Chapter 5
Andy and the Police

 

Andy hurried out of his bed again. When he was in the middle of the hall, he stopped. He ran back to his room to check if the light in the Perlmans’ house was still on.

It was.

Andy banged on the door to Tamika and Rachel’s room, and on the one to his parents’ room.

The doors to the two bedrooms opened.

“It’s on again,” Andy said, really excited. “The light in the Perlmans’ house is on again!”

“Stop it!” Rachel told him. “Just stop it! I’m tired of going to sleep and getting up and going to sleep and getting up.”

Mr. Russell rubbed his eyes, yawned, and said, “Just pull your shade down and go to sleep.”

“We have work tomorrow,” Mrs. Russell said. “We have to sleep.”

“Just come to my room and look,” Andy said. “There’s a light on next door, and that means there’s someone inside the house.”

Finally, everyone followed Andy into his room and looked out his window. The light was still on.

“OK, there’s a light on,” Rachel said. “Now can I please go back to sleep?”

“The Perlmans asked us to watch the house,” Tamika said, “and that’s just what Andy is doing.”

They watched a while longer. The light remained on, but nothing else happened.

“Maybe the Perlmans set the light on a timer,” Mrs. Russell said.

“They did set some lights to go on,” Tamika said, “but not at this time of night and not in my room.”

“Maybe it’s a loose bulb,” Mr. Russell suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Andy said. “If it was loose, it would have gone on before. And it didn’t.”

They all stood there a while longer. Then Andy said, “I think we should call the police.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Mr. Russell said.

Mr. Russell called the police. He told them about the garbage and the light. “It may not be a real emergency,” he said, “but it’s worrisome.”

They waited downstairs, in the living room. Tamika, Rachel, and Mr. and Mrs. Russell sat by the window and watched for the police.

Andy was too nervous to sit still. He ran from the living room, where he watched for the police car, to the dining room, where he looked out at the Perlmans’ house to see if the light was still on. Then, just when he saw a police car turn onto his block, the light in the Perlmans’ house went off.

“Great,” Andy said. “Now it goes off!”

The car stopped in front of the Perlmans’ house. Two police officers got out, each holding a flashlight. Everyone at the Russells’ house watched as the police slowly approached the Perlmans’ house. They waited as the police walked around the house. Then the police came next door to talk to the Russells.

“We checked the house,” a tall police officer with a red moustache said. There was a tag, Johnson, on the front of his uniform. “Everything looks to be in order.”

“But what about the light and the garbage?” Andy asked.

The other police officer said, “Maybe the homeowners put the light on a timer, or maybe there’s a loose bulb.” He was tall, too, and had kirkwood on his tag. “And maybe one of their neighbors left some garbage. People do that, you know, to make it seem like there’s someone home.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Russell said. “We just wanted to be sure no one had broken in.”

“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” Andy said. “There isn’t a timer or a loose bulb. There can’t be. I sleep opposite that room, and the light hasn’t gone on until now.”

“We checked the house,” Officer Johnson said impatiently. “We didn’t find anything unusual over there.”

“Tell me, please,” Andy said, “why someone would suddenly deliver garbage to the Perlmans’.”

“We checked the house,” Officer Johnson said again. “There were no signs of a break-in. That’s all we can do.”

 

 

The two police officers returned to their car and drove off.

Rachel and Mrs. Russell went to their rooms. Andy, Tamika, and Mr. Russell went to the dining room and looked out the window at the Perlmans’ house. The house was dark.

“This is all so strange,” Tamika said.

“And spooky,” Andy added.

They watched the Perlmans’ house for a while until Mr. Russell said, “Nothing is going to happen tonight. Come on. It’s time to go to sleep.”

Andy and Tamika went to their rooms. Andy was sure he was too worried about what might be happening at the Perlmans’ to sleep. But he wasn’t. Soon after he got into bed, he was fast asleep.