Max made notes on his tablet about the materials thrown out of the file cabinet and the books shoved off the shelves, frowning at the more random acts of vandalism. This was new, I thought, not like the other incident, or incidents.

Also new was the fact that the stolen property in a plastic bag had been apparently forgotten on the floor of Carlo’s library. We both stared at it. When I looked over at Max he was blinking the way I had been. “I imagine all the stuff from my jewelry box is in there, but I haven’t touched it yet,” I said.

“Could it be the burglar was frightened off? Do you think he heard you coming?”

Now it was my turn to shrug. “You’re the cop,” I said.

Then he asked if we could sit down. We went back to the dining room, where Gemma-Kate was, without effort, enchanting Eric with her dimples.

“She’s only seventeen, and I can see you’re married,” I suggested, pointing to his ring. “Can I get you guys something to drink? Coffee? Water?”

Max said no, but Eric took a glass of water. He appeared new on the force, a bit deferential to Max. He looked at the glass of water like that was maybe not the right thing to do, and he didn’t drink any. Maybe Max had told him something about me. Not everything by a long stretch, but something that was not flattering.

Max knew he was dealing with someone who knew how this worked, so he asked, “Point of entry?” knowing I would know.

“Back door. No damage, must have picked the lock. Bolt.”

Max could see the back door from where he was seated at the table. “Not the spring lock, too?”

“No. I figure the bolt will stop most people. But not this one.”

“I thought you knew better.”

“I think I’ve gone soft, Max.”

Max snarfed lightly and asked, “How long were you away from the house?” Fingers raised and ready to fill out the template before him.

I gave him all the details with the time of each segment. “About seven and a half hours. It took a couple extra hours on the way back to pick up Gemma-Kate at the college and stop for sushi. So you figure they were here sometime after six when it was dark? Not much of a window.”

“Not necessarily,” Max said.

He knew something I did not. “What were the other break-ins like?” I asked.

Max almost nodded, apparently reluctant to share even this. “Two others, one on the other side of Golder Ranch and one down the hill in one of the homes on Lago del Oro Parkway. One of them was late afternoon before the owners got home from work. So the burglar or burglars knew something about them. Did some homework.”