Is she okay?

Mar 5, 2009 at 5:35 PM
29 comments

About 8.30 last night I was watching television when a lot of banging on my next door neighbour's door disturbed me. It was prolonged and loud. I decided to put my telly on mute and pretend that I was not home incase they wanted to visit me next. Eventually they went away without trying my door.

About 45 minutes later the banging was back and even more frantic than before.

Okay - now I thought I should check things out. I opened the door to find a youngish woman peering through the letter slot in the neighbour's door. I asked if everything was ok and she explained that she is the niece of our neighbour and that she was concerned because Ms S had been sick and her work had called (the niece) because Ms S had not turned up. I replied that the last time I had seen Ms S was on Monday. I noticed a chinese restaurant menu stuffed in her door jamb and thought that they had been delivered on Tuesday so the door had not been opened since then.

I suggested she try banging on the back door as Ms S might not hear the ruckus if she was at the back of the house especially if she was upstairs at the back. She went away but I did not hear any knocking out the back (and I was listening for it). I started to wonder why Ms S's son did not come to check - he has a key.

Ms S had given her cell phone number to us recently to call as she had misplaced her phone in her house and would be able to locate it by following the ring. I tried the number last night but it went straight to voicemail.

Our next door neighbour is not a lot older than me but seems elderly. She has so much "stuff" in her house that there is barely a path to walk through. She has Velvet Elvis pictures on her walls. Her favourite time to hang pictures and do minor home repairs is the middle of the night.

She "mows" her front lawn with clippers whilst sitting on an upside down bucket. In summer she wears bicycle pants and a bikini top. She has a real fur coat . She has a little rat dog which is not allowed outside.

She is a little strange and seems to have a crush on the manservant. I really hope nothing bad has happened to her.

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What a worrisome situation -- hopefully, her son will come by very soon. She sounds like an interesting eccentric lady (though the middle-of-the-night hammering must be annoying).

Has anyone called for police assistance (break in)? It seems warranted.

Did the niece call the son? Have you ever seen this niece before? SOunds fishy.

She has had an interesting life and seems quite talented musically - playing piano, organ and guitar. She has a huge collection of kitsch! Yes the hammering in the early hours is annoying!!

No, I have not seen her before and when she didn't appear at the back I did think "fishy" - that's when I tried the cell phone number. I think she was making too much noise to be about to do anything suspicious.

I'm not sure what might have happened today while I was at work. The house was dark when I came home.

I do hope your neighbor turns out to be fine. What an odd thing though if she did not go to the back to knock.

Emjay replied to Skyrat (Gina)’s comment:
Mar 5, 2009
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Yes - and odd that she didn't say anything about contacting Ms S's son.

Why wouldn't the lady's work call the son and not the niece?

I'm not sure how close the son lives - maybe Ms S has both of them listed as emergency contacts. I will investigate more tomorrow.

Yes you never know when something bad can befall a person anymore, especially when you live in the bird houses in the city where there is many apartments!
Most people never think something will happen to them but you never know when you need to be haled away to the hospital! So good luck Nancey Drew and the mystery of Ms S, I hope she is fine just been sleeping trying to get better!

I agree with LeendaDLL have the PD do a well being check. Don't wait.

Now you have the responsibility and the feelings of guilt! She sounds like the type to be found wedged under a pile of 1930s magazines or a fridge....how it has a happy ending.

lol, thats what I was thinking!!

She might have fallen or something and be unable to answer the door. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she's ok. Can you hear the rat-dog yapping? Maybe the niece could call the police and explain her worries, sometimes over here they'll break into the house in such situations to make sure everything is ok.

Oh, tough situation.
Having a door banged on is scary.
Re your neighbor......that kind of thing happens a lot these days, I think.......I hope it all gets sorted out well for her and the nice people who are worrying.

Queen of Fractal Beauty replied to Adaline’s comment:
Mar 6, 2009
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I agree with LeendaDLL have the PD do a well being check. Don't wait.

Absolutely! Call NOW!

This is really odd. It just doesn't sound good. We hear old people passing out or away in their homes without being noticed for a long time. If your neighbor never went away without you noticing before, it looks very bad.

Actually - I think she probably took something and did go to sleep! When I had all the hardware on my leg and the manservant was away playing astrodweeb, I was terrified of falling on the stairs or in the bathroom and no-one finding me for days.

Emjay replied to Flamingo Dancer’s comment:
Mar 6, 2009
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LOL.... yes, and that guilt was weighing heavily!! It's much easier when you don't know who your neighbours are! Our other common wall is shared with a young lady whose name I barely remember and who we never see - we see more of her visiting boyfriend in her little backyard.

LOL - no, you were thinking I was being a sticky beak (again). ! :-)

Thankfully she is ok. Someone told me today that dogs tend to just curl up and lie beside the dead/dying master! They suggested that it was more likely to bark if Ms S was not there. I don't think I have ever heard her dog bark actually.

Emjay replied to notjustanotherpumpkin’s comment:
Mar 6, 2009
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It is one of those situations where you are not sure whether it is your place to get more involved because she already had family looking for her.

Emjay replied to Singing Horse’s comment:
Mar 6, 2009
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One of the sad things about living in a city is that we tend to all rush about and not get to know our neighbours. For nearly 8 years we lived in an apartment block and only ever knew the name of one person!

Emjay replied to Queen of Fractal Beauty’s comment:
Mar 6, 2009
Reply

Ms S told me tonight that our PD wait 36 hours before they break down doors to check on people. I don't know how true that is ..... she said that her niece wanted to call the police but her (Ms S's) brother told her they wouldn't come. She is going to give me her son and brother's numbers this w/end so that I can call if I am concerned about her in the future.

Queen of Fractal Beauty replied to Emjay’s comment:
Mar 6, 2009
Reply

I used to date a cop and he said they would much rather get called on a false alarm than not get called when it's for real. So, regardless of what Ms. S says, the next time you're worried....call!

Gosh !!!

I'm so glad you found out she was ok. She sounds like she's a hoot....that grass cutting must be a sight.

A couple of weeks ago one of the folks I'd been working with on my short term project didn't show up for work and didn't call either. We were immediately worried cause the only time Bob came in late was when he had a blow out. Bob always came and left at the same time every day, always went to lunch at exactly the same time, and took short walks at the same time every day. We knew nothing about Bob's personal life cause he was very, very quiet.

The next morning a co-worker found Bob's address (I think in his desk) and someone called the police, but they said Bob had to be missing for 48 hours before they could investigate.

First thing the next morning and still no Bob, the co-worker called the police again. Shortly afterwards Bob's desk phone rang. It was his mother looking for him cause she hadn't heard from him in a few days. We were definitely really worried then. A few minutes later the police called back. He was still in bed and from the medication they found in his apartment the police determined he must have had a heart condition.

We were devastated.

I'm so glad your neighbor's story had a much happier ending.

Oh - how awful!! It is a shame that someone, who had such regular habits, could not be checked on before the expiration of those 48 hours. As the manservant is away quite often I have told the people at work that if I do not turn up they should come and check because something will be wrong with me. I have never been late to work and have never not called in.

I can't EVEN remember when I missed a day of work. You're right....it's a shame they wouldn't check earlier. I think if he would have been an elderly person or had known health issues they may have checked sooner...I don't know that for sure, but it does seem that the police do check on older people who have family members who can't reach them.

Is she okay?

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