So we have some new neighbors. And they are, shall we say, rather suspicious.

My concerns were first aroused when, within 24 hours of moving into the small, somewhat rundown rental house, these sketchy-looking characters (think K-Fed on crack) began wiring surveillance cameras around the exterior of the house. Then they installed bright floodlights on the back. And I mean BRIGHT floodlights. No one is going to come within 100 feet of that house without them knowing about it. Despite the fact that they put significant time and expense into turning the dumpy little house into a fortress, they did not, it seems, have time to bring in all of the garbage – old mattresses, broken lockers, bags of shoes – they left on the porch. It’s a charming tableau, let me tell you.

As soon as I saw the video cameras being installed, I knew something was up. And other neighbors noticed that these folks never sleep – or, at least, they never turn their lights and TV off all night long, every night. I hoped that I was wrong in my suspicions about these people, but then I started noticing the car traffic to the house. Constant. Then, yesterday, I actually saw a beat up white Lexus pull up and park in front. The passenger in the back seat was an emaciated young woman literally passed out and hanging out the window. Occasionally she would convulse into one long shiver. Then she would pass back out. The driver left her in the car while he went in the house for about 15 minutes. Then he came back out and practically ran to the car, before driving quickly away.

I called the police while he was in the house, and they sent an officer quickly, but she got there just after the guy drove off. And of course, there probably wouldn’t have been too much she could have done unless she actually saw money or product exchange hands. She took the license plate number for the Lexus, which I had written down, and told me I should contact the organized crime unit.

So today I’ll contact them, as well as DCS because there are children living in the house. I am also going to track down the landlord’s number and inform him what’s going on, because I am sure he has no idea. The people have only lived there for one week.

What I can’t figure out is why anyone would ever think that our tidy street, with houses very close together and lots of neighbors out and about all the time would provide good cover for any sort of unsavory activity. It would be about as subtle as a blow torch.