Chapter 28

Half an hour later, Michael’s wife was taken to the hospital. Once the police finished processing the scene, they left.

In their view, it was an ordinary case, plain as day, home invasion, robbery, assault. To be honest, in the Federation, cases like this were nothing new. There were always lazy poor people unwilling to work, ready to take a risk and get their hands on cash by illegal means.

Still, the police had not come away empty-handed. At the very least, they believed the fleeing suspect was probably very familiar with Michael’s household. He had known Michael was away on business, known the child had not returned from school, known there was only Mrs. Michael in the house.

In the police’s eyes, even the shift from robbery to assault supported that conclusion. It suggested hatred, which meant the criminal might well have known the family personally.

Once everyone was gone, the house stood empty and pitch-black. William, gloved, pushed open the yard gate and stepped inside, then quietly closed it behind him.

From his pocket he took out his homemade lockpicks, a tension wrench modified from a bottle opener, and a pick fashioned from a crochet hook. Both could be bought in any hardware or tool shop.

The mechanism of an old-fashioned lock was simple. Put plainly, once the pins were pressed into the chambers, the cylinder could turn, and the door would open.

With a key, that was easy. Without one, you had to apply a certain amount of torque to the cylinder first.

That tension created a tiny misalignment between the plug and the pin chambers. Tiny, almost negligible, but enough that once a pin was pushed into place, it would not fall back down. When every pin had been lifted to the proper height by the pick, the lock opened.

After a rapid series of clicks sounded twice over, there came a soft clack from inside the lock. William glanced around, turned the handle, and slipped into the house through the narrow opening.

The room was somewhat disordered. The police had lingered here earlier while collecting evidence. He took out the flashlight he carried with him, switched it on, and made his way upstairs.