Chapter 3 — The First Hidden Detail — White Scratch Marks on the Lower Cabinet Door
Paul ignored the shouting entirely.
He crouched lower, bringing his eyes level with the floorboards.
George continued to insist that kids were always getting into things they shouldn’t.
Paul tuned out the lecture.
He focused his attention solely on the smooth white surface of the lower cabinet door.
Fresh, distinct white scratch marks marred the paint near the bottom edge.
The paint had been chipped away in fine, parallel lines.
Paul reached out and gently touched the damaged wood.
The angle of the scratches indicated something small and clawed scraping against the wood from the outside.
It was not the sort of mark a child’s hands or toys would leave.
George stopped talking abruptly when he saw his son studying the woodwork so intensely.
What are you looking at down there, George asked, his tone dropping from angry to suspicious.
Paul did not answer immediately.
He shifted his weight forward on his knees.
Something bright caught the overhead kitchen light from the dark gap underneath the heavy cabinet door.
Paul reached his hand out further across the clean hardwood floor.
He spotted a brightly colored object wedged tight beneath the cabinet hinge.