The police left shortly after dark, taking photographs of the broken lock and a list of the few things I could confirm had been disturbed. I watched their cruiser disappear down my street and understood that whoever had searched my house had gained something almost as valuable as the bonds.<\/p>\n
They knew I was still looking.<\/p>\n
I called Robert back three times.<\/p>\n
Each call went directly to a recorded message saying the number was unavailable.<\/p>\n
My father had been dead to me for forty-eight years, alive again for less than five minutes, and had already vanished a second time.<\/p>\n
I should have been furious.<\/p>\n
Instead, I found myself staring at the cassette on my kitchen table, remembering Grandpa\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
Stop accepting silence merely because relatives call it peace.<\/p>\n
I put the bonds into a fireproof document case I kept for tax records, drove across town, and rented a safe-deposit box at a bank none of my relatives used.<\/p>\n
By the time I returned home, it was nearly midnight.<\/p>\n
I slept badly.<\/p>\n
At six the next morning, I was already dressed and standing in my kitchen with coffee I had forgotten to drink.<\/p>\n
The estate sale was the following day.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight hours had become twenty-four.<\/p>\n
I called Alan.<\/p>\n
He answered on the sixth ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to meet me at Grandpa\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Dale is already there.\u201d<\/p>\n
That caught me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan exhaled slowly. \u201cHe wanted to know if I still had Dad\u2019s old business records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur father\u2019s records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard movement on his end. A cabinet closing. Footsteps. Then his voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy, the estate sale needs to be canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the first sensible thing anyone has said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried telling Pam.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said the contracts are signed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat contracts?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe auction company. Cleanout crew. Buyers coming from out of county.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she can unsign them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became simple when someone broke into my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone searched my bedroom and stole the Bible cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere the bonds inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He breathed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sound relieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also sound like you expected someone to look for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
My patience snapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou testified to a forged signature on a safe-deposit restriction, Alan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
For several seconds I heard nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know about that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI opened Box 114.\u201d<\/p>\n
He muttered something I couldn\u2019t make out.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew the key existed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew what was inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you forge my name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you witnessed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI witnessed Dad sign your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe supposedly dead man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t Nancy me. Tell me what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan sounded older than he had yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad came back in 2001.\u201d<\/p>\n
The refrigerator motor clicked on beside me.<\/p>\n
I leaned against the counter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd nobody told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made us promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou keep saying that as though promises made to everybody except me somehow justify thirty years of lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was it like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Pam?\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell me the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t do this over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeet me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stayed silent long enough that I thought he would refuse again.<\/p>\n
Finally he said, \u201cTen o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Grandpa\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Miller Park. South lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not the house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I don\u2019t know who\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hung up.<\/p>\n
At nine, I drove to Grandpa\u2019s anyway.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t park in the driveway.<\/p>\n
I left my car behind the closed feed store two properties down and walked through the strip of trees bordering Grandpa\u2019s back field.<\/p>\n
The morning smelled of wet leaves and cut hay.<\/p>\n
From the edge of the yard, I could see Pam\u2019s sedan beside the garage.<\/p>\n
Dale\u2019s pickup wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
A white van sat near the front porch.<\/p>\n
A locksmith\u2019s logo was printed on the side.<\/p>\n
I moved closer.<\/p>\n
Pam stood with a man in work clothes beside Grandpa\u2019s back door.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need every lock changed?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cFront, back, basement hatch, garage,\u201d Pam replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho owns the property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re executor?\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cActing for the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was not the same answer.<\/p>\n
The locksmith glanced at a clipboard. \u201cI need authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam stepped closer and lowered her voice.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t hear the next sentence.<\/p>\n
The man frowned.<\/p>\n
Then she handed him something.<\/p>\n
Cash.<\/p>\n
He pocketed it.<\/p>\n
I waited until they moved inside before approaching the basement hatch at the rear foundation.<\/p>\n
Grandpa had installed it decades ago so he could haul machinery directly into the basement without carrying it through the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Pam apparently planned to replace that lock too.<\/p>\n
But she hadn\u2019t yet.<\/p>\n
My old key still worked.<\/p>\n
I slipped inside.<\/p>\n
