If you ever have a bit of time on your hands type into your search box: “Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?” It is a strange tale of an unsolved mystery as is this post.
We always used to have a fairly laid-back attitude to home security until we were burgled a few years ago. As we were sat in the back room one evening intruders walked in through an unlocked outer door and helped themselves to my handbag and my son’s wallet.
After that a kind of security mania sprung up around our street. We all got alarms upgraded, better door locks, CCTV cameras and started a WhatsApp group so we could be better informed about any suspicious goings-on in our neighbourhood. If only we had just locked the door!
The WhatsApp group is great and has been especially supportive during lockdown. Neighbours have put boxes of kiddies toys at the end of their drives for anyone to help themselves and someone has been making and selling face masks and donating the money to charity. Lost and found pets notices get posted on there with the latest one being Marley the Jack Russell.
There is always something going on. At the minute everyone is collecting bottle caps so my neighbour can create a bar top out of them.
Occasionally things get a bit over dramatised. One evening a couple of weeks ago we could hear fireworks going off. The group chat exploded along with the rockets. A sense of incredulity and outrage: “Fireworks? Really?” Followed by rapid response: “I’m on my way!” To do what? Not sure.
The most serious chat threads are alerts with CCTV images of people up to no good. There is many a night when individuals can be tracked around the street, going into gardens, trying car and house doors and peering in through windows. Checking footage can get to be a bit of an obsession and actually sometimes it’s better not to know what is happening outside when you are in bed and asleep.
Anyway back to my unsolved mystery. Remember my twig broom? Well, when I got up this morning it was in the middle of the hazel tree.
So when my husband checks CCTV footage later I am going to look the other way. I don’t want to see that someone has grasped hold of my magical twig broom, messed around with it and then put it in the tree. I don’t want to see what else they have been doing in our garden. Maybe it will turn out that no one has been in the garden which would be truly something for the group chat!!! Either way it’s better not to know.
