Three hours later, I found an old building permit.
Brenda's house had once been a small warehouse.
The basement extended farther than the current property boundary.
The old plans showed a buried utility corridor beneath my yard.
A corridor connected to Brenda's basement.
I called Daniel.
"There's a passage."
"What?"
"Not exactly a tunnel. A utility passage."
He went silent.
Then he said, "Don't enter it."
"I wasn't planning to."
But somebody had already entered it.
The next morning, I found footprints in the mud near my shed.
They led toward the old drainage channel.
The gate was locked.
But the lock had been cut.
I called the police.
An officer inspected the area.
Behind a wall of ivy, he discovered an old metal hatch.
Inside was a narrow concrete passage.
It led directly beneath Brenda's property.
Beside the entrance was something even more disturbing.
Fresh construction equipment.
Chapter 6 — What Brenda Wanted
Brenda finally came to my door.
"You've been asking questions."
"Yes."
"You need to stop."
"No."
She looked exhausted.
For the first time, she didn't seem arrogant.