Read The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein for Free Online Page B

north. I’d like to claim I knew that because of my Y chromosome, but the truth is I knew we were headed north because the Sandia Mountains were on our right. At the end of Titanium Trail, we turned east toward the mountains onto a service drive. After about a hundred feet, the service drive made a second right angle turn to the right so that we were now headed south and were directly behind the units.
    I remembered the window with the cream-colored shade and told Susannah about it as she swung into the service drive. There were one-car garage doors at the back of each unit, and next to each garage was a small patio. She drove slowly along as we looked at each window.
    Spotting the cream-colored shade would have strengthened my conviction that this was where the pots were. We spotted it alright. There was one in every window.
    “I can’t believe everyone in the neighborhood bought the same shades,” I said.
    “They didn’t. Those are probably the ones that came with the places.”
    “And no one decided they wanted a different color or maybe Venetian blinds?”
    She shrugged. “It doesn’t look like the sort of neighborhood where people hire interior decorators.”
    There was something forlorn about the place. No window boxes, no brightly painted doors, no landscaping. It looked like a place people lived while looking for something more permanent. I think they call them ‘starter homes’.
    One of the garage doors opened a few units behind us and a car backed out and headed in our direction. Since the rear service drive was wide enough only for one car, Susannah drove around in front to let the car exit.
    Then she said, “Let’s look in the garage.”
    She paid no attention to my protest as she noted Cantú’s unit aloud. “Fifth one from the north end,” she said as she drove back around. She stopped directly behind number 183, got out of the car and peered through the small windows in the garage door as I scrunched down in the seat trying to make myself invisible.
    “There’s a Cadillac convertible in there,” she said.
    “That seems a bit fancy for this neighborhood.”
    “The thing actually has fins.”
    “Sounds like something Cantú would drive. He’s got this boney frame and—”
    “Yeah, you told me that. So you think this is the house where you did the appraisal?”
    “Of course. It’s Cantú’s address, it seems the right distance from Old Town, and the house is about the right size. It was roughly twenty-five feet from the entry where I took off the blindfold to the window with the shade pulled down, and these casitas are about that deep. On top of all that, I did notice how far my blindfolded walk was from the car to the front door, and this front sidewalk is the right distance. Everything fits.”
    “So now what?”
    “He’s probably here since there’s a car in the garage. Maybe I should keep checking back until I find the garage empty and then see if I can get in somehow.”
    “Break in like you did at Berdal’s apartment?” she asked mischievously.
    “I didn’t break in. You kicked in the door.”
    “You were trying to break in, but you weren’t very good at it. Meanwhile, I was standing out there freezing my butt off, so I finally just kicked the door in because we’d still be standing there if I hadn’t.”
    And the banter continued in this mode as we drove back to Old Town. At one point I put the blindfold back on surreptitiously, and when Susannah noticed she almost ran off the road laughing. It was almost five, and I was looking forward to discussing how to reclaim my missing appraisal fee with Susannah at Dos Hermanas . Then I remembered she’d told me she had a date that night with Chris the foreign student. Since it was Friday, that meant I wouldn’t see her again until Monday at five, at which time she would probably tell me her date had been a disaster. She’s unlucky in love, but it never gets her down. Still, I worry about her. I resisted the temptation to