Arthur gave a single satisfied nod and carried his heavy toolbox down the steps toward the driveway.

I went back into the front hallway, where the fifteen-thousand-dollar cashier’s check lay untouched on the wooden console table.

I opened my yellow pad, sketched an exact diagram of the four teeth on the red-tagged key, and laid the untouched cashier’s check on the hall table next to the drawing of the red-tagged key.

The house was still at one in the morning as I crept past the bedrooms on the second floor and took the narrow wooden stairs down to the basement.

I kept a hand on the painted rail to steady myself and stepped over the third board from the bottom, the one that always creaked.