She watched him with more interest than she had had for any one thing in many weeks. He was fascinating as he flailed his arms about with all the bravado of an angry pheasant defending its territory. She could tell from his actions, despite not being able to actually hear what he was saying, that he discovered the missing items. The very same items that she had secreted away from his home that morning once everyone had left for their respective jobs and schools. Her left cheek ticked up a bit in her sardonic version of a smile as she saw him yell at his wife and point accusatory fingers at the older child. He would never suspect, which was likely his biggest undoing. Perhaps if he had noticed her even once over the last several weeks he wouldn’t be coming to the end of his life.

(to be continued)