Have you noticed the way when the older one comes home, all the dogs stop barking? They stop just before his car comes into view, and they don't start up again until he's in his front door, and then they all howl like there's a madness on them. I wonder if we shouldn't slap a subpoena on him or something. I've also seen his grass creeping around in my yard, but whenever I get the weed whacker out, it's always back over there before I have time to blink.

It's just plain spooky over there, and I'm getting worried. One night, there was a police car outside his house. It had its lights off when it drove up; I only noticed because Sparky kept whining at the window. It was there for over an hour - I think the policeman was inside the house. Then suddenly there was a knock at the door and the police officer was standing there, smiling, holding something that looked like a sausage and asking me if I had seen any lost dogs. Only there was something funny about the way he asked; it sounded like he was really looking for something else.

Ever since then, I've been hearing things, too. My phone has been clicking when I'm not using it. There's a crack in the basement wall that wasn't there before, and there's a kind of yellowish stain underneath it. It doesn't look right, it's shaped like little hairy fingers running down the wall, and I swear it's getting bigger every day.