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It's just after midnight on June 17th, 1972 in Washington, D.C. It's a muggy

night in the nation's capital and there isn't much traffic, but one car cruises up and down circling the streets.

Inside, three disheveled-looking young men peer out into the darkness.

They're meant to look like hippies, but their

disguises aren't convincing. Their hair is too neat, the car too new. These men are

undercover cops and on the lookout for drug dealers.

They haven't had much luck, and the night's been quiet.

Until there's a squawk from their radio.

The police dispatcher says,

Any cruiser anywhere,

see guard at the Watergate Hotel

in reference to possible suspicious circumstances.

Sergeant Leeper, the undercover officer in charge,

glances at the other men in the car. It's not really their

responsibility, but their night has been quiet and

uneventful, boring even. So Sergeant Leeper decides a change of scene is an

order.

So they head to the Watergate, a large modern complex with offices and a hotel right on the banks

...