“If you want my opinion?” He waited until I nodded. “I think you’d be wise to keep Bismarck close. There’s more going on here than you know. And whatever happens next could be more dangerous than just getting flattened at your front doorstep.”

I’d had a lot of other things to think about since that morning, but now I went back to that scene in my imagination, visualizing everything that had happened. “The roofer? The guy I saw at the bar? What was he doing here? Was he prowling around because he knew Kim wasn’t home? Maybe he wanted to break in and steal whatever he could. I think he might have tried before.” I told him about the hanging screen.

“Maybe he was looking for something specific, rather than something he could pawn or sell quickly.”

I had thought of that, too, and something worse. “Is it possible Wendy hired him to break in and grab something she left behind?”

Teo gave a low whistle. “You’re thinking on a new level.”

“The old one wasn’t working.”

“You’ve probably looked around here pretty thoroughly. Have you seen anything Wendy might need badly enough to persuade this guy to break in?”

Mentally I went through all the rooms I’d searched, and shrugged at the end of the tour. “She has good jewelry. But I can’t think of anything else, unless wherever she is, she can’t live without her Bloomingdale’s catalogs.”

“It could be the jewelry, but you could use another set of eyes. Want me to take a look?”

I flashed Sean’s dimples in gratitude. “That would be terrific, and I’ll look again, too.”

“Why don’t you start in the garage and kitchen, and I’ll look out here and then in the great room. Afterward we’ll trade.”

I hadn’t really checked the garage, which was conveniently empty of anything but yard tools and garbage cans, since I had parked on the road. I left Teo to search with the help of his nosy canine friend and opened the door. The storm was nearly gone, and the garage was bathed in a soft gray light that helped me see into every corner. I walked along the walls, noting everything, lifting a few flowerpots on a shelf and feeling behind them. A backup battery for the wireless system blinked cheerfully. The electric panel was an old friend because I’d opened it a week ago to flip a circuit breaker.

Nothing turned up in the garage, or in the half bath off the mudroom. The mudroom itself had a few empty hooks, and a narrow shelf with two baskets holding flip-flops, packs of tissues and a school library book. So far the book was the only treasure of the day.

Teo wandered in as I opened the louvered doors to the laundry area. By now the washer and dryer were old friends, too. I wasn’t going to find anything here, except maybe a missing sock.

“You about done?” he asked.

“Close. Did you find anything?”