It's another dry Australian summer afternoon and despite a hard day's work, I managed to squeeze in some time to collect some groceries. Needless to say, I was really relieved to return home but as soon I walked in the front door, I knew something was very, very wrong. The double french-doors were flung wide open & the kitchen window was clearly ajar. Someone else - someone uninvited & unwanted - had been in my house.
Instinctively, I looked for the valuables and even as I did so, I was mentally preparing myself for the fact that they were probably taken. To my pleasant surprise (followed soon after by confusion), the items I'd expected to be taken were still in the house. This included laptop, playstations, x-box, tv, computers, cameras, all of which were clearly visible. They'd taken our team's trivia money that we'd absent-mindedly left on the table, but oddly, no electronic goods.
Puzzled, I peeked in Craig's room but there was his desktop computer, seemingly untouched. It was only when I ventured into our bedroom that I saw the chaos. My jewellery was strewn all over the bed, searched through & ransacked. Yet even as I looked over what was left, trying not to touch anything in case I contaminated possible evidence, I could see that they'd taken a pair of gold earrings - cheapies that were actually broken.
I broke the bad news to Craig. It's not the kind of thing you want to tell your husband when he's at work on a monday. He told me to call the Police, which I did. As I explained the scene over the phone, I noticed that the thief / thieves had taken one of my decorative Samurai swords. I wish I could claim they were some sort of extravagant heir loom, but they were a fun $20 deal from eBay. Curious & curiouser... But to make things worse, I suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the bedroom.
I couldn't help but panic. Though I'd walked through the house, what if the thief was still in the house? It certainly did feel as if their robbery had been suddenly interrupted. There just wasn't enough valuables missing. I was still on the phone to the police and explaining the situation, they decided to send someone over to my house. No doubt, the nervousness in my voice was giving me away.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm. The noise was probably Craig's printer, that had been unbalanced during the robbery, slipping onto the floor. I wish I could say that I was brave and that I was calm. But actually, I was an emotional wreck. Finding the house robbed wasn't anywhere near as nerve-jarring as the idea that the intruder was still in the house, possibly armed with a cheap eBay samurai sword. As I answered the police woman's questions, to my relief, Craig walked through the front door.
I have never been so glad to see Craig in my life. Suddenly, it felt like everything would be okay, that the mess in the house, would somehow sort itself out, now that Craig was home. His boss, Scott, had kindly driven him home having heard the news. Bless him.
So the forensic team won't get to our house till tomorrow morning. Our bedroom is still a mess. I've left it untouched; a chaotic reminder that strangers have visited us. As for the kitchen window & french doors... well they're being replaced. While I know a more secure window & doors won't fool-proof us against theft, something has to be done and we need to move on.
It's not been all bad news. We refreshed our ties with our neighbours and we've relearnt their names. Karen lives behind us, Alan lives to our left. Though both were home all day, neither had heard the theives.
The point of this post: Craig and I are okay. To trivia team, "Let's Billy-Zane This!", we're very sorry, the trivia money has been stolen. We'll fix this somehow. If it's any consolation, it was the most valuable thing the thieves took, besides some cheap asian dvds that I owned.
Yours truly,
Demi & Craig.
No comments:
Post a Comment