The grate had a new hinge.
Bram noticed before he touched it. He crouched beside the access, fingers closed around the tool bag, and pointed to the bright metal showing beneath a careless wash of gray paint. Eli looked down the lane. Mira’s corner was out of sight from here. There was no message waiting, no movement that told him whether the hinge meant a repair or a trap.
“It used to lift free,” Bram said.
“Can you open it?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t what I needed to ask.”
Bram glanced up. “I don’t know whether opening it tells anyone.”
They examined the frame. A wire ran behind the hinge, then continued along the stone into an ordinary lamp fitting. Bram would not call it an alarm merely because it was inconvenient. They found no separate contact. He opened the grate slowly while Eli watched the lamp and the lane. Nothing changed that either could see.