The basement was dim except for pale morning light coming through the window Dale had left open.<\/p>\n
I closed the hatch behind me.<\/p>\n
The furnace panel remained off.<\/p>\n
Boxes had been dragged away from the walls.<\/p>\n
Someone had searched thoroughly after I left.<\/p>\n
Not thoroughly enough.<\/p>\n
Grandpa had taught me to look where people didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
When I was twelve, he used to hide quarters around the workshop and tell me I could keep whatever I found.<\/p>\n
I always searched drawers.<\/p>\n
He hid the money beneath things.<\/p>\n
Under the vise.<\/p>\n
Under the edge of a shelf.<\/p>\n
Under the removable bottom of a coffee tin.<\/p>\n
I crouched beside his workbench.<\/p>\n
The scarred top was bolted to a heavy cabinet.<\/p>\n
I ran my fingers underneath.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
I checked the shelves.<\/p>\n
Then the old metal drawer containing drill bits.<\/p>\n
The bottom sounded hollow when I tapped it.<\/p>\n
I emptied the bits.<\/p>\n
Beneath them was a sheet of thin plywood fitted too neatly to be accidental.<\/p>\n
I pried it up with a screwdriver.<\/p>\n
A black ledger lay underneath.<\/p>\n
The cover bore no title.<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
Columns of dates, amounts, initials, and account references filled the pages.<\/p>\n
The earliest entry I saw was from 1977.<\/p>\n
H.J.H.<\/p>\n
R.H.<\/p>\n
P.M.<\/p>\n
D.H.<\/p>\n
I knew Henry J. Harper.<\/p>\n
Robert Harper.<\/p>\n
Pam\u2019s maiden name was Mercer.<\/p>\n
Dale Harper.<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
Near the center of the ledger, several entries had been marked with a red X.<\/p>\n
One amount was larger than the others.<\/p>\n
$186,000.<\/p>\n
In 1981.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
Below that number, Grandpa had written a note.<\/p>\n
Transferred without authority.<\/p>\n
Reclassified through HHC.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what HHC meant.<\/p>\n
I turned pages faster.<\/p>\n
Harper Holdings Company appeared later.<\/p>\n
So Grandpa had owned a company.<\/p>\n
Robert hadn\u2019t lied.<\/p>\n
I reached an entry from 1984.<\/p>\n
A series of purchases.<\/p>\n
Bond numbers.<\/p>\n
Seventeen entries were spread over the next several years.<\/p>\n
The same serial numbers as the bonds I found.<\/p>\n
Beside the first purchase, Grandpa had written:<\/p>\n
Preserve chain.<\/p>\n
Not inheritance.<\/p>\n
Evidence.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
Robert had said the bonds were proof.<\/p>\n
Now I understood at least part of why.<\/p>\n
Grandpa had used government instruments to trace money.<\/p>\n
Money that had moved somewhere it shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I heard footsteps overhead.<\/p>\n
Pam.<\/p>\n
A man\u2019s voice answered her.<\/p>\n
The locksmith.<\/p>\n
I closed the ledger.<\/p>\n
The basement door opened.<\/p>\n
Light spilled down the stairs.<\/p>\n
I shoved the ledger beneath my jacket.<\/p>\n
Pam called, \u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
I backed toward the furnace.<\/p>\n
She descended.<\/p>\n
When she saw me, she stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could ask you the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis house belongs to the estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why are you changing locks?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes moved over me.<\/p>\n
Then to the displaced drill-bit drawer.<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
She came down two more steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does everyone keep asking me that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you write a note asking Dale if I could be excluded?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat note was misunderstood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was asking about whether your name could be excluded from an inventory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the bonds weren\u2019t yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bank disagrees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam gave me a look that made me feel sixteen again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know enough to cancel tomorrow\u2019s sale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWatch me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hand tightened around the stair rail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe auction company already has buyers coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s their problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt becomes the estate\u2019s problem when they sue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBreach.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think Henry left you some grand fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Grandpa left evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
That landed.<\/p>\n
Pam\u2019s face went completely still.<\/p>\n
I saw confirmation before she could hide it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She descended the last steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy, listen carefully. Henry spent the last years of his life rewriting history.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose history?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning everyone\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you help my father disappear?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes flickered.<\/p>\n
There.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
That fraction of a second was enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew he was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam folded her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her composure broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert called you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Robert Harper is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t some innocent victim.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stole from Henry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa\u2019s ledger says money was transferred without authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam\u2019s gaze dropped to my jacket.<\/p>\n
I realized my mistake.<\/p>\n
She knew.<\/p>\n
Her voice changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have no idea what\u2019s in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached for me.<\/p>\n
I stepped backward.<\/p>\n
The locksmith appeared at the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam looked up and smiled instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily disagreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shifted uncomfortably.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cPlease stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam glared at me.<\/p>\n
I pulled out my phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I\u2019m calling the estate attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t even know who that is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her expression told me something else.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t want an attorney involved.<\/p>\n
