She shook her head vigorously. “Well, someone’s in there. I heard yelling again around noon. A man’s voice. I knocked, but no one answered.”

Her insistence unsettled me, but I forced a laugh. “Probably the TV. I leave it on sometimes to scare off burglars.”

But as I walked inside, the air felt wrong—like the house was holding its breath. I set my groceries down and walked from room to room. Everything was exactly where I left it. No open windows. No signs of forced entry. No footprints on the hardwood floors. Nothing missing. I convinced myself my neighbor had simply misheard something and pushed the thought out of my mind.

That night, I barely slept.