# Rosemary's Baby-like Mystery **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061 "2014-08-21T02:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/61 "2014-08-21T19:55:26Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > If I were in this situation, my subject line would’ve read “Just pried open a secret door…” 😃 > > Seriously, get a putty knife and a rubber mallet and start cutting through the paint, tapping the knife with the mallet if needed. After that, get a pry bar and see if you can pry it open. > > Like Dung Beetle said, Open it open it open it AND THEN COME BACK AND TELL US! I’d hate to see any sort of writing you’ve done. You have to build suspense before you announce what’s on the other side of a mystery door.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/62 "2014-08-21T19:58:23Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > No, no, don’t listen to her: the Cheshire Cat will simply vanish into the alternate universe, leaving us to suffer the wrath of He Who Shall Remain Un-named. > > Seriously, a pry-bar? In a rental dwelling? It’s easy to use a crowbar in a rental place without damaging its fixtures. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/63 "2014-08-21T19:59:05Z")
Obligatory [horror movie clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHCSkkJj2bQ) > [@PorchePine](#): > > It would passage straight into the storage area for the laundry room. Hey, is there any sign of another door on that side of the laundry room storage area? ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/64 "2014-08-21T20:03:48Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > Obligatory [horror movie clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHCSkkJj2bQ) > > Hey, is there any sign of another door on that side of the laundry room storage area? Nope. That’s why I started measuring things. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/65 "2014-08-21T20:08:06Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Fortunato. For the love of God, Montressor! We have a shaft going from under a kitchen cabinet to a small door in the laundry room downstairs. Since it is above the laundry room, I wonder if it is a laundry drop that was closed up. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/66 "2014-08-21T20:58:30Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > It’s the world where everybody has buttons in place of eyes. (Seriously, am I the only one here familiar with _Coraline_?) There’s at least one other person here who’s familiar with Coraline, seeing as post #15 references button eyes. open it open it open it open it open it open it open it ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/67 "2014-08-21T21:09:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Except that the OP said all four walls are within his flat/apartment. So it can’t be space used by an adjoining apartment. And surely not all four walls are load-bearing. (Plus even if a wall is load-bearing, you can still cut a door in it.) What I meant was, whoever did the remodeling may have wanted to move the wall, but couldn’t if it was weight bearing, and that’s how he got stuck with a 3’x6’ space. Is this an apartment in a building that used to be a large house, and was subdivided? Is there any evidence of shelves or heavy furniture having once been there? It could be the secret passage to the kitchen. Or, if there is an unused landline plug, then it may be the secret passage to the conservatory. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/68 "2014-08-21T21:55:30Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > I’d hate to see any sort of writing you’ve done. You have to build suspense before you announce what’s on the other side of a mystery door.🙂 Ah, but I said I would say I just pried open a secret door, not “Just pried open a secret door and found a dead rat and half a piano”. 😃 I would give out vague clues and stretch out it out for at least five or six pages… ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/69 "2014-08-21T21:58:32Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > I’m on the bottom, but that may be a possibility. I’m going with stairs down to a basement/sub-basement (depending on how “bottom” you are) that was deemed unusable. Or a secret smuggling tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/70 "2014-08-21T22:04:28Z")
Any chance the house was in the Underground Railroad-- wait, you’re not in the US. Are you in Amsterdam? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/71 "2014-08-21T22:12:35Z")
Stairway to the basement? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/72 "2014-08-21T22:21:45Z")
Do you hear unexplained noises? Soft, wet bumps in the night? Perhaps something that doesn’t quite sound like a human sigh, but more like a chuckle that turns to a sob?? Perhaps an impatient rustling sound, of something trying to walk while dragging one foot? Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/73 "2014-08-21T22:46:52Z")
Have the old people next door given you stinky jewelry, or offered you chocolate mousse that tasted funny? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/74 "2014-08-22T01:15:13Z")
It’s the [Secret Treasure Room!](http://io9.com/this-secret-treasure-room-may-be-the-best-birthday-pres-1618990096) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/75 "2014-08-22T01:29:51Z")
Its probably not …the entrance to John Malkovich’s head. Also, if you do open it, put your piano in it and close it… what if it comes alive? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/76 "2014-08-22T02:06:33Z")
Call Geraldo Riverra ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/77 "2014-08-22T02:24:01Z")
Can you ask the upstairs neighbors what occupies that space in their apartment? My guess, given that you are in the basement, is that the area that is now your apartment used to be something else, and the walled-up area was the entryway to a separate something. If the building is a converted large house, the original configuration might have been a kitchen and a housekeeper’s rooms. For a small-ish, older apartment building, a pre-dryers laundry area with drying racks and pulleys, and a manager’s apartment. Something larger – maybe commercial space and a backroom area. Is there more space in the basement than you have described? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/78 "2014-08-22T02:43:08Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > It’s the world where everybody has buttons in place of eyes. (Seriously, am I the only one here familiar with _Coraline_?) _clears throat_ Post 15. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/79 "2014-08-22T05:37:56Z")
I’ve decided that I am going to open the door. I will post the results tomorrow, possibly… ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/80 "2014-08-22T05:57:05Z")
I’d ask the folks upstairs what’s above your empty space. It could be the space where plumbing pipes pass through to/from upstairs. What kind of heating do you have? It couldn’t be where the furnace or water heater is because sooner or later, you’ll need access to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061.md?page=5)