He went down the hallway toward the back stairs. He flattened himself against the wall opposite the maid's room. He held out the flashlight straight before him, reaching all the way across the hall and into the doorway of the room. He gave a burst of light from the flashlight and lunged with the screwdriver. The doorway was vacant; the room was empty.
"Come," he said.
At the top of the stairs he gave another burst of light and carefully descended.
"Wait here," he whispered, halfway down.
When he came to the landing, he carefully looked around the corner onto the second floor landing, but the door out to the bedrooms at the front of the house was still closed. He leaned back into the dark stairwell to whisper.
"Okay. Come on."
He saw the bottom of the stairs in the light from the kitc
