However opening the outer shutters with a stick becomes difficult if they are wedged closed and you are standing at a distance from the shutters. I would also imagine there would have been a significantly sized stick lying around for the investigators to see.
Rudy would not have known how much time he had or did not have before Meredith returned. My point was he walked right by the laptop and did not even attempt to take it, yet he rifled through clothes in closets/cabinets. That just seems strange to me. If you think about him entering through the window, then what does he do next - start pulling clothes out of cabinets - then the upset stomach? It almost appears as if he knew exactly what he was looking for and it was something someone would hide in amongst clothes, which makes no sense. I cannot think of any narrative for that first 5-10 minutes that makes sense.
FH
My own opinion is that Filomena's room was already cluttered and messy, and that Guede gave this point of entry little or no attention as he proceeded to the interior of the cottage. It appears logical that at some point he opened Laura's drawer to see what was inside.
Beyond that, based on Guede's Skype conversation we know that he took a drink from the fridge. Perhaps he did this almost immediately. My understanding is that some burglars experience a certain frisson or thrill from making themselves at home in a space they have broken into. So I would posit that Guede took the drink very soon after arriving, and then nature called.
I'll relate a personal story that, in my opinion, is pertinent. About ten years ago, a late-night burglary attempt was made on my apartment at the time in Los Angeles. The trick is that my girlfriend and I were in the apartment, asleep on the living room sofa. We had both apparently fallen asleep to a DVD and the room was dimly lit only by the blue screen of the television. I was stirred from my sleep and looked up to see an African American man about 6' 1" crossing into the room toward the electronics. He did not seem to even notice us, but was intent on a path that I assume was his MO.
Instincts took over and I leaped up from the couch and yelled "Who the hell are you?!" Obviously surprised, he replied sheepishly "Who are you?" I groped for something on the coffee table that would serve as a weapon and screamed back "Who am I? I live here!" As my girlfriend cowered on the sofa, he raced past me, back into the hallway and out the same bedroom window he had entered.
After I collected myself and consoled my girlfriend, I went into my bedroom. The burglar had left the room completely untouched. My Rolex Sea Dweller still on the nightstand, my laptop still on the desk.
Again, I think many burglars have an MO, and they are of course initially on their toes as they enter a space with which they are unfamiliar, and which may or may not contain human inhabitants.