Piano, Bench Abandoned in Cape Cod Woods

Nov. 24, 2008 — -- If a piano is played in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

That's one of several questions Cape Cod police are trying to answer as they investigate a piano that was found abandoned Saturday in the middle of Bell Neck's woods in Harwich, Mass.

The Baldwin piano, according to Harwich Police Department Detective David Jacek, was in pristine condition -- as was the matching bench found with it -- when a local woman came across the instrument during an early-morning walk.

"So far, we have no idea where the piano came from," said Jacek.

"But this is a kind of piano that nobody would mind having in their house," added Jacek, who described the piano as being in "good shape" with only a "few scratches" on its side.

But because of the good condition of the piano -- some local reports have even speculated that the instrument was in tune when it was found -- Jacek is even more baffled as to how and why it ended up in the middle of a forest.

"If someone had just chucked it out of the back of the truck to get out of paying dump fees, they wouldn't have worried if it landed on its side," said Jacek. "This thing was set up with the bench right in front of it. Someone took care to do that."

Jacek said that the wooded area where the piano was found is full of walking paths and is accessible by car.

Even so, Jacek didn't believe this piano abandonment was a one-man job. It took four police officers to remove the piano from the woods and deliver it to the station's garage, where it now waits to be claimed.

With no sign of an owner coming forward yet, Jacek said the department is going to contact the piano's manufacturer to see if the serial number -- 773746 -- will help pinpoint the owner.

Calls made to the Baldwin Piano Co. by ABCNews.com were not immediately returned.

If nobody claims the piano, Jacek said it would likely go where many other abandoned items that were never accounted for end up: in Harwich's annual summer auction.

And as the mystery swirled around the case of the abandoned piano, Jacek continued to struggle to explain how the newest addition to Harwich's lost and found came to be.

"You know, I've been hashing out the possibilities all weekend," said Jacek. "I keep thinking that it could simply be someone who didn't want to pay a dump fee but then why would they just sit it down?"

Jacek said another theory floating around is that it the abandoned piano is a subtle reference to the new movie "Twilight" in which the two lead characters play a piano in a house abandoned in the woods.

According to Jacek, the similarity between the name of one of the "Twilight" characters, Bella, and the name of the woods where the piano was discovered, Bell's Neck, has left more than a few people scratching their heads.

"This has definitely been a different couple of few days," said Jacek.