A visit from the locksmith

It was late in the afternoon as we returned home, parked the car, and slowly walked up to our front door, chatting about what we were going to have for supper and blissfully unsuspecting of the impending crisis. I (Jul) opened the gate, and then inserted my keys to unlock the two bolts on the wooden door… I turned the keys…and yanked on the door…and rattled the keys some more… No luck. Neither bolt would budge. The keys turned in the lock but the bolts stayed fast.

“This is ridiculous,” I said, and would say so again at least ten times in the next hour. We banged our heads against the wall, frustrated at only having one entrance to the apartment. We walked around and checked out all the windows, hoping we could somehow get in the flat through an open one. But alas, all the windows have burglar bars on them that can’t be budged (without major tools). Jim put his keys in and yanked on the door some more, but to no avail. It was time for a visit from the locksmith.

Fortunately two of our next-door neighbors (both older-aged widows), Mrs Bell (in No. 2) and Mrs Kuhne (in No.3), were both home and readily offered assistance in the form of advice, a phone and recommended locksmith, brainstorms (though fruitless) on how else to break into the apartment, and finally…an aperitif (glass of sherry) while we waited for the locksmith to arrive.

Once the locksmith, Mohamed, arrived, we all placed bets on how long it would take him to bust down the locks. After ten minutes, we decided to retreat into Mrs Bell’s flat to finish our sherry and get out of the wind (once evening hits, it’s still quite chilly). We swapped stories about Mrs Kuhne’s daughter and Mrs Bell’s grandchildren and crime in South Africa (inspired by the present situation). Jim, feeling masculine and semi-heroic, opted to stay with Mohamed for support and to ensure he thoroughly busted up our door while busting down the locks.
Finally, after 60 minutes of banging and drilling, the door was open and we were in! Mohamed promptly put in two new bolts and issued us new sets of keys (and said he would return tomorrow to patch up the cracks on the door). The excitement was over for the evening, and the doors of No 1, No 2, and No 3 were duly shut and locked, and we all returned to our respective flats for supper. At least we got to know our neighbors a bit better through it all!

Note: the following photos are staged. They only depict real events. And yes, the keys are indeed skeleton keys (one for the gate and one for the door, plus a ‘normal’ key).