lesson 58

   The old lady was glad to be back at the
block of flats where she lived. Her shop-
ping had tired her and her basket had
grown heavier with every step of the way
home. In the lift her thoughts were on
lunch and a good rest; but when she got
out at her own floor, both were forgotten
in her sudden discovery that her front
door was open. She was thinking that she
must reprimand her daily maid the next
morning for such a monstrous piece of
negligence, when she remembered that
she had gone shopping after the maid had
left and she knew that she had turned
both keys in their locks. She walked
slowly into the hall and at once noticed
that all the room doors were open, yet following her regular practice she had
shut them before going out. Looking into the drawing room, she saw a scene of
confusion over by her writing desk. It was as clear as daylight then that burglars
had forced an entry during her absence. Her first impulse was to go round all
the rooms looking for the thieves, but then she decided that at her age it might
be more prudent to have someone with her, so she went to fetch the porter from
his basement. By this time her legs were beginning to tremble, so she sat down
and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the police. Then,
her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's assistance to
search for any intruders who might still be lurking in her flat.
They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did
not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints. The chaos was
inconceivable. She had lived in the flat for thirty years and was a veritable
magpie at hoarding; and it seemed as though everything she possessed had
been tossed out and turned over and over. At least sorting out the things she
should have discarded years ago was now being made easier for her. Then a
police inspector arrived with a constable and she told them of her discovery of
the ransacked flat. The inspector began to look for fingerprints, while the
constable checked that the front door locks had not been forced, thereby
proving that the burglars had either used skeleton keys or entered over the
balcony. There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red
bundle that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. So their
entry into this flat was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they
must have been disturbed. The inspector then asked the old lady to try to
check what was missing by the next day and advised her not to stay alone in the
flat for a few nights. The old lady thought he was a fussy creature, but since the
porter agreed with him, she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in
what she described as a little spot of bother.