He set the groceries on the step and walked away.
I photographed the bag and the car as he left, then reported the visit.
The groceries were ordinary items, but the appearance at my house after the investigation began felt like a warning.
I kept the door locked for the rest of the morning.
That evening Tasha called from the depot to ask whether I could cover an emergency shift.
A bus had broken down near the tunnel, and the replacement vehicles were already in service.
I wanted to stay home, but the overtime would help pay our legal expenses.
Sophie was spending the evening at Mrs. Paredes’s house rehearsing with two classmates.
I accepted the shift and left a message for the neighbor who checked on our dog.
Halfway through the repair, Sophie called.
Her voice was steady but urgent.
“Dad, somebody took my composition folder from school.”
I put down the wrench.
“When?”
“I found the locker open after rehearsal.”
“Was anything else missing?”
“Only the folder with the handwritten drafts.”
She had saved digital copies, but the original notebook contained pencil changes and dates that could help establish the work’s history.
Mrs. Paredes had already notified the school administrator.
I asked Sophie to stay with her teacher until I arrived.
The tunnel noise roared around me as I ended the call.
I had thought the mailbox was the first and last physical intrusion.
Now somebody had reached inside the one building where my daughter ought to have been free to play music without fear.
The school reviewed access logs and the hallway camera near the music rooms.
Its administrator explained that the locker itself was outside camera coverage.
A student had seen a maintenance cart stationed near the corridor during lunch.
The cart belonged to a contractor who had been replacing ceiling lights.
The contractor’s employees were accounted for during the relevant period, and the school found no evidence that they entered the locker.
Three students had shared the locker combination over the semester because Sophie sometimes forgot to bring her case key.
She was mortified when the administrator asked about it.
“I didn’t think it was a secret,” she said.
“It should have been private,” the administrator replied, “but that does not make the theft your fault.”
A formal report was made, and the school offered Sophie a secure cabinet for her remaining belongings.
The original drafts were still missing.
Lila asked everyone in their ensemble not to speculate about who had taken them.
