A Mystery

When I came back from town today, someone had shoveled a path from the back porch to the garage. Daughter had taken care of the front steps and walk, which are more treacherous and get more use, but the back steps hadn't been touched. There wasn't that much snow, so I hadn't been too concerned about it. I thought it was nice, though, that the steps had been shoveled. When I unlocked the back door, I discovered that the deadbolt had been locked. So whoever had shoveled the steps had also been in the house for something. It's fairly common knowledge that there is a key to the back door in the unlocked garage.

I don't know why someone went into the house. The church owns the house, and the trustees met last night. I had told them that the back porch toilet froze during the last real cold snap with strong winds. Maybe they came over to see if I really did have the baseboard heaters turned up all the way like I told them I did. It's supposed to get very cold again this week, so maybe they decided they needed to check out the situation and come up with a solution before the deep freeze returns.

At least the back porch and kitchen weren't too messy this time. There are times when I don't want anyone to see that part of the house. One of the good things about living in a house owned by the church is that when something goes wrong, I can just call the trustees to come fix it. One of the frustrating parts about it is that people invade my home without my knowledge or consent.

When I came home, I noticed I had a message on my answering machine. I thought maybe someone was calling to tell me why they needed access to the house. Nope. It was a woman wanting to set up an appointment for a wedding.

It's possible that someone will tell me why they were in the house, like happened last summer. I may find out when some solution appears to the frozen back porch. Or, I may never know. You'd think, though, that the unexpected invasions would be enough to make me a better housekeeper....