I grabbed the disruptor, my phone, and the flashlight that I’d placed beside my bed, and followed the same trajectory as the previous night, including being orbited by Barkley. The dog apparently had decided this was a nightly ritual, as he shot off for the barn as soon as the door was opened for him. I caught up a few moments later and examined the barn doors—both the large wagon doors and the normal door. None was open, and none looked like it had been forced. I stood there for a few moments scratching my head before raising my phone. “Sheldon, unlock the door, please.”

The door unlocked with a click, and Sheldon said, “The intruder has run for the back of the barn. I’m not sure if he’s planning to ambush you or if he has an exit in that direction.”

I turned on the flashlight and entered. I shone it around but couldn’t see any obvious threat. Reaching for the panel beside the door without looking, I flipped every switch on it. The interior blazed with intolerable brightness, and I shielded my eyes until they adjusted.

But now there was no way for the intruder to hide. I glanced at the workbench area, and saw that my secret compartment was sitting open. I felt a flash of annoyance. I’d put a lot of effort into building that compartment, and I had thought it was well disguised, but apparently I might as well have attached a neon sign pointing to it.

I sidled around the hay bales, with Barkley running back and forth, whining with excitement. However, he wasn’t barking, which likely meant no one else was in the barn.

In moments, I was at the back of the building, staring at a gap in the wall where a couple of boards had been pulled out. I leaned down and looked through the gap to spy the bushes behind the barn. But no intruder.

“Sheldon, he got in through a hole in the wall. We have motion detectors back here, don’t we?”

“Yes, and they did not indicate an approach. I cannot explain it. However, I’ve just checked the webcam footage, and I can see someone … er, something … Jack, I have no visual referent for this. You’ll just have to see it.”

My phone dinged as a text came in. The attached photo showed … something. It looked like a long Lego block, or maybe a three-cube Tetris piece, in a white or gray color. No wonder Sheldon had been confused by it. Sticking my head through the gap, I looked around and spotted something leaning against the outside wall. About five feet high, rectangular, a foot or so deep …

Pushing myself through the gap, I picked up the item. It was Styrofoam, obviously homemade, based on the duct-tape construction, about five feet tall by three feet wide, with a one-foot sidewall, and a handle in the middle.