Mike Bean stepped up onto the curb of the residential street and paused. Reaching inside his sport coat, he came out with a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead before turning to watch his partner walk across the street to join him. It was one of those typical hot summer nights. The thermometer was hanging firmly around the ninety-degree mark and not willing to budge in either direction. The sky was amazingly clear. The late afternoon sun was just beginning to slide behind the heavy foliage of old birch and sycamore trees. Not a breath of air stirred the evening’s tranquility.
“Any luck?” he asked, as she stepped onto the sidewalk beside him.
“No. Just the same story told over and over again with hardly any variation. How about you?”
“The same,” he said, smiling. “People go
