Looking after neighbours suitcase

Weird requests like that need a confused look and mouth making a ‘why’ request

Maybe she’s leaving her DH?

Are you sure the suitcases are all hers? Not belonging to some random ‘nice’ man she happened to meet, who asked if she’d mind doing him a great favour?

OPs gone quiet... The tiny ninja concealed in the big Samsonite has got out and abducted her 🙈

Where was the ironing board?

Why on earth is 1 woman taking 3 suitcases on holiday? Presumably she's going on a plane? She'll be paying alot in hold baggage. If its a package deal youre allow 1 case.
All a bit odd,why on earth would you have to keep a suitcase in your house?
First thing I'd say to her is ,why?

Caught on the hop I think a lot of people would agree, apart from the perfect people on MN. It's the request that's odd, not the OP.

Maybe it does inconvenience the husband though, which is why he is objecting.

We dont have anywhere we can store 3 packed suitcases without them being in the way, it would really irritate me having suitcases in the livingroom, they'd be an eyesore and in the way.

No reason for the op and her husband to have to store the cases for the neighbour, its not unkind not to do this, its putting them out for no real reason

I disagree. Only on MN do people agree to such random and/or weird requests without question. I never hear stories like this in real life.

The OP just sounds a nice person who was caught unawares. That's how scams work. Nobody would be scammed if we all were on red alert all the time.

I think I'd have another chat with your neighbour and say to her that your husband is finding it annoying to have the three suitcases in the lounge and is there a special reason she needs them at yours? I'd try and gently work out if she's hatching an escape plan and needs her husband not to know, in which case you are OK to help but might put the cases in the shed for now.
If it's just that she would rather they be in your way than in her way and she's just a bit dotty, then say that you are sorry to have agreed to it before checking with your husband but going to have to give them back to her.
Your husband is the ideal excuse

This

There may be something in the fear of burglary suggestion. An older relative used to deliberately pack the car under cover of darkness before going on holiday. The next day everyone would get in the car looking as if they were just out for the day.

Surely you would store them out of sight, bedroom, cupboard or whatever in most of those scenarios.

She will be paranoid about the taxi driver or someone seeing her leaving her house to go on holiday - thinking they are going to break in and steal all her stuff.

This is exactly the sort of thing my mil would do. She thinks she’s being watched, loses things and then decides that the only logical explanation is that someone has been in her house and stolen things. She won’t get a taxi to places she needs to go because that means that the taxi driver will know she’s out of the house. I bet it’s something like this.

On a neighbourly level you probably don’t realise there is anything wrong until weird requests like this happen.

Realistically, it is unlikely to be drug smuggling - mainly because drugs get smuggled into the UK, not out of it. The same with cigarettes - we pay loads of tax on them.

It’s possible she is leaving her husband.

It’s also possible that she is just extremely odd. She doesn’t want the suitcases in her way so she’ll leave them at yours. Or she is leaving at a really mega early time in the morning and carrying the suitcases out of her house will disturb someone who is not going on the holiday - it hasn’t occurred to her that it would also disturb you.

Leaving the suitcases at your house is a bit of a risky strategy though. What if you don’t answer the door on the morning she wants them?

Are the suitcases locked, OP?
Because if, at a later date something is "missing" she'll be looking at you.

I think your people pleasing led you to agreeing to this without any thought. I can't understand why your very first response to her request wasn't "why"? 🤷‍♀️

Is it that she hopes your husband will lift them into the taxi coz they are heavy

You got the love yeah lets twist and do the holiday cheer. Tell your neighbour i m coming along too

Or at least mention your reasons when asking your neighbour to store them. I couldn't imagine asking for such a weird favour without giving an explanation.

Is your living room really nice this time of year?

My MIL once agreed to watch someone's suitcase in an airport. I was gobsmacked.

Apparently a nice lady came over and started chatting to her and then asked her to mind the case for a bit (it was a carry on).

It didnt occur to my MIL all the reasons why this is a huge no and that she should have alerted somebody.

A lot of people are trained into being polite and people pleasing, no matter the request.

It's a flex. She wants the OP to know she can pay for excess baggage.

I would be highly suspicious of this and would be questioning why this request has been made.

The weirdest thing is you not asking why, how does she know you will be at home when she needs to retrieve the cases?!

I think the most likely reason is her not wanting to be seen leaving her house with cases