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Back We Were Killers Once Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty–one
  25. Twenty–two
  26. Twenty–three
  27. Twenty–four
  28. Twenty–five
  29. Twenty–six
  30. Twenty–seven
  31. Twenty–eight
  32. Twenty–nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty–one
  35. Thirty–two
  36. Thirty–three
  37. Thirty–four
  38. Thirty–five
  39. Thirty–six
  40. Thirty–seven
  41. Thirty–eight
  42. Thirty–nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty–one
  45. Forty–two
  46. Forty–three
  47. Forty–four
  48. Forty–five
  49. Forty–six
  50. Forty–seven
  51. Forty–eight
  52. Forty–nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty–one
  55. Fifty–two
  56. Fifty–three
  57. Fifty–four
  58. Fifty–five
  59. Fifty–six
  60. Fifty–seven
  61. Author’s Note
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. Also by Becky Masterman
  64. About the Author
  65. Newsletter Sign-up

We’ve got a neighborhood online chat group. You can sell your dining room table, offer to walk dogs, and ask about a good landscaper. You can also post alarming messages about having your house broken into, warning others. I was counting on this when I pulled up the chat group and found the other two victims. One of them was old enough to still have a landline that was available through directory assistance. I called and got Artie on the phone.

I got right down to it, said I was another one of the houses broken into, and asked, “You hear of any progress in the investigation?”

“Not a thing. My wife is so jarred by the break-in she’s afraid to leave the house. That business with the graffiti on the wall threw her for a loop. She thinks it’s satanic.”

“I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. It looked more like a gang sign.”

“I don’t think that will comfort my wife. What do you know about gang signs?”

“Watching crime shows on TV. What did they get?”

“Mostly jewelry, but it didn’t look like they knew what they were looking for. Got mostly junk, and left her mother’s engagement ring. They left the laptops. That’s why we were told it was probably some kids. I hate kids.” He paused, waiting for my agreement.

“Yeah,” I said, not wanting to go off on a tangential rant.

Satisfied with that, Artie said, “My wife wants me to call a home security company. I don’t know where to start.”

I gave him the name of the company I had used. And thinking he would trust me enough at this point, I asked, “Tell me, do you have a dog?”

“No. I hate dogs.”

“What about filing cabinets?”

I half expected him to say he hated filing cabinets, but he said, “No. We keep our important papers in two of those containers with a lid and a handle. That’s all we need.”

“Where do you keep them?”

“Under a desk in one of the guest rooms. Why?”

“Were they disturbed at all?”

“Not that we could see. You know, I hadn’t thought until now how weird that is. All our Social Security information, passwords, all kinds of important things are in those files.”

“Oh, maybe not so weird. Burglars more often go for tangible items they can fence.”

So I didn’t get any information about possible suspects from the other victim, but I got a different way of looking at my own. With the other home they went for small valuables. My place they went for files—after making it look like they were stealing other items. Max missed this angle. What were they looking for, and why did they go through the elaborate ruse of making it look like multiple gang break-ins?

Thirty–three