The Neighbors

The FBI was digging up something in the backyard of the house nextdoor. It was dark, late- around ten-thirty at night. Yet there I was standing, in my pajamas, watching bulldozers and enormous drills tear through lawn and deck and concrete. 1

The strange house. The one we all just ignored up until this moment. It was never a nusence. The grass was always short. There was never any loud noise. There wasn't much activity at all. The curtains where always drawn shut. The front door light was rarely ever on. Never any holiday decorations or political statements. Sometimes the garbage wasn't even taken out. 2

As far as I knew, I was the only one who ever spoke to any of the people inside the house. The husband. He was a decent looking man who seemed to keep normal business hours. He would leave when I would take my children to school. He would be home by the time I made dinner. I knew this because my kitchen window faced the house. I would see him pull up and then open the garage and walk inside. I would hear the garage door come down. I always enjoyed the irony of using the garage as an entrance way while leaving the car behind. I don't recall ever seeing anyone use the front door.3

Once me and my son where locked out. We were in the front yard raking leaves and I forgot to take the key with me. The man offered his phone and his place to rest while we waited for a locksmith. But just at that moment my son appeared at the door way from the inside. "I crawled through a window!" he yelled with pride.4

There was a wife, or some woman who would sometimes peek out through the bedroom window. I once caught her staring at me while I was back in the garden. At first I was startled, but I saw that she was lost in an intense thought and probably didn't even notice me. I've accidentally stared at people my self before. When I looked back, she was gone.5

They had at least one child, a boy, although my son claims he saw a little girl. She was standing under an elm tree that spanned both our properties. He was so excited howled and yelled as he ran to get me. The screaming must have scared her away because she was gone by the time I got to the window. I asked him what she looked like and he said "sad."6

I saw the little boy several times. I saw him at the ball park, in the parking lot of the Pick-N-Save, even at the lake. He was about 11 or 12, around my son's age. I never saw him with anyone else and the only reason I knew he belonged next door was because I would see him standing in his driveway when I would come home at night. Waiting for his dad to come home I suppose. Once at the swimming pool I thought I might encourage my son to play with him. He was standing on the outside of the chain link fence that surrounded the swimming area. But then I got a bad feeling. It just seemed like a situation I shouldn't open up.7

"WE FOUND A SKULL!" I heard one of the workers shout. All noise and activity came to a sudden halt. Then at that moment, not one but three human skulls were removed from the crater of debris. The frenzy picked right back up, but now the noise came from cell phones and radio calls. In seconds the street was completley blocked off and I was asked to stay inside my home for the time being.8

Details about what had happened were not publicized until two weeks later. Even I, the next door neighbor, had no idea what was going on. When I read that morning's newspaper my whole body tensed in an icy paralysis. 9

George Graham, 57, lived alone in the 3 bedroom house on the quiet suburban block. Eight years ago Graham kidnapped the family who lived next door; a single mother and her two children. He would follow the woman when she left in the morning. He learned the woman's schedule as well as information about the children's activities. 10

He was able to lure the family into his open garage. the door closed and trapped them inside. He then held the family captive in his home, bolting every exit so there would be no chance to escape. However, the two children found a way to escape. Graham found out and tracked down both brother and sister before they could get help. He then murdered all three people and buried their remains in the backyard. He then built a deck to conceal the graves."11

But it was the next sentence that made me almost faint. 12

"Inside sources claim that George Graham seems to have done some recent reinforcements to the inside of his house. This suggests that Graham was planning to attempt the crime once again.