A faint footpath ran from his driver’s door through the tall grass straight to our back gate.

He had parked at the end of the block to hide his car in the woods while he cut through the trees to the house.

I switched off the ignition and left my leather tool bag on the bench seat.

My work boots made no noise on the dry grass as I went around the side of the garage toward the porch.

The side door wasn’t locked.