had had an accident (ok maybe it was the middle of the night) or at least leave a note - they just hit my Jeep and took off!!! Morons!!  It particularly pissies me off because in October there had been an incident over our extra car.  (Refresh your memory by reading this post)  To please the neighbors I parked the extra car in the driveway and have been parking my Jeep in the street.  Now the neighbors who had complained about my car have a little truck parked on the street, it hasn't been moved in 2 weeks.  And my Jeep is the one that got hit.  But I just decided to cut my losses and call al local junk yard to see if I could get a mirror and have C put it on for me.

When I got home from work I was walking in the street where my mirror had been laying earlier.  I noticed a couple of pieces of white plastic and THIS little gem: 

Do you see what I see????  There is writing on that piece of mirror. That's not from my mirror. I took the little piece of glass in the house and showed it to C.  After thinking about it for a while I threw on my coat and told C I was going to take a little walk and see if any of our neighbors had a broken mirror. (He looked at me like I was crazy). At first I didn't see anything but then as I was heading back home - I saw a white Jeep sitting in a neighbor's driveway.  I walked up to it and noticed the passenger side mirror was broken.  I pulled out my little piece of glass and BINGO!?!?  It fit into their mirror like a puzzle piece!!! So I went up and knocked on the door. A lady answered the door and the following conversation took place:

Me:  Hi! I am LeeAnn I live down the street.  Is that white Jeep out there yours?

Lady: Yes,why?

Me (with just a tad bit of cockiness to my voice): Well your Jeep was involved in an accident last night. My driver side mirror was knocked completely off my Jeep. And your Jeep did it.

Lady:  Huh?? Well, my (moron) son drives it - let me get him.

Me:  Did you have an accident in that white Jeep last night?

Moron Son: No (did I really expect another answer)

Me:  Well you have a broken passenger side mirror.  It got broken when it hit  my mirror last night.

Moron Son: (as we were walking out to the white Jeep - him in his bare feet) Oh, that mirror has been like that for a long time. (he didn't know about the little jewel in my pocket)

Me: Oh really?  (taking the piece of glass out of my pocket and holding it up in place) Then, can you explain why this piece of mirror that fits in this spot on your mirror was laying in front of my house today???  

Oh, the look on that poor moron's face - you're BUSTED pal!!!!!

Moron Son:  Huh!  What do you know, it sure does.  My girl must have done  it and not told me - she was driving it.

Me:  Well, as I see it you owe me a mirror.

Moron Son:  I'll gladly pay for it. (Could that be because you don't want me to call the police? Can you spell "hit and run"?)  When you know how much just let me know. (I bet he thought I'd go away and forget about it)

Me:  Ok - I got one from the junk yard- it was $64.05. Would you like stop by my house and drop off a check  - I'll show you the bill.

Moron Son: No,that's OK.  I'll pay you now. 

He went back in the house and brought out $70 cash and gave it to me for my mirror. 

I was floored!  But I was also very, very proud of myself for finding that glass and being determined to go find who it belonged to!!! Sometimes I have a temper - but I was diplomatic and calm about it.  But then, I did have have the upper hand and I knew it, so there was no need for me to make a big scene. If the Moron Son wanted to take issue or debate it - all I needed to do was let the police sort it out.  I did a happy dance all the way down the street. C was shocked too when I went back in the house and laid the $70 down. I honestly can't believe it was that easy.  I knew watching all those police shows on TV would pay off sometime.  Just call me CSI LeeAnn.