There was esoteric knowledge to being a burglar--broad areas that took some thought and skill. There was choosing the house, entering the house, and finding the items that were worth taking. Elle Stowell was good at all three. Elle was strong but small, so she couldn't carry a seven-foot television out of a house if she'd wanted to. It didn't matter because the real prizes were all small and dense--money, watches, jewelry, gold, guns, and collections--and usually they were to be found in or near the master bedroom suite. Some of the things she found in bedroom hiding places that fit this description were revealing but not for her to take: secret cell phones for calling lovers, second sets of identification, bugout kits, or drugs. Her small size helped her. She looked like a person who would be out running at dawn in a rich neighborhood, so she didn't worry people who saw her. There was a certain irony to this, because the same qualities made her a fearsome burglar. She could enter a house in dozens of ways that were impos-sible for a large man. She could easily crawl into a house through a dog door or take the glass slats out of a louvered window and slither inside. Both openings were common and neither was ever wired for an alarm. Excerpted from The Burglar by Thomas Perry All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.