Things that go bump in the night

I got up about 9am today, to a somewhat odd scene in the living room.

The first thing that made me notice that all was not as it seemed was when I powered up my computer to put the radio on.  The internet didn’t work, and I realised that the external wireless card (which connects the laptop to my wireless network) was missing (I am currently blogging from my work computer).  The speakers were also unplugged from my own laptop, which I do not remember doing.

Then as I looked round, I noticed one or two other strange things: a couple of dirty dishes that I’d left on the table were moved, and one was on the floor, upside down.  A packet of salami, that had been in the fridge, was sitting on the table (opened, but none extra eaten, I don’t think).  My camera and the wire that connects it to the laptop were missing from the table where I had been uploading photos on to the laptop.  I found the camera on my mantlepiece, and the wire on a bookshelf, along with my iPod which I had left on my sofa.  I checked my camera case, and a memory card and adapter are missing.

Strange, you might think.  I instantly thought that maybe I’d been sleepwalking.  I don’t think I’ve ever done it before, but my body clock has been out of kilter since getting back (I am fine this morning though, thanks for asking) and so who knows what state of mind my subconscious was in.

Then I noticed the cigarette ash on the living room floor, in between the table and the window.

I don’t smoke.  I detest smoking.  Even if my subconscious fancies a sly puff now and then, I don’t possess any smoking materials.  There aren’t even any matches in the flat.  I live miles from the 24 hour Tesco which is the only place I can think of where you can buy cigarettes in the middle of the night.

So maybe I’d been broken into.

Admittedly, I was up briefly at 5am to go to the loo, and I noticed that I’d accidentally left the door was unlocked and the guard chain off, and so I put the guard chain on before going back to bed.

Maybe, I thought, someone had been in the flat between 10pm and 5am, during which I was dead to the world.  And they’d stolen my laptop wireless card, my camera memory card and adapter, and nothing else, moved a few things around, and had a quick smoke.

Surely not?

Perhaps if I have a good hunt around the flat I’ll find all the missing stuff.  But I don’t really have time – I have to catch a train in a couple of hours and am totally unprepared for the next three days’ work down south.  And that still wouldn’t explain the stuff that’s been moved, or the cigarette ash.

So I will just have to endure this slightly unsettled feeling until I get back.

Any ideas?