The Bad Guys Always Wear Black

Quick question.   How many of you would open the door of your house and let two complete strangers in that look like this?

If I saw these guys at my door, I have no doubt I would not only not even go to the door, I'd be calling 911 before they even hit the front porch.

Now on the other hand, let's imagine another set of strangers that just might look like these guys.

Who would look at those two and hear that little voice in your head that tells you to be cautious?  Voices?  None, nothing, nada, zip. 

And so it went this morning for my father-in-law. 

A couple of normal looking guys come to the front door, which has security bars on it and fast talk their way into their very modest home.  They had a roll of linoleum.  My father-in-law can't hear that well and these guys managed to fast talk their way into the house.  I can only assume my father-in-law couldn't hear them and absentmindedly let them in the house.  They looked like normal guys, right?

The fast talking began and they claimed they were opening a store and one held up the linoleum roll while the second guy made his way into a spare bedroom and proceeded to go to the closet and steal a box of gold coins. 

Somewhere along the way, they found my mother-in-law and one of the "hope-you-burn-in-hell" men greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  While the linoleum was still being shown to my father-in-law, he hears the front door shut.  Then the other guy leaves quickly, they jump in their car and they are gone in just a few short minutes.

I'm aching for my in-laws tonight.  The slap of reality that these two scum were in their house and knew right where to go within just minutes will leave them sleepless and scared for how many nights?  And the worry if they could be coming back, next time for something even worse.

Bob was just a few minutes away by the time his mother called.  He arrived as the police were still there.

Bob told the detectives that the guys had to know there was an elderly couple that lived there.  They knew the layout of the house and they knew where to look for the coins. 

Two weeks ago, they had cable installed and a week ago, another cable guy came back out to fix the signal.  When Bob mentioned that to the detectives, his mother said they didn't go into the bedroom.  Bob pointed out that the cable guy was there awhile and they could easily spend a few minutes without the constant eyes of my in-laws.

The cable guys have been the only strange guys in the house lately.  The more we've thought about it, the more we're convinced one of them may be working with these con artists.  He can tell them which are likely victims and where something of value may be. 

It was all too slick not to have had prior knowledge of the people, the house and the location of valuables.

It's a good reminder for us all to stay with repairmen, cable men, and strangers you have in your house all of the time they are there. 

These scum didn't just steal away with a few gold coins, they stole my in-laws' security, peace of mind and, I have no doubt, left my father-in-law feeling like a fool.  It just makes me sick.  But, they were very, very lucky that it was just a few coins and not some tragic event that we would have been hearing about on the news tonight.

Tonight, please say a little prayer for their continued safety and for some peace.