Comedy of Security Errors

Last night as I was leaving church, the neighbor called - Did I know why there might be a sheriff's car in front of our house?

Well, no, I didn't - except that we had had a thunderstorm, and the neighbor verified that we'd had a power blink. Which would trigger the alarm, which would cause the security company to call, which would cause them to call the sheriff's office if they did not get an answer. (Unanswered: why they didn't call my cell phone, which they are supposed to do.)

So I came home, and found two doors disturbed/locked differently than we usually do, and a note from the sheriff's officer in the front door, stating "We have checked your home and found it to be unsecured." What??!!!

After thinking about it, as well as getting the neighbor to help me walk through the house and check all the rooms and closets, I figured out what happened:

--ML went swimming in the afternoon, came in, and did not lock the sliding glass door behind her. She came through the closed vertical blinds instead of opening them like we usually do.

--Since the blinds were closed, I did not double-check that the sliding glass door was properly locked.

--Storm comes up after I'm gone; lightning strike triggers alarm.

--Alarm company calls house, no answer. (Still no explanation why they didn't call backup cell phone number.)

--Sheriff's deputy checks house, finds sliding glass door unlocked, therefore home is unsecured. Comes inside to check house. Locks door but does not insert the board in the track that we use as a secondary lock.

--Deputy checks house and exits through front door - thus causing front doorknob to be locked but deadbolt not locked.

I called the sheriff's office and talked with the deputy who checked our house. He was very helpful about the situation and not unhappy about having to make what was an unnecessary call. I am thankful for the reminder that we are protected by our sheriff and his staff.

p.s. There was no one under the beds either.