At 7:10 on a wet Thursday morning, Robert Hale saw his neighbor standing beside his mailbox.
At first, he thought he was seeing things.
Rain had fallen throughout the night, leaving the pavement dark and shining beneath the pale Seattle morning. Water clung to the branches of the maple trees along the street, and a thin mist hovered above the lawns.
Robert stood upstairs behind the bedroom curtains, holding a cup of coffee that had already gone cold.
Then he saw Vanessa Reed reach into his mailbox.
His hand tightened around the curtain.
Vanessa looked around before opening the small metal door.
Robert's first thought was that she had made a mistake.
His second thought was that she had not.
She removed an envelope.
White.
Thick.
Official-looking.
She glanced at the front of it before sliding it into the pocket of her gray coat.
Robert's heart began pounding.
"That's mine," he whispered.
He had lived on the street for almost fifteen years. He knew everyone's routines. Vanessa walked her little white dog every morning at nearly the same time. She bought groceries on Tuesday evenings. She rarely attended neighborhood gatherings, and when she did, she tended to stand at the edge of the conversation.
Robert had never been comfortable around her.
He couldn't explain why.
Maybe it was because Vanessa watched people too carefully.
Maybe it was because she remembered details other people forgot.
Or perhaps it was because she had known his family for years and had recently begun looking at him with an expression that made him feel exposed.
Robert moved away from the window.
His wife, Karen, was downstairs preparing breakfast.
Their daughter Sophie was home from college for spring break.
Everything inside the house looked ordinary.
That was what frightened him.
A family photograph sat on the hallway table. Sophie at twelve, missing a front tooth. Karen holding a birthday cake. Robert standing behind them with one hand on each of their shoulders.
A happy family.
At least, that was what the photograph said.
Outside, Vanessa closed the mailbox.
Robert hurried toward the stairs.
He needed to get the envelope back before Karen saw it.
Before Sophie saw it.
Before anyone asked why a letter addressed to Robert Hale had been taken by Vanessa Reed.
But he was too late.
The front door opened.
Sophie stepped onto the porch wearing an oversized university sweatshirt and pajama pants.
She was holding a mug.
She looked toward the mailbox.
Then toward Vanessa.
Her expression immediately changed.
"Hey!"
Vanessa stopped.
Sophie walked down the steps.
"Were you just in our mailbox?"
Vanessa turned.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Vanessa smiled.
Not a friendly smile.
A tired one.
"Good morning, Sophie."
"Did you take something?"
Vanessa looked toward the upstairs window.
Robert froze.
She knew he was watching.
"I took a letter," Vanessa said.
Sophie stared at her.
"That's stealing."
"Maybe."
"Give it back."
Vanessa's eyes remained on the upstairs window.
"I think your father should come down here."
Robert closed his eyes.
Behind Sophie, Karen appeared in the doorway.
"What happened?"
Sophie pointed toward Vanessa.
"She took something from our mailbox."
Karen's face hardened.
Robert knew that expression.
Karen was not a woman who enjoyed public arguments. If she became quiet, however, it meant she was already angry.
Robert descended the stairs.
When he opened the front door, Vanessa looked directly at him.
"Robert."
"Give me the envelope."
Vanessa's eyebrows lifted.
"Which envelope?"
"You know which one."
"Actually, I think there are several things you should know about it."
Karen stepped outside.
"What is this about?"
Robert forced himself to sound irritated.
"Vanessa was going through our mailbox."
"I know," Karen said.
She looked at Vanessa.
"Why?"
Vanessa reached into her coat and slowly removed the envelope.
"I needed to make sure Robert couldn't destroy it."
Robert felt the blood leave his face.
Karen looked at him.
"Destroy what?"