Before going into the yard he shone a brilliant spot up and down the stairs and into all the corners. I heard Peppy’s faint bark from behind Mr. Contreras’s door. A curtain twitched in the north corner bedroom of Vinnie’s place.

I’ve had so many work-related break-ins over the years that I’ve encased my apartment in stainless steel. The front door, in addition to its treble locks, is reinforced with steel plate. The back has conventional grates on the door and windows. These were intact, but by now I was past being able to negotiate the locks. I handed my key ring to Rawlings and slumped against the window bars while he figured out the keys he needed.

All I wanted was to be left alone so I could fall into a hole of sleep. I almost screamed from exhaustion when Rawlings insisted on searching the place.

“No one’s here, Conrad. They tried the front, couldn’t do it, and decided the back was too exposed to mess with. Please … I just need to sleep.”

“Yeah, I know you do, Ms. W. But I won’t sleep myself if I don’t just make a quick run-through.”

I slumped at the kitchen table, knocking yesterday’s papers to the floor with my elbows. I dropped off at once; it took Rawlings’s lifting my head forcibly from my forearms to wake me again.

“I hate to do this to you, Vic, but unless your housekeeping’s reached new lows someone sure has been in here.”

My brain had jelled; I couldn’t even think of a response, let alone force my swollen lips to say anything. I followed him dumbly into the living room.

Someone had broken one of my north-facing windows, climbed in, and torn the place to shreds. They hadn’t been very subtle about it. Broken glass lay on the floor under the sill. One piece had migrated as far as the piano bench. The bench itself stood open. All the music lay on the floor or the piano, spines broken, sheets hanging by a single thread. Every book and paper in the room looked as though it had been similarly treated.

“I’ve got to call this in,” Rawlings said sharply.

“It’ll keep until morning,” I said as forcefully as I could. “I’m not tampering with the evidence tonight. But you’re going to have to pack me off to Elgin if I don’t get to bed. I just can’t cope with this right now.”

“But that window—”

“I’ve got a hammer and nails. There must be some boards in the basement.”

“You can’t! There might be fingerprints.”

“And then what? I’ve never known yet when you guys had the resources to spare to track down a residential B&E. Give me a break, Rawlings.”