2010 Afternoon with police and housebreaking

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I had a lot of things to do this afternoon, but didn't get to any of it.

Back in July I had gone to NJ's annual Moonlight Madness, and discovered that she had been diagnosed with colon cancer, was on chemo, and was scheduled for radiation and surgery in mid-August. The next morning I called and left a phone message to offer my assistance in any way she could use it. She didn't respond. A few days later I heard that several people had called or emailed her, and they also did not get a response. Of course after the party the news had spread like wildfire, and I can understand her choosing not to listen to phone messages. Too much "Oh you poor thing" can really drag you down. So I sent an email with the same offer, and again got no response.

Time passed. Surgery time passed. Emails were zipping around the group asking if anyone knew what was happening. We were all shocked to find that her best friend, Les, didn't know anything either. He didn't know what hospital she'd be in. Nothing.

I figured that if she was communicating with no one, that was her choice, and she's entitled to it. She has a daughter that lives fairly close, so I figured she was with her daughter. No one knew her daughter's name, so we couldn't check.

I got a phone call this afternoon from May. I've mentioned May before, but not in a very long time. May is the one who rarely leaves her house, and is quietly drinking herself to death. She's only two years older than I, but she has decided that she's ready to die. Her main topic of conversation these days is her funeral arrangements.

May told me that she was convinced that NJ was lying dead on the floor in her house. The mansion that NJ had lived in for so many years had been sold last year, and NJ had moved into a cute little house at the end of a steep potholed dirt private road, on the banks of the Hudson River. May kept saying "She'd stink for a month before anyone discovered her!" May had called the county police and asked them to check NJ's house, but she wasn't sure they'd actually do it.

I said ok, I'll go and check myself.

Thirty miles later, I found NJ's car and two police cruisers in NJ's driveway, and her front door open. The fire department heavy rescue truck had just left (the heavy rescue truck is the one that carries all the fancy equipment, like the "jaws of life", saws, super power wrenches, and so on - a safe-cracker's wet dream).

The deputies weren't completely sure what the story was, so I filled them in. They had arrived to find the house closed up, so they had the fire department, with their ladders, come and locate a window that wasn't latched. They went in through the window. They said that the electric company said the power had been shut off a month ago.

I told them NJ had a daughter, but we didn't know what her name was. They searched the house and car, and all they found was a "Happy Birthday, Mom" card, without an address, but it at least gave us a first name. It was an unusual first name.

On that flimsy information, and access to data bases that we poor mortals can't reach, they actually found the daughter, and called her! She confirmed that her mother was in a particular hospital. The deputy explained what was going on, that they had checked the house because her friends had been worried, that they were locking the house up again, and that when the daughter visited the house next, she should latch the window they had found unlatched and entered through. It was all pretty nifty.

But I was left with a bit of a dilemma. I now know where NJ is. I think it's obvious that NJ would prefer not to be found. I told the deputies that I would pass the word that she is being well cared for, but we should not tell anyone where. I don't think she wants people to know.

I drove home, and was in the process of composing a broadcast email to that effect, when May called again. She had called the police, and they had TOLD HER where NJ was. She had then called the hospital, who told her that NJ "is not up to receiving visitors or talking on the phone."

ACK!!! Of all the people in the world, I suspect that May may be one of the last NJ would want to know. She's very sweet when she's sober (well, when she's drunk, too) but she can be TOO helpful, if you know what I mean. And her favorite topic of conversation is depressing.

I convinced her that I am pretty sure NJ would not want that info disseminated. We should keep it quiet. It's enough for people to know that NJ is being well cared for. We overstepped already by breaking into her house. NJ will contact people herself when she's ready.

Les doesn't have email, so May said she'd call him and fill him in, but promised she wouldn't tell him which hospital.

There followed a flurry of phone calls, including one from Les asking for a translation of May's call, and another flurry of emails.

NJ is the treasurer for the local Mensa group, and apparently she didn't turn over the books or assign an alternate signator before she dropped out of sight. So I got pretty miffed when one of our members (ok, Zig) tried to hint that since I know where she is, I should try to get the books. Or maybe I read him wrong. Whatever. I responded that they should forget getting anything from NJ. Pretend she has eloped to Tahiti. I hope y'all have a Plan B. Implement it.
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