The Snatch

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Tamarack Drive was one of these oak-and elm-and eucalyptus-shaded affairs that are supposed to make you think of rustic country lanes. There were no sidewalks on either side; instead, there were narrow creeks with mica rock beds and a trickle of water and root-tangled red-earth banks.

It was just past four in the afternoon when I parked my car behind a green panel truck that had the words Burlingame Landscaping and Gardening Servicestenciled across its rear doors-and next to a post-supported mailbox crafted to represent a Lincolnesque log cabin, the numerals 416 in black iron extending like a billboard from its roof. Just beyond that, a narrow wooden footbridge spanned the creek to the front gate, and a larger wooden structure a little further on did the same to an interior drive; they were made out of redwood, with thick bark-covered railings and arched supports beneath to give the impression of tunneling. The gate was of redwood, too, set into a black wrought-iron frame, and so was the six-foot fence that stretched out on both sides. I could see the upper story of the house-a big modern Tudor with a gabled roof, set well back inside the grounds.

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