Dear Annie: The case of the missing fine vintage

Dear Annie: I am fond of drink, as was my late wife and also my late neighbor. His wife, “Gemma,” does not drink and has never shown any interest in alcohol.

A few months ago, I celebrated a big birthday. Among the presents was a bottle of red wine from Gemma, presumably recycled from her late husband’s possessions. I am no expert but know enough about wine to realize it was a very expensive one, so I set it aside in my garage booze cupboard.

Gemma has a complete set of keys to my house so that in case of emergency my children, who live far away, could ask her to check on me. More recently, I was away for several weeks while a paid minder with another set of keys kept an eye on my house for insurance purposes.

When I returned, everything seemed in perfect order. Valuables including all kinds of bottles of champagne and liqueurs were on full display. The COVID-19 crisis was in full swing and I was running out of red wine, so I thought I’d look at that expensive bottle, as if to dare myself to open it. Much to my dismay, it was missing! In its place were two bottles of decent but inexpensive wines, one red and one white.

I surmise that, going through their father’s effects, the children noticed the absence of the expensive red wine and queried their mother about it.

Exactly what happened after that is a mystery. Maybe the children berated their mother for her ignorance and pressed her to let them use her keys so they could search for the expensive bottle. If so, it was very naughty of them.

Spring is here, and the lockdown will eventually come to an end. I don’t relish having to look Gemma in the eye with these doubts in my mind. I would rather broach the subject with her by phone or email now so as to clear the air. What do you think? – Sherlock Holmes on the Changed Wine

Dear Sherlock: By any chance, did you tell the person watching your house to help himself or herself to food and drink while there? Even if you didn’t, it’s a common enough practice that they may have just assumed that was the case. I propose that the housesitter had a hankering for red wine; went out to your garage; saw a bottle of red; and grabbed it, not realizing that it was an expensive gift. They later replaced it with two bottles, thinking that settled the score. This is the most innocent explanation, which makes it the best place to start.

Ask the housesitter if that might have happened. Let them know that you’re not upset; you just want to figure out if anyone else may have been in the house while you were gone. If the housesitter denies it, then use a similar, friendly approach to ask your neighbor. (Withhold your theories about the meddlesome adult children.)

Since you seem to take trips regularly, you may want to invest in smart security doorbells (such as those made by Arlo, Eufy or Google) for your home’s entrances. As fun as it’s been to don our detective caps this time, I’d hate for you to see more valuables vanish in the future.