A girl was babysitting for a family she didn't know very well, who lived in a two-story house on the edge of town. After she put the children to bed, she sat down in the living room and began to watch tv. After a couple of hours, the phone rang. When she picked it up, the person on the other end laughed hysterically and then hung up.
The girl thought it was strange, but figured it was a prank call, and didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later the phone rang again, and the person on the other end said, "Check on the children." The babysitter asked, "Who is this?", but whoever it was hung up.
A few minutes later, the phone rang again. It was the same caller. "Check on the children!" he ordered. The babysitter was sure it was just someone playing a joke on her, so she asked again who it was. The voice told her to check on the children once more, and then hung up.
By now, the babysitter was getting scared. She thought about checking on the children as the caller ordered, but she was too frightened, so she convinced herself that nothing was wrong.
A moment later, the man called again. This time he was almost yelling. "Check on the children!" The babysitter slammed the phone down, and called the operator, who she asked to trace the next call.
Pretty soon, the man called back. The babysitter kept him on the line long enough to get a trace, and as soon as she hung up, the phone rang again. It was the operator. "Get out of the house!" she ordered. "Those calls are coming from the upstairs line! The caller is in the house!"
The girl ran out of the house, and a moment later the police, who the operator had called, arrived. When they went in the house, they found that the man had killed the children. He was waiting for the babysitter in the youngest child's room, an axe in his hand.