Hospital Haul

By Jerry Danzig

In the evening of Sunday, April 21, a 70-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital for several weeks. While she was there, the management of her building on West End Avenue allowed various workers into her apartment to do construction work on several occasions. When she returned from the hospital on May 16, she discovered that several pieces of jewelry were missing from a drawer in her bedroom, along with cash that she kept in the kitchen. There were no signs of forced entry, nor did the building management have a listing of workers who had entered the apartment. The items missing were gold Cartier watches valued at $22,000; a five-carat diamond ring worth $20,000; gold rings with diamonds valued at $20,000; gold chains priced at $20,000; a Cartier stainless steel watch valued at $15,000; a diamond tennis bracelet worth $15,000; and $500 in cash. The total value of the items missing amounted to $112,500. No wonder people think that the costs of hospital stays are out of control!