As his green Astro van pulled into the driveway in front of his apartment, all he could think about was falling into bed and sleeping the rest of the day. Last night's out of town job had resulted in him not returning to his apartment until around 5:00 in the morning and he was beat tired.
His mood did not improved when he saw a notice had been taped to his door by his landlady. He plucked it off and read it. "Violation of noise ordinances?" he said, puzzled. "Tenants complained of barking dog." This was strange, as Smoky was, by no means a noisy dog. Opening the door to his apartment and stepping into the kitchen area where Smoky stays when he;s on a job Brice found him standing looking intently at the locked door to the living room area. �I hear you were making some racket last night,� Bryce said dryly. �As if I hadn�t lost enough of the cleaning deposit. Is someone in there?� Concerned, Bryce unlocked the door and opened it up to see that his apartment had been completely turned upside down. Contents of his desk drawers and dressers were strewn all over the place, his mattress was flipped over and his pillows had been slashed open. As he surveyed the apartment, he noticed a few weird things. None of the windows had been broken and they were all latched shut, showing no sign at all of forced entry. Second, a wad of cash that he kept in his desk was laying on the floor, completely overlooked by whomever ransacked his apartment. As a matter of fact, all of his valuables were still in the room. There were only two things missing. A picture of his father, which had been taken from a frame on the wall, and another picture taken out of a manila envelope labeled �Rayne wedding� *** Later that morning, Bryce spoke with police inspector Manheim, he was a tad bit skeptical to say the least. �So you say that your apartment was robbed, but there were no signs of forced entry. Does anyone else have a key to this apartment?� he asked the photographer. �Only my landlady, Doris Burkhalter,� Bryce answered. �I don�t think she would tear my stuff up just for a noise violation. �Sure,� the cop said as he wrote it down. �And you�re quite sure that your dog didn�t do this?� �Like I told you, he was locked in the kitchen when I came in, just the way I left him,� Bryce said, frustrated. �Smoky�s a pretty smart dog, but I�m pretty sure he doesn�t know how to unlock a doorknob, and even if by a fluke he could, I seriously doubt he�d know how to lock it back!� �Please lower your voice Mr. Markham,� said Manheim �Now you say that no money was missing?� �Yes.� �And you�re Television and VCR?� �They were here.� �And all your camera equipment?� �Still here, like I told you.� �So you�re saying that someone broke into your apartment, left all your valuables and only took a picture of your father, and a picture of a Mr. and Mrs. Rayne, and managed to lock both the kitchen and front door behind him?� The officer looked up from his notepad. �Do you drink much son?� �What kind of asinine question is that?!� Bryce exclaimed. �You think I would do this to my own home?� �Seeing as we haven�t found any fingerprints aside from yours I�d say that there is a possibility.� The officer handed Bryce a card. �We�ll question Ms. Burkhalter, but I doubt your pictures will turn up. If you find anything call this number.� With that, the rotund constable left the building. Bryce sat on the couch and rubbed his temples, wondering if the day could possibly get any worse. Why would anyone steal a picture of his dad? Why would anyone steel a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Rayne.? Suddenly, he remembered the picture of Julia he had taken. He knew that they wanted to keep something about her under wraps. Whoever broke into the apartment might be after her. Bryce dug through the rubble to find his phone and the number for the Luna foundation. He had to make sure she knew what had happened, not only because she was a paying customer, but because he owed her one. He dialed the number and waited for a reply. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals http://personals.yahoo.com
