Stolen by Jordan Gray Page A

around the security in this house, they weren’t just sods off the farm, were they?”
    â€œI suppose not.”
    â€œWas anything taken?”
    Michael shook his head. “All the computer equipment, the tellys seem to be here. We’re going to go through the computers before we use them, of course.”
    â€œFor?”
    â€œMalware. Little nasty bits of programming that might compromise our security.”
    â€œDo you do your banking over the Internet?”
    â€œOf course. But we also do a lot of work online.”
    â€œYou think that might have been what the thieves were after? Your work?”
    Michael let out a slow breath and tried not to show his frustration. “No.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œPeople good enough to hack the encryption on my computers wouldn’t need to be here physically to do it, and I’m too small a target for them.”
    The inspector looked around the house. “You and the missus seem to have done all right for yourselves.”
    â€œWe don’t keep anything in the house that would tempt the smash-and-grab set.”
    â€œYou’re a computer designer. Video games. Bestselling video games, the way I hear it. And Mrs. Graham is successful, as well.”
    Michael nodded.
    â€œMaybe someone just assumed you had something to steal.”
    â€œThat sounds random, but as you said yourself, this was clearly done by people who knew what they were about.”
    Paddington gazed at him in deliberate speculation. “Then why was your house broken into?”
    â€œI couldn’t tell you, Inspector.”
    â€œMaybe I can.” He nodded toward Molly’s office. “Someone was looking for something.”
    â€œInspector—”
    â€œThey didn’t bother with your office. Or anywhere else in the house that I can see.”
    Michael didn’t argue the point. His office was in the same messy shape it had been when he’d left it. Nothing had been touched, and there was plenty to handle. A lot of expensive computer hardware filled the shelves. Kids would have definitely nicked the video game components.
    â€œJust your wife’s office.” Paddington made another note. “I find that quite interesting.”
    â€œIt wasn’t just the office, Inspector.”
    Michael glanced at the uniformed officer who walked up to join them. The woman was tall and thin and lookedtoo young to be a police officer. Her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail.
    â€œWhat have you got, Saylor?”
    It took Michael a moment to figure out the woman’s name was Saylor.
    She pointed an index finger over her shoulder. “The maid’s—”
    â€œHousekeeper.” Iris joined the woman. “Domestic engineer if you want to be snooty. I’m not a maid.”
    The female officer glanced at Michael.
    Michael nodded quickly. “Iris isn’t a maid.”
    Saylor rolled her gaze over to Paddington in a show of polite exasperation. “As it turns out, this woman’s living quarters were ransacked, as well.”
    Â 
    â€œY OU DIDN’T REALIZE YOUR HOME had been broken into?”
    Still holding the cat, Iris Dunstead leveled a reproachful look at DCI Paddington. During her association with Iris, Molly had seen grown men melt under that gaze. Paddington didn’t, but he did wait for Iris to reply.
    â€œThis is the first time I’ve been back since I left with Rachel Donner earlier in the evening. She offered to drive and I went with her. She didn’t want to go alone.” Iris turned to face the door to her second-floor quarters.
    The smaller house had been generously appointed when Molly and Michael bought the mansion, and most of the furniture within these rooms belonged to Iris. Molly had offered all of the wiring and electronic upgrades she and Michael had made to the main house, and Iris had accepted. Still, the lamps remained from an earlier era and an otherworldly quality