Jojo complained from across the table. "You've got to be kidding, Doc. We're halfway through the good part." Lucas did not answer the complaint, and Jojo saw his face change. The speaker clicked into silence, leaving the building full of noises nobody normally noticed: the refrigerator motor, water at a gutter outside, somebody's shoe scraping concrete. Beneath them came the sound again, careful and unmistakably human.
Miller crossed the room without hurrying. He looked at Nora first, then at Lucas, and Lucas repeated exactly what the child had said. Walsh checked the alley camera monitor from where he stood and reported that the image was partly blocked by a delivery truck that had been parked too close to the lens that afternoon. Miller felt his stomach tighten. The truck had belonged to a man he had not recognized, and he had assumed the delivery was legitimate because the boxes carried the name of a parts supplier they used.
"Everyone stay back," Miller said. "Nora, go stand with Jojo by the front counter. Nobody opens any other door until we know who's here." He called the police dispatch line and told the operator that there might be an intruder inside a locked storage area of an occupied business. The dispatcher asked him to avoid confrontation and keep people clear while officers were sent. Miller agreed, though the waiting made every muscle in his shoulders want to move.
Lucas did not touch the door. He knelt several feet away and listened while Walsh switched on the hallway light. The scrape stopped at once, replaced by a silence so complete it confirmed Nora's warning more clearly than any noise. Someone on the other side understood that they had been heard. Miller stepped backward and asked Walsh to hold the camera on the passage while they waited for the responding officers.
For a moment, it seemed the person might remain hidden until the police arrived. Then the latch clicked and the door opened from the inside, just wide enough to reveal a pale face under a gray hood. A man stood behind stacked oil drums with a small laptop hanging from one hand and a crowbar gripped awkwardly in the other. He looked toward the front of the garage and saw a dozen adults staring at him across a clear, well-lit space.
"Put it down," Miller said. He did not shout, but there was no uncertainty in his voice. The man hesitated, measured the distance to the alley entrance, then placed the crowbar on the floor. Lucas moved Nora farther back behind the counter while Walsh spoke with dispatch again. The man said he had not intended to hurt anybody, but his explanation ended there.
Police arrived before anyone needed to test whether that claim was true. Two officers entered through the main doors, separated the intruder from the club members, and secured the storage passage while the dispatcher confirmed that additional help was on the way. The man was placed in custody without a fight. It should have been the end of a burglary report, except that everyone in the room had already seen his open laptop, and Nora was still staring at his shoes.