“One of the windows was open on the third floor,” the second deputy said. “We think he heard us coming and jumped down: you can get to the porch roof from the third floor and slide down the columns to the ground.”

“Did anyone run past you when you were coming in?” Stephanie Protheroe asked me.

I shook my head. “He must have left when he heard me arrive, because no one was in the attic when I got up there. And I didn’t see any open windows when I circled the house looking for a way in. I was just about to start exploring the basement when you guys showed up.”

“There any place to hide in the cellar?” Schorr demanded of Yosano.

The lawyer gave a shrug. “I’ve never explored the house, but, as far as I know, only the usual stuff is down there, furnaces, laundry, no secret cupboards or anything like that.”

“We’ll search just in case,” Schorr said, adding to the two young men, “Good work, you two. You start combing the grounds, see if this guy is hiding-these fields could conceal a lot of people. Arab, likely a terrorist on the run, he could have any kind of weapon, so you see him, don’t hesitate. Just shoot.”

The two young men saluted and departed, almost tripping over each other in their excitement. Puppies admitted to the hunt for the first time, so eager to get their fox they’d probably kill a unicorn if it crossed their trail.

Schorr shone his flashlight smartly in Protheroe’s face. She winced and turned her head away. “You go through the cellar just in case, Steph. These AlQaeda guys, they’re smart enough to make you think they’ve jumped out a window, when all the time they’re hiding in the basement. Yosano, you get the power turned on. We need to see what the hell we’re doing.”

When Yosano said it would have to wait until the start of normal business hours-Com Ed wouldn’t regard this as an emergency-the lieutenant slammed a hand against a stainless steel cabinet, and then swore as the hard metal bit his bone. “This fucking is an emergency, an Arab terrorist out here in New Solway. Get on it!”

Yosano kept his voice patient with an effort. “It will have to wait until morning, Lieutenant Schorr.”

Schorr got half a swearword out, but bit it off to run to the door and call out to his two young deputies. When he didn’t get a response, he turned back and shouted at Deputy Protheroe, who had found the stairwell leading to the basement.

“Before you go down there, call over to headquarters, see if they can send us out a generator, get something rigged up so we can see what we’re doing. I don’t want us shooting each other because we’re crashing around in the dark.”

So he wasn’t totally stupid, only giving a good imitation. I slid off the counter and moved toward the cellar door, still trying to keep attention away from Benjamin’s oven.