A man tried to get into my flat while I was in it. His excuse uniquely terrifies me.

I woke up one night, in my ground floor flat to the sound of my front door being tried. It's a wooden door with no lockable mesh screen door on it so the solid wood is all there is between me and the intruder. Because my flat is right on a street used by every pedestrian going up and down the street it was obviously necessary to get up and check that the door.<br><br>It was 1 am. If the man shouted or knocked loudly enough to wake me up right next to the door, he would have woken up neighbours on either side, and the street was alive with the pedestrian traffic of people leaving clubs. I didn't think I was in any real danger, it was more that I couldn't sleep through this noise.<br><br>I looked through my peephole and there was a man hunched and fiddling with the door handles. I stepped to the side and shouted through the door "What the fuck do you think you're doing!"<br><br>He turned around and gave me the most maniacal smile I have ever seen. He had a goatee beard and bleached white teeth and his smile reminded me of a Disney villain.<br><br>A few seconds after that the smile disappeared and he started waving at me through the door. <br>He mumbled, loud enough for me to hear, "I'm going to go get help."<br><br>I moved away from the door and called the police, they said they would be there as soon as possible.<br>I sat on my couch in the living room next to the door, waiting for the police, waiting for the man to come back and for his promised "help" to arrive.<br><br>15 minutes passed, and I could hear every person walking down the street. Nothing sounded like a break in was imminent. Then I heard footsteps stop in front of my door again. This time there was knocking. An ordinary, polite knock on the door.<br><br>I stepped closer to the door.<br>"Who is it?" I shouted<br><br>"I live next door."<br>I didn't recognize the voice and I didn't get to see the man's face because I didn't leave the door until the police came, so it was definitely possible.<br><br>"What's going on?" I asked him<br><br>"Mind if I come in? I don't like speaking through the door."<br>"I can't let you in, I'm waiting for the police to come."<br><br>"Why did you call the police?"<br><br>"Because someone was trying to break into my place."<br>"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I've lived next door for two years. I'm not going to hurt you. Please let me in."<br><br>The door couldn't be opened slightly because there was a security chain, and I wasn't about to take that off, so I could only open the door fully. It was bad economics to open it a little because if I opened it a little I still risked the man next door charging the door and bursting in. It was a bad gamble to take because I couldn't even see the man next door or take a good guess at how strong he was, so I just kept the door shut.<br><br>"Look, I'm not going to let you in. But how do you explain someone else trying my door handles?"<br><br>"I saw him walking around the street. You guys have the exact same door."<br>"What?"<br>"Yeah, it's frustrating sometimes, you'll go to unlock the wrong one sometimes, you'll put your key in the wrong one. You get used to it."<br>"I've never tried to unlock the wrong door because it's physically impossible because my next door neighbour is a different company."<br>"What?"<br>"You are not my neighbour."<br>"I am your neighbour. I live right there!"<br>"No, you're across the street."<br>"I'm not across the street!"<br>"How long have you lived there?"<br>"Two years!"<br>"We couldn't have both lived here for two years and not seen each other once!"<br>"I've seen you walk out!"<br>"I've lived here for 11 years and I've never tried to unlock your door."<br>"I have a friend who lives in a place just like this, and I was walking home from his place and I tried to unlock the wrong one."<br>"And what were you going to do if you got in?"<br>"I wasn't going to hurt you. I'm just a bit confused from walking home."<br>"I'm not going to let you in."<br><br>I got more and more anxious as I talked to him, because this was clearly a trap, clearly a lie, but the story was so uniquely specific and personal. There was enough truth to it for me to doubt myself. What if I had tried to unlock the wrong door? What if I had forgotten? If I did, I'd forget I'd done it because I'd be drunk, it was a silly mistake I've already made before. I had to constantly remind myself I'd never tried to unlock the wrong one, and I've lived here for 11 years. It was a uniquely crafted lie, because it's a mistake you wouldn't make twice, but it's also a mistake everyone makes at least once in their lives. There's enough plausible deniability, enough room for doubt, for this lie to work.<br><br>The police came shortly after, they talked to someone across the road, and said they would be patrolling the area for the rest of the night. But what the fuck was that lie for?