The Very Quiet, Quick Exit

I chose the house because it looked quiet ' curtains half-drawn, no cars outside, the kind of place people forget to lock properly. I didn't know someone had already broken in earlier that evening. I didn't know the police had spent half an hour inside collecting evidence. All I saw was a chance. I slipped the back window, landed softly, and only then heard voices ' uniforms, radios, footsteps moving room to room. I froze. They were inside, still working the scene. For a moment I nearly panicked. Instead, I backed out the way I came, slow as breath, wiped the frame clean with my sleeve, and dropped into the neighbour's garden like I belonged there. They never saw me. Never even knew I'd come. Two burglaries in one night ' and only one of us got caught.