The right thing to do? (long)

[DarrenX]

I usually post in the MTT and SNG forums, but I've seen similar stories looking for advice here and figured this one was most appropriate for this forum. If it's not appropriate, just ignore and it'll go away:

Long story short, my buddy left his duffel bag in my car on Friday. Since there was nothing in the bag that couldn't do without until Monday, I figured I'd drop it off then, since he lives 40 miles away from me, but is on my way to work.

At 8am I entered the code needed to get into his apartment complex, and got to his personal door- at that point I realized I didn't have the key to his place, so I knocked on the door and left the bag. I knew he'd be sleeping since he plays poker for a living and typically is getting to sleep around 5am, so when I got back to my car I called him (it rang 6 times and he has a phone in his bedroom) and left a message stating that the bag was next to his door but I couldn't get in.

Well, my buddy calls me at 11:30 telling me he just woke up checked for his bag, and of course it was gone. I'd estimate there was probably $200-300 worth of clothes/miscellaneous toiletries in there. He's pissed and asks how I could have left the bag out in the hall. I tell him I'm sorry and to let me know how much the contents were worth and I'd pay for it.

I guess my questions are:

1) How irresponsible was it that I left his bag out in his apartment hall?

2) Should I be responsible for all the costs? I honestly don't care about the $$$, but I more care about what's the fair/right thing to do.

Any opinions are appreciated.