I don't know why any of the building men would be way back there, but that's who I figure it is, so I start explaining.
"I was just hunting for my cat ... I mean, he's got locked in one of these cages.I just want to get him out."
The guy lets his breath out, slow, as if he's been holding it quite a while.
I realize he doesn't belong in that cellar either, and he's been scared of me.
He moves forward, saying "Sh-h-h" very quietly.
He's taller than I am, and I can't see what he really looks like, but I'm sure he's sort of a kid, maybe eighteen or so.
He looks at the padlock on the cage and says, "Huh, cheap!"
He takes a paper clip out of his pocket and opens it out, and I think maybe he has a penknife, too, and next thing I know the padlock is open.
"Gee, how'd you do that?"
"Sh-h-h. A guy showed me how. You better get your cat and scram."