BACK TO REALITY... Same ole, same ole (Part 165e)

BACK TO REALITY… Same ole, same ole (Part 165e)

The morning couldn’t come fast enough. Neither of us slept very much but if there was one good thing it was that Elle was dry when we got up. The first thing I did was to go outside and slip through the opening in the hedge to see if anyone was there to change the locks in the neighboring house. I was relieved to see a familiar face working on the back (kitchen) door. Jonesey was a familiar face around town as a handy-man carpenter. I’d used him a time or two myself. I chatted with him for a minute or two, more or less catching up with him before he asked if I knew why Andy wanted the locks changed. I asked him if he’d been inside and he said he hadn’t. He’d picked the key up at Andy’s office but he wasn’t there to explain. I told him of what I’d seen and how concerned I was about it and how strange it was that there was no signs of a break-in. I was pleased he was there and went back to tell Elle. However, that didn’t satisfy Elle who explained that just the fact that strangers had been in the house had her “uneasy”. I felt the same but didn’t let Elle know and tried to convince her that since it hadn’t been a break-in and that the locks were being changed we would be safe. I had to get to work and reinforced the idea that under no circumstances would whoever it had been would return in daylight.

The only reason I could think of for not remembering that our neighbor to the West, John the farmer, had a brother on the police force. I was at the end of the driveway when it came to me. He lived just down the road and I decided to take a chance and stopped at his house. He wasn’t home as he’d just left for his shift but after explaining why I wanted to see him his wife said she’d have him call me at work. That was reassuring as I hoped he’d be able to keep me posted on what the police would find in their investigation. Ed was his name and he was really was reassuring when he talked with me. He had two kids of his own and fully understood how Elle and I felt. Of course he had no idea of what had transpired as he’d just arrived at the station.We left it that if (and when) he got any information he’d call. I called Elle to tell her and it was the first time since the situation arose that I could her some relief in her voice.

It was hard getting really into things at work. I have no idea what, if anything, I did all day. For sure, I was anxious to get home. I hadn’t heard from Ed which made the day seem even longer. Not wanting to be a pest I decided not to stop at Ed’s house on my way home. He’d told me he’d call when he had anything of interest so when I drove up the driveway to see a patrol car parked in front of the garage I was surprised. He’d just arrived and Elle was on the way out the kitchen door as I stopped my car. He was still behind the steering wheel and writing when I got to his window. He looked up at me and with a smile said they had identified two men who’d been in the house. The reason for the smile was that the men were migrant farm workers who had worked for his brother on the farm that surrounded both my house and the neighboring house and he actually was familiar with them. That was all well and good but what I wanted to know was how did they get into the house. That was information that he didn’t have but he assured both Elle and I that we didn’t have to worry about them. Elle and I both thanked Ed and as he headed down the driveway I still couldn’t believe that I’d not thought of him the night before.

For some reason I felt like celebrating. However, it was too late to get a baby sitter and Elle had supper almost ready to serve. When we finished I suggested we all go the the local Dairy Queen. It had been quite a while since we’d been there and, in a small way, it served as a celebration. Being that it was now the middle of September, there was a definite briskness in the air as the sun went down. One of the treats for me in going to DQ had been to observe the girls who’d worked there during the Summer. The uniforms included short skirts and on a few occasions I’d managed to get a peek. But, the only female on duty this evening was the wife of the owner. She was a good looking woman, a few years older than Elle and I, but she wasn’t into short skirts. I’d known her husband from when I was a teen when he worked at the marina located in the creek where “Big B” kept his boat. I wasn’t into soft ice cream so filled the time talking with him. I’d not planned it but where I ended up standing gave me an observation point where I could see his wife replenishing various components. To do it, she would squat down to pull boxes from under the counter and rather than stand up to pick them up, would stay on her haunches and tried to kick them to the desired location. Leave it at this… I ended up with multiple split second peeks. Elle and the kids got ice cream and I got something even better.

It was Andy, the real estate agent, who called me at work with the answer as to how the migrants had gotten into the house. I’d asked him if he’d shown the house and he told me that he hadn’t but that a newly hired assistant had. It turned out that the last time he’d been there he lost the set of keys he had but hadn’t told Andy. He took the second set of keys and had another set made up. When Andy told him about someone being in the house he confessed about losing the keys and told him he might’ve lost them while showing the house but swore that he’d locked the door. In telling me this Andy told me he was making the guy pay for the new locks. I think my thoughts at the time was that he should’ve been fired.

There were still two unanswered questions… where did the men find the keys and why were they in the house at all. To put this thread to bed I’ll jump ahead to the following weekend. It was Ed who had the answers and he stopped by the house to tell me. His brother (John, the farmer) would hire a group of migrant farm workers to harvest his potato crop each Fall. He provided them with a bunk house complete with a kitchen. But, he had one major rule… no drinking in the bunk house. These two ignored it and ended up getting fired. They got paid for the time they’d worked and they promptly went out and spent it all on wine. Our house and the neighbor’s house was located right across the farm field from the bunk house so, on that night it had rained and they walked across the field trying to find a place to sleep. They claimed they tried the doors and found the keys on the porch. They actually had slept in the house a number of nights. The only thing the police could put on them was trespassing. Ed told me that his brother bought the men train tickets and made sure they got on the train. That was the best news and it was what Elle wanted to hear. It certainly was an interesting period of time for us.

To be continued…