Dear Highland Park Neighborhood Mailing List, Tuesday afternoon, August 10, a barefoot woman rang my doorbell and asked whether I was "the realtor who was selling the house." I told her that the house wasn't for sale, and she asked whether I was sure (!). I asked what address she was seeking (thinking she may have gone inadvertently to the wrong house), and she said "this one." I asked whether she had heard that it was for sale, or was just asking, and she said "just asking." When I repeated that the house wasn't for sale, she asked whether she could come inside and look around anyway. I told her no, went back inside, and closed the door, and she walked away. Wednesday morning at about 6:00 a.m. my doorbell rang, and when I looked out onto my back porch, she was lying on a sofa there. I called the police, and she had left by the time they arrived. They said that they hadn't received any other calls about her, that they'd check the area, and that I should call them again should she reappear. I found some flowers on the sidewalk in front of my house, the most likely explanation for which, based on their appearance and the timing, seems to be that she picked from the garden of the house across the street that morning. One of the neighbors across the street said that she had also asked him on Tuesday afternoon whether he was the realtor who was selling my house, and she then asked whether his house was for sale. He was doing some masonry work on his property at the time and clearly wasn't a realtor. She told him that she had seen "on the web" that my house was for sale. That's not consistent with the peculiarities of her other questions and answers; it also isn't consistent with the fact that nobody else has shown up thinking it was for sale. And, of course, it isn't consistent with the fact that the house isn't for sale. I wasn't studying her appearance so I'm not confident about the details, but what I remember is: late twenties or early thirties, possibly Mediterranean complexion, fairly long very dark hair, thin, flowered dress, barefoot. Not visibly intoxicated. Sincerely, David