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Hayley ended the phone call and turned to me. "The police say we shouldn't touch the door."
I nodded. At that moment, a loud clatter and a curse sounded from the floor below us. I recognized a neighbor's voice. There was still no movement in my apartment even with this noise.
"I don't think anyone's in there anymore." Hayley looked at me. I nodded again.
"I'll go take a look." Before I could object, Hayley had pushed the door open with her elbow and entered the apartment. I followed her.
Whoever had broken open the door was no longer there.
The apartment was empty.
But thankfully not cleaned out.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Until now, I hadn't been aware of how much tension I had been under. Now the pressure slowly eased from my body.
"The things are still here," I blurted out. My furniture stood unchanged.
"What about the valuables?" Hayley wanted to know. "Where's your jewelry? And the laptop? There's always something that can be stolen. And maybe they took something. Even if they might have been surprised."
"What makes you think they were surprised?" I inquired.
Hayley pointed at the television. "They would have certainly taken that."
I laughed. "That's an ancient model. I bought it used somewhere on the internet for very little money. The new TV that Owen got back then, I sold it shortly after he moved out for quite a lot of money. The profit went to the bank." I raised my hands helplessly. Hayley nodded. She knew my dilemma and she knew the amount I owed the bank.
"So I can more than understand why the burglars left the TV behind." At that moment, I could even find something funny about the tricky situation.
"And where's the laptop?" Hayley brought me back to reality. I went over to the small desk that stood in a corner of the living room and pulled open the bottom drawer. My laptop was inside. I let out a relieved sigh.
"It's still here. You're probably right and they really were surprised. The question is, by whom."
"As soon as they hear the elevator, they're gone. That's what the police explained to me back then." Hayley now headed towards my bedroom. There was a bit less chaos there than yesterday. I had started tidying up before I left for the meeting with Carter. I had just sorted my jewelry and put it in a green box on the bed.
The green box was gone.
"They took the jewelry," I said, tiredly rubbing my forehead.
"I'm sorry about that." Hayley put her hand comfortingly on my shoulder.
"There wasn't anything really valuable in it. Except for the necklace Joanna gave me, I only own costume jewelry."
"Still, you associate memories with your jewelry. And you like it. It's something personal. Costume jewelry or not, in the end it's the emotional value that counts. You don't care about the pieces because they're expensive."
"That's true." I looked at Hayley gratefully. She was taking my loss seriously. "Actually, of all the things, only Joanna's necklace meant something to me. That was already gone before the break-in."
"That means it wasn't stolen." Hayley smiled encouragingly.
"I can't even say that for sure," I replied sadly. "I have no idea where the thing is. Maybe I lost it through my own carelessness. Maybe the burglars found it and took it." I shrugged helplessly.
"I don't think so. As short as they must have been in here? They didn't even find the laptop."
I nodded. Tired, I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall.
"We're going to the kitchen now," Hayley announced. "We won't destroy any traces there. The guys probably didn't even enter the kitchen."
I nodded again.
"And then I'll make us a nice cup of tea. Something soothing." Hayley sounded very determined.