Thief

A strange thing happened on the way to the forum. No wait, that's not right.

A strange thing happened on Sunday while Wes was in the workout room. He put our keys down, got on the treadmill, and came back up to the apartment without them. Realizing his mistake, he found his own set of keys and went back down, only to realize that the keys he'd taken down with him initially were no longer there. He asked the lady who was working out then if she saw anyone pick them up, and she said no. He came back up, told me what happened, and we were both puzzled. There was one man with a little boy down there while he was working out, and then this lady came in. You can only get into the room with a building key, so it's not like a random passerby from the street could have come in and taken them. Plus, they were only unattended for about five minutes. Granted, he didn't have his eye on them the whole time he was working out, but who would pick up someone's keys while they're right next to his treadmill.

A darn thief, what's who.

I looked around the room behind Wes (he's been known to overlook items from time to time), and then we put up a notice that the keys disappeared, asking anyone who found them to call us (no, we didn't post our apartment number). A day goes by. No one turns in the keys to the management office or calls. Odd. I start to wonder if the little kid absent-mindedly picked them up while his dad was exercising, and the parents just didn't notice. No harm, no foul, but problematic for us. And of course this whole time, I'm terrified that we're going to get robbed or someone's going to come in while I'm home alone (we do have a bolt lock for then, though). Also, our mailbox key is on this ring, so we can't collect our mail.

So I come home today and notice signs about our keys everywhere -- in the front entryway, on the elevator. And I ask Wes about this. Here's where the story gets good: Today Wes went to the chief building engineer and the property manager and explained why we're so confused as to these keys disappearing. It's not like they were "lost" or left somewere for an extended period of time, after all. There was an oversight on his part -- he should have kept them in eyesight at all times -- but it wasn't a serious offense he committed here. Turns out that after several robberies happened in the building, security surveillance was significantly increased. There are video cameras everywhere -- including the workout room. So the three of them go back to the video and watch. There's Wes running, there's Wes doing situps, there's Wes lifting weights. And there is the man who was in the room the same time as Wes -- the father of the four-year-old -- looking at Wes (the keys were behind the treadmill), grabbing the keys, and running out of the room. Now mind you, this man lives in the building. He has a wife and two kids. He's sitting in his apartment right now with our keys. He doesn't know us and hopefully doesn't know what apartment we live in. And he has OUR KEYS. When they found this on the tape. the property manager and Wes decided to put up signs everywhere, give him a chance to turn them in, or else confront him with the tapes tomorrow night. The property manager is trying to track to see that he's been using the fob (logically the only reason to steal the keys unless he really is planning rob us or kidnap Lucy for a hefty ransom) as further evidence of his crimes and misdemeanors. Wes, of course, wants to pound down his door and give him the what-for (he blamed it on his Y chromosome). I say, let the authorities be involved to minimize potential problems -- and maybe put up new signs that says something like, "We know you did it! Surrender the keys -- or off with your head."

Interestingly, the property manager told Wes this isn't even the worst they've seen on the tapes. They actually saw people steal vases from the front lobby -- people who live in this building. And when they confronted them, these people denied it! Amazing, isn't it.