DC By the Book

Excerpt: As a present, my mom arranged for us to go behind the scenes at the museum. She took us into the studio where she works, showed us all the high-tech equipment, and even let us see a newly acquired Picasso that hadn’t gone on display yet. It was very cool and when we left we walked through the Impressionism galleries. That’s where we came across an artist painting a replica of Monet’s Woman with a Parasol.

Excerpt: We followed him, staying across the street and about fifteen feet behind him as he walked. My pulse started racing. He turned onto H Street and entered a ten-story brick building with a sign that read PHILIP S. AMSTERDAM HALL. It was one of the GWU dorms.

Excerpt: We crossed the street and approached the dormitory. We tried to open the door but couldn’t without a pass card. The windows were tinted, so we cupped our hands over our eyes and pressed up against the glass to see better. A flyer on the door advertised summer housing orientation.

Excerpt: We entered the main rotunda and the first thing I saw was a pair of detectives questioning the cleaning crew. The custodians looked nervous, as if the giant pillars that circled them formed a marble holding cell.

Excerpt: The reception area had dark paneling, antique furniture, and three massive paintings on the wall. The names beneath the paintings formed the motto of the FBI. There was Fidelity, featuring an eagle soaring of the Grand Canyon; Bravery, which showed a Civil War battle scene; and Integrity, with George Washington taking the oath of office.

Excerpt: Even though it wasn’t quite noon, the temperature was already in the nineties and rising. As we walked along the campus, the large shaded trees that lined Georgia Avenue offered us a little relief from the heat.

Excerpt: The firehouse was a squat two-story building made of dark brown bricks. ENG4INE was painted on one wall and there were three red barn doors for the garage. One of them was open and we could see a red-and-white fire truck inside. Written on the front of the truck was THE HORNET'S NEST.

Excerpt: I looked up to draw her attention to the banners that hung from the streetlight we were standing near. They matched the ones on all the streetlights along Georgia Avenue. On one side was a picture of a Howard University student. On the other it said I BLEED BISON BLUE!

Excerpt: The hospital was on the other side of the campus. It was nine stories tall and a couple blocks wide. According to the directory, Labor and Delivery was on the third floor. While we waited for the elevator, Margaret grabbed a brochure from an information stand in the lobby.

Excerpt: The next morning I rode my bike to Deal Middle to watch the championship game of the U13 Washington Area Girls Soccer League. The match was played on the big field behind the school and when I got there I was amazed by how many people had turned out.

Excerpt: The school is a massive, three-story brick building that seems even larger because it sits on the top of a hill. I walked around to the front and was unlocking my bike when I heard someone coming toward me. Despite being exhausted from a grueling game in the summer heat, she had run all the way up the hill after me.

Excerpt: First I went to a castle-looking building right by the campus called Fort Reno. It was used to defend Washington during the Civil War, and now it’s a park. According to one of the information plaques, it’s the highest point in the city. After that I had a couple slices of pepperoni and sausage at a pizzeria with free Ping-Pong and foosball.

Excerpt: The museum turned out to be the perfect place to practice. It was filled with different types of people, so we had a broad cross-section to study. And they all moved slowly, which gave us plenty of time to observe. We started with a couple in the Rembrandt room. The woman had on a black dress, and the man wore a shirt and tie.

Excerpt: Thirty minutes later we were sitting on a bench on the edge of the GWU campus drinking sodas to fight the summer heat and keeping an eye on the exit of the Foggy Bottom station. And thirty minutes after that, we were still waiting.

Excerpt: Agent Rivers led me into a room with a large desk and a conference table. In here, one wall was covered with a map of the United States. Another was filled with photographs of the director with various world leaders. And a third contained a hidden door that opened onto a smaller, secret office. That’s where the director and Rivers talked while I waited nervously, wondering what I had gotten myself into.

Excerpt: We followed him through the garage door and alongside the fire truck. There were hoses, lockers, and even a pole to slide down from upstairs. On the wall were two rows of pictures – one taken each year of the firefighters at the station.

Excerpt: Her search had a much better success rate than mine until we reached the library. The room was beautiful with antique furniture and dark wood bookcases that went from floor to ceiling.

Excerpt: Now we went into Gallery 85, which is where we’d seen Novak painting the copy of Woman with a Parasol and where Renoir’s Child with Toys was stolen. Like the first room, this one was more crowded than usual and had a guard (possibly an agent) station in the corner keeping an eye on things.