When the officers searched the house, they found no one.
The back door was locked.
The windows were intact.
Nothing appeared to have been stolen.
But one officer noticed something strange in the kitchen.
A narrow trail of water crossed the floor and ended beside a pantry cabinet.
Camilla explained that Dorato’s water container was kept in the adjoining room.
The officer examined the cabinet.
“Do you keep anything important in here?”
“Just household supplies,” Camilla replied.
He opened it.
Behind a stack of cleaning products, the back panel appeared slightly loose.
The officer pressed against it, but the panel did not move.
He made a note and told Camilla to have the cabinet inspected in daylight.
By sunrise, Dorato had returned to his enclosure.
Camilla tried to convince herself that the noises had been nothing more than the ordinary sounds of an old house.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about the hidden panel.
