“I don’t think even Bruce could open the door with his jaws. Have you talked to anyone else on the street? Maybe someone broke in and let the dogs out.”

Burglars, like Santa Claus, know when we’ve been sleeping, or away from our houses. And the living room did look as though someone might have ransacked it. On the surface Mrs. Frizell seemed an unlikely candidate for valuables, but she wouldn’t be the first person to live in squalor while sitting on a stack of bearer bonds.

“Burglars?” Mrs. Hellstrom’s pale-blue eyes widened in fear. “Oh, dear, I hope not. This block has always been such a nice place to live, even if we’re not as fancy as that young lawyer across the street or some of the other new people who’ve moved in. I did ask Maud Rezzori—she lives on the other side, you know—but she was out at the same time I was. I’m going to have to go tell Mr. Hellstrom. He’s been annoyed with me, taking on those dogs, but if we have burglars …”

She sounded like a housewife distressed over a plague of mice. Despite my fatigue I couldn’t help laughing.

“It’s not funny, young lady. I mean, it may seem like a joke to you, but you live on the third floor, and it isn’t—”

“I don’t think burglars are a joke,” I cut her off hastily. “But we need to find out if other neighbors saw someone going into Mrs. Frizell’s place before we get too hot about it. It’s possible you forgot to lock the door and the meter reader came around. It could be anything. You’ve lived here a long time—you can probably give me the names of the people on the block.”

All I wanted was a bath and a drink and a Cubs victory, not a night of interrogation. Why do you do this to yourself? a voice in my head demanded while Mrs. Hellstrom detailed the Tertzes’, the Olsens’, and the Singers’ biographies. I certainly couldn’t blame Carol for staying home to look after Cousin Guillermo if I was going to spend my life on the dogs of a disagreeable old woman who didn’t have the faintest tie to me.

“Okay. I’ll scout around and let you know if anyone can tell me anything.”

I walked back up the street with her. Mrs. Hellstrom continued to be worried about burglars, and what her daughters would say, and what Mr. Hellstrom thought, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

11

Man Bites Dog