the curious case of the non-existent burglar

[Evastar]

i went out front to clear snow this afternoon, was outside around ten or fifteen minutes when my next door neighbour drove into her driveway. she had been to collect her granddaughter from school. she tried to open her front door with her key but it wouldnt open.

i went over to help her but the door wouldnt open for me either. the key was turning no problem but it was like the door was locked from the inside? anyway she said there was definitely nobody in the house. we called the man across the road and he tried the key as well, but couldnt get the door open either.

myself and the man from across the road went into my house to see if we could get in her back door, at which stage we discovered that there were footprints in the snow in my back garden, leading from the wall between the two houses to my back door. we looked over the back wall but couldnt see any sign of anything strange so went back around the front.

one of her windows was open slightly so we decided to get a stepladder from my house and try and get in the window. unfortunately the window was locked in the slightly open position so that didnt work either.

at that stage we decided to call the police because of the footprints and the fact that we thought the door was locked from the inside. i brought my neighbour and her grandchild into my house for a cup of tea and the man from across the road stayed out front shovelling snow.

to be fair to the police they arrived within ten minutes of being called but when they got here the policewoman tried the key in the door and was able to open the door straight away. at which stage they went into the house for all of thirty seconds, decided nobody had broken in and left. they didnt even check to see if the back door was locked or not. the woman next door said there were footprints in her garden as well.

i insisted that they come into my house and look at the footprints in the garden. first of all they suggested the footprints could be mine until i pointed out the size of mine beside them, then they agreed that somebody must have been in the garden and also the neighbours garden, but were adamant that nobody had been in her house and that she just couldnt turn her key.

a bit coincidental dont you think, when she has no bother turning her key the other 364 days of the year? :err:

 

[MH]

Has she checked the loft????

 

[Evastar]

i'm not going in suggesting it to her, this woman is in her 50's, isn't well at all health wise and has 3 of her children in her 20's living with her, let them check the house out later.

i'm thinking that she hadnt locked her back door, and when the burglar heard us saying we had called the police that he unlocked the front door and escaped back out the way he had come in, while she was in my house having a cup of tea and waiting for the police to arrive?

she had only gone out for about twenty minutes to collect her granddaughter from school, then again sounds like he might have gone in even if she was there

funny thing is though, the man from across the road, his wife only told me a couple of days ago somebody had been in their back garden, because she saw footprints in the snow, so obviously someone casing the area, and if it wasn't for the snow we wouldn't even realise

 

[NoodlesJoe]

FatherChristmas Came Early I tinks lol

ya check loft/cellar as thats where they might be hiding,
plus in the house was there any wet footprints?

ah she has kids....say no more.

 

[Evastar]

i wasnt in her kitchen just the hallway. i just feel the police could have been more thorough in their search, they just decided that her key got stuck, totally discounted the footprints and didnt even check to see if the back door was locked or not. as far as they were concerned no sign of forced entry and nothing missing = no burglar

 

[RAB - P]

probably frosty the snowman looking for a heat,

not been above zero here all day lowest -17 now -7

 

[sargie]

Frozen lock/door probably.

 

[Evastar]

its 2 degrees here today so a lot of the snow is melting, plus she was only gone out for twenty minutes and the door had worked then.

i would agree about the lock being faulty except for the footprints in both back gardens. which makes it very coincidental that somebody was at both our back doors and then her front door lock isnt working at the same time.

it snowed last night so the prints were definitely fresh today.

 

[NoodlesJoe]

Police are a waste of time/money/space.
10mins to come to a burgaly ffs robbers they would be in and out in 3mins tops.
its this time of year ya gets loads of robberys because off all the xmas presents/cash that will be about the house.

 

[Evastar]

they only came that quickly because i said on the phone that it was an elderly lady in poor health and she had her grandchild with her and we thought there was a burglary in progress. otherwise we'd still be waiting.

 

[sargie]

Typical woman always worst case scenario lol.

 

[bod]

lets hope that when the burglar comes back tonight, the gardai are just as quick to respond as the police

 

[MOAMB]

Had frosty taken anything?

Maybe he was cold and wanted to warm up and now there is nothing left cuz he melted? roud:

Its snow joke either :banana:

 

[justintime]

were there any footprints leading away from the house when you checked first? & if not did you check afterwards?

 

[speedy1234]

your next door buddy has a family of refuge's hiding in her loft looking for work !!!

 

[Evastar]

were there any footprints leading away from the house when you checked first? & if not did you check afterwards?

i dont know about in her garden, in mine there were a set coming from the wall to the patio door and back again

 

[oneman]

Don't know how your lock work but on mine if I have the key in on the inside, I can't turn the key if used outside. I know know why the key would turn but not open the door.

Odd.

 

[stevie1ball]

It's Wagner looking for Wagbo now she gone home to Ireland.

Don't you have house Alarms where you live.

Looks like opportunist looking for a quick buck cos people leave presents under the tree in full view of the windows.

 

[Evastar]

yes, i have an alarm but i dont think that she does. luckily nothing was taken, and she will be more careful about checking all her windows and doors are locked in future.

unfortunately it's the time of year when there are more burglaries

 

[DigiBairn]

The main thing is nobody was hurt. It just shows you how low people can go if they check places out for Christmas presents, etc.