Chapter 8 — The Door That Wasn’t Locked
They crossed the porch to the adjoining unit. No car in the drive. Porch light off. No one answered the bell. A glance through the window showed a tidy living room and a thin line of light glowing from a door at the back.
“Knock and announce,” Lewis ordered. He did—three times—then tried the handle. It turned.
Inside, the house was silent except for the steady hum of a furnace. The officers followed the glow to the utility room.
Behind a dryer and a loose plywood sheet was a square crawlspace hatch, open and breathing cold air. A fragile voice floated out.
“Please.”
