"Nothing," he called out.

"There's a basement." I flung open the door in the kitchen, fumbled for the light switch, and booted it downstairs, terrified I'd find Daniel's lifeless corpse.

All I found was a gurgling water tank in a half-finished basement, next to a washer and dryer, its door open. Half of the clean laundry had been dumped in a hamper, the rest still inside the machine.

Rust edged the bottom of the tank and a small yogurt container had been placed ...