I slipped past her toward the stairs.<\/p>\n
She caught my arm.<\/p>\n
Not hard.<\/p>\n
But enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me that book.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her hand.<\/p>\n
Then at her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet go.\u201d<\/p>\n
For several seconds neither of us moved.<\/p>\n
The locksmith cleared his throat.<\/p>\n
Pam released me.<\/p>\n
I walked upstairs.<\/p>\n
On Grandpa\u2019s kitchen counter were three folders bearing an auction company logo.<\/p>\n
Beside them sat a stack of property photographs.<\/p>\n
Furniture.<\/p>\n
Tools.<\/p>\n
Tractor.<\/p>\n
Garage equipment.<\/p>\n
Then one photograph caught my attention.<\/p>\n
Grandpa\u2019s walnut hutch.<\/p>\n
The one Pam had claimed.<\/p>\n
The back panel was photographed separately.<\/p>\n
Why would an auction company photograph the back of a cabinet?<\/p>\n
I picked it up.<\/p>\n
A small rectangular outline showed in the wood.<\/p>\n
A hidden compartment.<\/p>\n
Pam snatched the photograph from me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were searching the wrong room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her lips parted.<\/p>\n
I left before she could stop me.<\/p>\n
At Miller Park, Alan was already waiting in his car.<\/p>\n
He climbed out when he saw me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPam just tried to take Grandpa\u2019s ledger from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face drained.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found the black ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you knew about that too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy, where is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSafe.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
It was under my jacket.<\/p>\n
But I had learned something from Dale.<\/p>\n
Never let people know where the thing they want actually is.<\/p>\n
Alan looked around the nearly empty parking lot.<\/p>\n
Then he said, \u201cIf you found the ledger, you need to understand what those entries mean before Pam gets to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa\u2019s company was worth millions before it disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what Dad said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Robert finally decided to tell you something useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect me to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I haven\u2019t seen him in twelve years.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwelve?\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came back more than once.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many times?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFive that I know of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five times.<\/p>\n
My father had returned to a town where I still had relatives, friends, memories.<\/p>\n
And never once found me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause every time he came back, he was trying to prove what happened to Harper Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan looked toward the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney was diverted. Property was transferred. The company was broken into smaller entities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDale\u2019s father started it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uncle Curtis.<\/p>\n
Grandpa\u2019s younger brother.<\/p>\n
He had died eight years earlier.<\/p>\n
I remembered him as loud, charming, always buying expensive gifts despite constantly claiming he was broke.<\/p>\n
Alan continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurtis controlled bookkeeping. Pam worked for the company one summer. Her father handled legal filings. There were several people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe discovered it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he steal from Grandpa?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer was immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cPam said he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPam lies when the truth threatens her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did Grandpa let everyone believe Dad abandoned us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Curtis threatened to use you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew where you went to school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The park seemed suddenly too open.<\/p>\n
Alan lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad agreed to disappear. Grandpa agreed to let Curtis believe the evidence disappeared with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bonds?\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bonds were Grandpa\u2019s way of creating a government-dated trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
A fixed record.<\/p>\n
Purchases tied to dates.<\/p>\n
A chain nobody in the family could alter.<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProtection. If Grandpa died, they couldn\u2019t easily claim the bonds without involving you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why exclude me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if you claimed them, the serial numbers could reopen questions nobody wanted asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about the photograph of the hutch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s inside the walnut cabinet?\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan\u2019s head snapped toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPam had a photograph of the back panel.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
Then he swore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa used that hutch as an office cabinet before Grandma moved it into the dining room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a false compartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he keep there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPam does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan looked toward his car.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s changing the locks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we go now.\u201d<\/p>\n
We reached Grandpa\u2019s house eleven minutes later.<\/p>\n
The locksmith\u2019s van was gone.<\/p>\n
Pam\u2019s sedan was gone too.<\/p>\n
The back door had a new lock.<\/p>\n
Alan swore.<\/p>\n
I looked through the dining-room window.<\/p>\n
The walnut hutch was missing.<\/p>\n
The police left shortly after dark, taking photographs of the broken lock and a list of the few things I could confirm had been disturbed. I watched their cruiser disappear … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8386,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8366\/revisions\/8386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}