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Watch Newsletter
A neighbourhood watch newsletter follows a stranger who is whoever each resident has lost.
**Larkfield Neighbourhood Watch — Newsletter, Issue 41**
*Coordinator: Mrs. P. Venn. Please report suspicious activity to the police on 101.*
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**Item 1: Suspicious person.** A man has been seen walking in the Larkfield area in the early evening. Description: average height, slim build, dark coat, grey hair. He walks slowly and looks into front windows. He has been seen on Elm Road, Priory Close and Weir Lane. He has not approached anyone.
Residents are asked to keep an eye out. Do not confront him.
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**Incident report (Mrs. A. Doyle, 14 Elm Road, 8 October)**
At about 18:30 I saw a man standing on the pavement outside my house. He was looking at the front room. I was in the front room, with the lamp on. He did not look away. When I opened the curtain a little further, he raised his hand, as one might to a neighbour.
I did not recognise him. But I had the feeling that I ought to.
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**Item 3 (Issue 42): Update.** We have had four more reports of the man. Some residents say he is tall; some say he is short. Some say fair, some say grey. Everyone agrees on the walk. Slow. Deliberate. As though counting the houses.
One resident, Mr. Hale, has said that the man looks like someone he used to know. Another says the same. A third says: "He looks like me."
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**Incident report (Mr. T. Hale, 9 Priory Close, 15 October)**
I went out and followed him for a few streets. He didn't hurry. At the corner of Weir Lane he stopped and turned, and I saw his face. He was my own age. He had my own hair. He had a scar through his left eyebrow where I was hit with a cricket bat in 1983. He smiled at me, a little sadly, and walked on.
I did not follow him any further.
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**Item 1 (Issue 43): Update.** The police have been informed. They have no record of anyone matching the description. They have suggested that we be careful about spreading rumours. They add that a patrol will visit.
A number of residents have reported seeing the man in their gardens, at night, looking at the house from the lawn. They have all said the same thing. He is the right age. He has the right walk. He knows the house.
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**Incident report (Mrs. P. Venn, Coordinator, 22 October)**
Last night I stood at the window with a torch. I saw him at the end of my garden, by the shed. He stood perfectly still. He was not looking at the house. He was looking at the shed.
I went out. I stood a few feet from him. I said: "Can I help you?" He said, "No. I am only checking." I asked what he was checking. He said: "That you are all here."
He was my husband. He has been dead nine years.
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**Item 1 (Issue 44): Update.** The man has been seen on every street in Larkfield. Reports now run into the hundreds. Residents have described him as a father, a brother, a husband, a friend. Each of us sees someone we have lost.
The police patrol has found nothing. The Coordinator would like to stress that he has done no harm.
We ask residents to be kind to him. He is only walking. He is only counting. He does not like to find a house empty.
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**Item 1 (Issue 45): Notice.** From this month, the Neighbourhood Watch will no longer patrol Larkfield. There is no need. The man does it for us. He walks the streets at night with a lantern and he looks in the windows of every house and he knows who is at home.
He is not a stranger. He is the watch. He has always been the watch. He lives in the house at the end of Elm Road, number 1, which is not on the map, with a light on in the front room.
If you wish to report suspicious activity, please knock at his door. He will be glad to have something to do.
*Newsletter delivered to all households. Please keep it in a safe place. There will be a further issue next month, if there is anyone left to read it.*