The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

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manzanita
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The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by manzanita »

I appear to have stumbled upon my very own FFO style mystery! Not so much a whodunnit, but whodumpedit.

Over the last year on and off, extra rubbish bags started appearing outside my house. Usually by the back door, which leads onto the street like my front door. It wasn't annoying or a problem, just more puzzling as to who would dump rubbish outside my house for collection when you could just as easily stick it outside your house.

The initial suspect was no.31, who was a male and who has a troubled girlfriend and I assumed it was something to do with them, given my back door, is right next to their front door. My house is an odd layout!

However, no.31's tenant, moved out about two months ago and no.31 is currently unoccupied. Today, sometime between 0740 and 1700, two new rubbish bags appeared outside my house.

My curiosity got the better of me this time and I was out on the pavement with Marigolds on going through the contents.

Firstly, the bags were quadruple knotted and double bagged - someone clearly didn't want them opening or being opened.

Contents: a brief overview

assorted male style clothing - in seemingly good order
set of ladies' lingerie
assorted crisp packets
Half pot of what looks like honey
x3 sachets of Pedigree dog food
till receipts for Waitrose, one totalling £190.00, from 5th April
Nicorette chewing gum packets
Old Lillets box
Used dispenser of Sanex
and... the piece de resistance: a medication packet with a dispensing label! The medication is either an anti-depressant or a pain killing type drug.

An odd set of clues! After a billion and one theories - I think it is number 81, who have a dog. However, they do not look like the sort to have £190.00 at any one time. The people who do look like that - are actually across the street but I have never seen them with a dog. However, she can often be heard to be bellowing up the street at her child how "Mummy's legs hurt", which would suggest prescription only pain killers.

I have my suspicions who it is, as the dog food sachets eliminate numbers 87. Number 83 we get on with. I did wonder if it was what I nickname "The Crack House" from over the road - but there's no dogs in there. Plus, the style of accommodation would not generally house people who spend £190.00 in Waitrose!
That would suggest a family to me, which puts back Mrs Legs Hurt into the frame, but eliminates number 81 as they don't have children.

I have some further names from a quick online search, and two names show up so far on the electoral roll, so it is off to the library tomorrow to see the printed version... suspect A would appear to live in a large house (4 beds probably) from the electoral roll, which fits Mrs Legs Hurt. Suspect B fits the dog profile but not anything else.

It's kept me amused most of the evening this little mystery! And I keep turning up more questions than answers - not least of all, why cross the road to dump it outside my house? And why intermittently?
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Jen-Jen »

Fancy a mystery landing right on your doorstep :wink: - that does sound exactly like what happens to the FFO !!! :D Your mystery is most intriging!
Good luck with the case manzanita! And don't forget, if you happen to do a bit of spying in the night, remember to bring your torch, a piece of string, a pencil and notebook, and possibly a disguise!
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Jen-Jen »

Just had a thought - do you recall anyone having a large party - that might account for the 190 pounds at Waitrose.
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by manzanita »

Ooh, good point - no, no parties around here which would suggest that the food is bought for normal domestic consumption. Plus, considering Waitrose is expensive, £190 in there wouldn't amount to that much!

Two other bin bags appeared at the end of the street overnight, so it is somebody who definitely doesn't want their rubbish associated with them for some reason!

I really wish I had gone through the other bags over the months - I could have filled my notebook with clues :D Although at this stage, the clues don't really match anyone's profile... off to check the electoral roll as I have a couple of leads on the name on the medication box!
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Lucky Star »

Can you make out the list of items on the Waitrose receipt Manzy? That could provide a couple of clues. At this moment my money is on Mrs Legs Hurt but as to a motive I, like Goon, am stumped. Could it have anything to do with council collection charges? I believe some councils fine people for putting out too much rubbish and so some sneaky people try to flytip their rubbish onto someone else. :|
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Ming »

Now that's some mystery! Good luck, Manzy.
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Fiona1986 »

Weird! I can hardly believe you went through a bag or rubbish, god knows what you might have come across!

I've examined the clues and deduct:
Someone in the house takes medication (was there a name for the drug on the box?),
They possibly have a dog (or were looking after one for a few days) (or like to eat dog food :lol: )
Someone in the house is trying to give up smoking
There is most likely a man and a woman in the house.

