Dressed in khaki trousers, a neatly pressed long sleeve cotton shirt, and work boots, the man stood arrow straight on the porch of the modest home as he reached for the doorbell. After pressing the button once, he leaned back and waited. From his utility belt hung various tools, a leak detector, and a roll of duct tape.

In a matter of a few seconds, the front door opened a few inches.

Upon recognizing the man as an employee for the gas company, the woman opened the door a little wider. The man lifted his identification card with his right hand as he clutched his clipboard with his left.

“Kansas Gas and Electric, Ma’am. We have a report of a severe gas leak in the area, and we’ve narrowed it down to the homes on this side of the block. I’ve got a leak detector, and I’ll need to check your water heater and furnace for gas leaks. I should just be a few minutes,” he said.

She raised her hand to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh my.”

Still dressed in her robe and slippers, her reservation to allow him to enter the home was soon overcome by the fear of the unknown. She leaned forward and pressed her head between the door and the door frame.

“I’m sorry, I just woke up. The alarm…” She paused and gazed down at his boots. As she shifted her eyes upward, she continued. “I don’t know what happened. The leak? Is it safe?”

The man shook his head. “No Ma’am, the leak has the potential to cause a severe explosion. That’s why I’m here. We need to get this resolved, and quick. One spark could cause this entire block to be nothing more than a memory. I should just be a few minutes.”

“Oh, alright,” she said as she nervously pressed her hand against her unkempt hair.

The man removed the leak detector from his belt and raised it in front of him as he studied the small display screen.

“Come on in,” the woman said as she opened the door.

Normally, she would be home alone this time of day. The alarm hadn’t gone off, and the morning sun through the east window caused her husband to rise from his sleep, one hour later than normal. In the basement her child still lay asleep, unaware kindergarten class had long since started.

The man entered the home, quickly surveyed the room, and cautiously began to proceed walking toward the basement steps on his right side.

“I’ll need you to show me where the water heater is,” he said over his shoulder. “I assume it’s here in the basement?”

“Yes, it’s in the utility room,” she responded. “I’m sorry but it’s a mess down there.”

A few feet before the stairway, he stopped and tilted his head to the side. The faint sound of the shower in the back bedroom was the only noise in the otherwise silent home. After a short pause, he turned to face the woman and cleared his throat.

“Is there water running?” he asked.

“Yes. My husband is taking a shower. He’s late for work,” she responded.

The man nodded his head and slowly turned around. He knew there was no place in his intricate scheme for a man. There was no turning back now. A small kink in his plan, but not one he wouldn’t be able to overcome as long as he made quick decisions.

With lightning speed, he slid the lanyard of the detector along his forearm and swung his open right hand over the woman’s mouth.

Her silence was crucial to his complete success. Failure, in his mind, was not an option. Although the husband’s presence wasn’t by design, he realized it would allow him to reach his goal in a more expeditious manner.

As he dragged the woman toward the back bedroom, his mouth curled into a shallow grin.

After taping the woman’s mouth and binding her hands he walked confidently to the closed door which led to the master bathroom and positioned himself beside it. As the sound of the running water stopped, he held his hands at chest height and waited. He grinned and raised his hands slightly as he heard footsteps approaching the doorway.

They never should have denied my promotion to detective. I’m smarter and more cunning than any of them, he thought.

As the woman’s husband stepped through the doorway and into the room, he gasped at what he saw.

And that was the last sound he would ever make.