One of the neighbors called me this afternoon worried that something had happened to me because papers were "piling up" over here. They weren't - today's paper was out there, because I was up all night messing around and didn't go out for it until late, but just one. She told me that this guy had come by and said he was worried because there was more than one. My guess here is that she was going to shut the door on him, so he came up with this to keep her talking to him.

(The very charitable interpretation here is that he might actually know Landlord/Housemate somehow, and know that he always gets up early - it could be a legitimate cause for concern if he didn't come out for the paper. (Landlord/Housemate is out of town right now.) But that still doesn't explain the "piling up" comment.)