Under a tarp beside the shed sat dozens of boxes. Some were flattened, some opened, and some still sealed. There were Amazon and Target boxes, pharmacy deliveries, and meal kits.
One carried a purple cosmetics logo Eleanor recognized from a young woman three houses down. Another bore the name of Mr. Peterson, a 76-year-old man at the end of the block.
This was no longer a story about one neighbor stealing packages from one porch. Michael recorded from the sidewalk as Linda opened Eleanor’s carton, removed the household item, and found the small gift box. When she saw the tracker, she turned it over and looked toward Eleanor’s house.
Linda hurried inside. Moments later, something small flew over the rear fence into the alley. Eleanor and Michael walked around the block and found the tracker beside a garbage bin, still working.
Police Step In
This time, Eleanor agreed to call the police. They used the non-emergency number, and two officers arrived about 40 minutes later. Eleanor showed them the doorbell footage, the delivery confirmation, and the tracker data, while Michael shared his sidewalk video.Store Big Data
Officer Patel watched quietly. A neighbor stealing packages from one porch is one thing, but dozens of boxes stacked behind a fence is something else entirely. She asked whether they recognized any of the other packages and asked them not to confront Linda again.
From her living room window, Eleanor watched Linda talk with both hands, point toward her house, and laugh. Officer Patel did not laugh back.
Later, the officer told Eleanor they had seen enough to continue investigating. She requested copies of the footage and said they would contact other residents if their property was identified.
How Far the Neighbor Stealing Packages Had Gone
Over the next several days, officers spoke with people up and down the street. Mr. Peterson had lost three prescription deliveries over two months. Tasha, the young woman with the cosmetics box, had lost two orders. A family around the corner had reported missing children’s clothes.
Some labels belonged to people several blocks away. Linda, it turned out, liked to take walks.
