How Long Have You Had That Twenty Dollar Bill?

I was going to put my game camera on my deck to capture shots of the pileated woodpecker who visits every day.  Now I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really wish I had done that.  When I came home from work I noticed the door to the between the inside of the garage and the house was left open slightly.  Scolding myself mentally for heating the outdoors, I brought the groceries inside.  When I went back outside to let the chickens roam I noticed a piece of wood on the floor by the service door of the garage.  I picked it up wondering where this little piece of wood, painted white on one side had come from.  It looked like it had broken off violently as the edge was very splintered. I looked up to the rafters wondering if a piece of wood trim stored up there had fallen down.  But falling would not tear up a piece of wood like this.  This piece of wood looked like a giant beaver had ripped it.  Then I saw a longer triangular shaped piece of wood, also with white trim, on the floor.  My door frame is white.  My service door, shut and locked, had been forced open splintering the wood.  Realization dawned on my from the knees on up to the brain.  Someone had broken into my house.  Crap!  I let the chickens out and went back into the house to call 911.  The operator asked if anyone was in the house now.  Crap!  Would have been a good idea for me to think of that sooner.  I wish I was better at emergencies like this.  I told her no one appeared to be in the house. She asked if I saw anything missing.  What do I think of?  My Suzuki. I run out to the garage.  No, the motorcycle is still there.  The television is still there.  My camera is lying on the kitchen counter.  I tell her I don't think anything is missing. She said a police officer would come out soon to take a report.  I call my neighbor because one of them is home most of the day.  They are sympathetic but heard nothing.  I remember I had four or five twenty dollar bills lying on my nightstand.  Those were gone.  One of my dresser drawers was pulled out and spread out on the bed.  The bedding was turned up so someone could easily see under the bed.  Obviously the intruder (or intruders) were in my bedroom.  Several drawers were open and some items were lying on the floor.  The police officer came by and took my report.  He took pictures of the broken door and the dresser.  He dusted the dresser for prints but was unable to find any because of the surface.  He looked for foot prints but the chickens leave such a mess by that back door with wood chips, spilled food, and dirt that no foot prints could be found.  The door must have been pushed in with a shoulder rather than a foot.  There are no footprints on the door and no evidence of a crowbar being used.  He said service doors are usually where homes are broken into.  He said new homes are now being built without service doors unless the homeowners request them just for security reasons.  A deadbolt is only as good as the wood it is attached to.  And the wood my deadbolt was attached to wasn't that good.  In fact you can see where one piece of wood was glued to another - and that is where it gave way.  He said in Ramsey they've had good luck solving these crimes because the electronics or jewelry are pawned.  In my case I don't think anything was pawned.  We can't go around asking people, "Do you have any twenty dollar bills?  How long have  you had it? Where did you get it?" He walked with me through the rest of the house.  He was surprised that the television wasn't taken.  He was very surprised to see the guitars and amplifiers were not taken.  He gave me some advice on getting the service door repaired and made more secure.  He said he would question the neighbors to see if they saw anything.  I asked him what age he thought the perpetrator was.  He guessed my criminal was in their 20's, probably a male.  Well, if they came looking for expensive jewelry, they came to the wrong house.  I check my jewelry stand in the bathroom.  Nothing appears to be missing.  I don't have an Ipad or a Wii.  I check for my laptop -still there.  The office doubted the criminal would return.  I told the officer that I had been planning to put a game camera on my deck to capture pictures of the woodpeckers.  I asked him wouldn't that be cool if I had done that and we could have seen a picture of the intruder.  He agreed that would have been awesome.  (Run and check if the game camera is still here - yes it is).  Whew!  Right now I am more stunned by this home invasion than angry.  And I'm a little insulted that they didn't steal my camera which was lying out on the kitchen counter.