What clue told you there were children in the house??
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Quite an intriguing "whodumpedit"! Let us know how things go, Manzy!

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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by lizarfau »

What a great mystery! I hope you're able to solve it, Manzanita. I think it's fab that you went through their garbage (though yes, you could have found anything in there ... ).

What will you do when you've worked out whodumpedit?
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by manzanita »

Lucky Star wrote:Can you make out the list of items on the Waitrose receipt Manzy? That could provide a couple of clues. At this moment my money is on Mrs Legs Hurt but as to a motive I, like Goon, am stumped. Could it have anything to do with council collection charges? I believe some councils fine people for putting out too much rubbish and so some sneaky people try to flytip their rubbish onto someone else. :|
No, the council round here haven't got an excess rubbish charge. Give them time! That would have been an excellent explanation though :D Overall there appears to be four bags being "fly tipped" which wouldn't be a lot. Most people put 2-3 out, so that would mean 4-7, which wouldn't bother the bin men here at all.

Can't make out any clues on the £190.00 Waitrose receipt as all it was was the card piece. However, there was a shorter receipt in there, amongst other things, two quiches. I had a quick look in recycling boxes as I went past before the binmen came and couldn't spot the boxes in recycling boxes.
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by manzanita »

Fiona1986 wrote:Weird! I can hardly believe you went through a bag or rubbish, god knows what you might have come across!

I've examined the clues and deduct:
Someone in the house takes medication (was there a name for the drug on the box?),
They possibly have a dog (or were looking after one for a few days) (or like to eat dog food :lol: )
Someone in the house is trying to give up smoking
There is most likely a man and a woman in the house.

What clue told you there were children in the house??
There was a name on the drug box, and a search of 192.com shows two women with that name on the published electoral roll. Person A in this instance appears to live alone, or is the only person of voting age in her house. Person B has three others at the address. I'm checking the electoral roll in the library as you can choose to be "ex-directory" in a sense on the roll.

I know Mrs Legs Hurt has children, or at least looks after children because she is often screaming the street down at a oyoung oy with her. The poor kid is only about 8 and must be hen pecked every day of his life. There was nothing in the bag to suggest children, so this is just what I know. Plus I didn't think to look and get dress sizes off the dumped clothing.

As for going through bin bags, I admit,I am a devious little madam! Plus, I have worked in care and come across all kinds of lovely things, so a bin bag doesn't phase me! If it was something illegal, then I'd want it well away from my property or inform the police. Granted, it's unlikely to be dismembered body parts but I didn't want to take a chance!
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Petermax »

manzanita wrote:I appear to have stumbled upon my very own FFO style mystery! Not so much a whodunnit, but whodumpedit.
Curious! May I suggest the use of modern technology in the form of CCTV in order to identify the culprit? CCTV cameras that plug into a VCR or DVD recorder are fairly inexpensive. One could also use a webcam on a USB extension lead. If you do decide to use a covert camera, then make sure that it is positioned to view only within your property boundaries, otherwise one could fall foul of the data protection act.
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by Philip Mannering »

A great mystery, I think! Good luck in solving it, Manzanita. :)
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by auscatherine »

I was going to go with Lucky Star's theory too. Could it be someone from a neighbouring council area, perhaps? Another thought is that maybe it is a celebrity who is trying to stop fans going through their rubbish and selling the information to the tabloids. Is there anyone famous or otherwise tabloid-worth around you? Very odd indeed.
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Re: The Mystery of the Appearing Garbage!

Post by shadow »

I have another theory - does the rubbish always appear on a certain night? My other half before we were together worked away all week. The rubbish wasn't collected till thursday and he had to leave the bags outside his house from Monday morning or they wouldn't be collected as he wasn't there to put it out. The rules have subsequently changed round here and if you leave rubbish outside your house for more than one day you get a nasty letter from the council. Good job he isn't on his own now! Maybe the person dumping the rubbish is away from home a lot and dumped it for you to put out.

Single male with good job would probably shop at waitrose, may need some medication due to stress and as for the other things well we won't comment.
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