The house was totally silent now, apart from the low hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

I got up from the table and walked down the short hall to the basement door.

The red tape Julian had left on the kitchen counter was gone, swept up by the marshals during their search of the lower office.

I unlocked the steel deadbolt with my master key and went down the wooden stairs into the cold storage vault.

The steel wall safe behind David’s workbench was untouched, its digital keypad dark.