The last thing anyone wants to find upon returning home from work is that someone has broken in, but that’s exactly what happened to Nate Roman on 15th May 2019. The first indication of something amiss was when first arriving home, Nate’s son shouted ‘Dad! The [front] door is unlocked‘ (edition.cnn.com). On its own, that isn’t necessarily indicative of a criminal act, people occasionally forget to lock the door. However, upon entering the house “immediately there was a vibe that something was wrong” (edition.cnn.com) and he spotted a normally open door had been fully closed.

Typically in films and TV when there’s been a burglary, clothes are strewn across the floor, chairs are upturned and there’s general disorder. This wasn’t what Nate and his son found, however. Exploring the house he found nothing out of place. More strange, his son’s room which had been a mess that morning had been tidied. Nate’s own room was also pristine. Even the hovering had been done. In the bathroom there was a smell of cleaning products and, perhaps the most bizarre discovery, roses had been made from the toilet paper.

The police were immediately called to do a sweep of the house to ensure no one was still there. Nothing seemed to have been taken and nothing had been left. None of the neighbours reported seeing anything noteworthy when asked by police. Nate’s security system hadn’t been activated so there was no camera footage, but the door sensors told them whoever had been there stayed around ninety minutes in total. Marlborough Police Sergeant Daniel Campbell said: “We have not received any reports similar to this in other locations, and we have no suspects at this time” (bostonglobe.com)

Over the next few weeks Nate felt apprehensive in the house, waiting to find the reason behind the break-in. Opening cupboards now involved a level of anxiety. The locks were swiftly changed and no further unexplained episodes have happened. The break-in will likely remain a mystery.

Nate is now able to see the funny side of the situation keeping the toilet paper roses as souvenirs and joking that it would have been nice if they’d got round to cleaning the kitchen whilst they were there.

References:  Edition.cnn.com  –  BBC.co.uk  –  Bostonglobe.com