around a later block, and made a second pass. There was no street behind Graper’s, but his house was only the third from a corner, and when they drove the side street they could see that it would be possible to approach through the trees on the hill to the back wall of his property. That was probably the better route in, and Jake was equipped as always when he was on assignment with a full set of burglar tools. There were few house locks that would give him a problem.
Confident they knew the route, Graper’s house and its relative location to his neighbors, and the path they would take to approach later in the day, they drove back out of the area toward the main road. Instead of heading back, they continued up the road and looked for alternate approaches, discovering there were only two roads leading into the neighborhood. Finally they headed back into Washington. They would return much later that night for the attempted break-in.
“What do you think?” Laney asked as they looked across the open space separating them from the block fence from their vantage point in the trees. Carlson had called a moment before indicating Don Graper was currently involved in following the vans as they made their nightly trek to different target locations. He wouldn’t be home for hours.
Jake surveyed the house. The front porch light was on. They’d seen that when they had driven by a short time earlier. The living room light was on as well, at least one light. That actually helped them. They knew he lived alone and was out. But the light being on would provide them with illumination once they were inside, and other lights being turned on would draw less attention from the outside as compared to a totally dark house.
“Let’s go,” Jake replied after a moment’s hesitation. He slipped on the thin gloves that would prevent any fingerprints.
Moving silently, Jake in the lead, they moved down the hill and out of the trees. The back wall they had to scale, the only door padlocked from the inside where they had no access. Once in the backyard, they could see the large patio and the double sliding doors that led into the back of the house. A faint glow from the light in the living room could been seen in the back room. Happily, the curtain was open, so they could have a look inside before making a move.
As expected, Jake had little trouble with the lock, and after a moment, the two men slipped silently inside, closing the sliding glass door behind them. Jake thought little about what they were doing, but Laney was somewhat uncomfortable. This violated what he had long believed. They were committing a felony by their actions, and Jake wouldn’t be undoing it later by one of his back-tracks.
Once inside they started a preliminary check to verify they were alone. While Graper was single and they had Carlson’s call to verify he was engaged elsewhere, one always checked. It was good they did. Almost immediately they heard the sound of voices from down the hall. Laney looked at Jake who shrugged his shoulders. Moving slowly, they moved in the direction of the sounds, and discovered the door at the far end of the hallway closed. The voices were coming from there.
“Televison,” Jake whispered softly.
“But who is it?” Laney asked back.
On a narrow hallway table under a large mirror was a land line telephone, a small ashtray, and a woman’s purse.
“Graper must have a girlfriend,” Laney said softly as he walked to the purse and looked inside. He withdrew a large bulging wallet. It only took him a moment to identify the likely resident. He showed the license in the wallet to Jake. The picture and name told him everything. Next to the picture of a woman in her late sixties was the name and address.
Sandra Graper
1423 W. Holland Street
Laguna Beach, California
“His mother,” Laney said. “Shit! We couldn’t have known she was here. She must be visiting. Probably a plan made before all of this started.”
“Here’s something else,” Laney said, handing Jake an airline ticket. Apparently Graper’s mother was scheduled to fly to New York the next day.
“Wonderful timing,” Jake said. “Why couldn’t she have left this morning? It’s unlikely she can hear us over the television. We’ll just have to be extra careful.”
Laney looked doubtful, but Jake pointed toward the front of the house. They quickly scanned the open rooms and found