Woman Says She Kept Smelling Smoke in Her Apartment — Then Found Out Someone Was Coming in While She Was Gone

A woman on Reddit said the first thing she noticed wasn’t something she could see—it was the smell. She said she would come home from work and catch a faint scent of cigarette smoke in her apartment, even though she didn’t smoke and never allowed it inside.

According to her post, she tried to explain it away at first. Maybe it was coming through the vents. Maybe a neighbor was smoking nearby and it was drifting in. It didn’t seem strong enough to prove anything.

But it kept happening.

She said the smell wasn’t constant—it would show up randomly, usually after she had been gone for a while. That detail started to stand out. It wasn’t something she noticed when she was home all day.

That’s when she started looking for other signs.

She noticed a window she rarely used was slightly open one day. Another time, an ash-like residue appeared near the sink. Small details, but enough to make her uneasy.

She decided to test it.

Before leaving, she made sure everything was exactly how she left it—windows closed, surfaces clean. When she came back, the smell was there again, and the window had shifted.

That’s when she knew something wasn’t right.

Her first thought was that someone might have access to her apartment—possibly maintenance or the landlord—but she hadn’t received any notice about anyone entering.

So she took it a step further.

She set up a small camera before leaving for work.

When she checked the footage later, she said it confirmed everything.

The video showed someone entering her apartment while she was gone.

According to her post, it was a person using a key, walking in casually, and moving around like they had done it before. They went straight to the kitchen area, stayed for a while, and then left.

She said the behavior made it clear this wasn’t random.

The person wasn’t rushing or acting nervous—they were comfortable.

When she confronted her landlord, she said the explanation didn’t add up. He denied sending anyone and couldn’t explain how someone else would have access.

That only made things worse.

After that, she said she documented everything—footage, dates, and changes she noticed. She also started looking into her options because she didn’t feel safe staying there anymore.

By the end of her post, she said the part that stuck with her wasn’t just the footage—it was how long it had been happening. What started as a faint smell turned into proof that someone had been coming into her home and treating it like their own while she was gone.

Read the original Reddit story here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/12l4c9k/smell_of_smoke_apartment/