Several shoppers looked surprised by her outfit.
A cashier complimented the dress.
Naomi laughed.
"Believe me, this is not my normal grocery-shopping uniform."
The woman smiled.
Then carefully packed the items into two bags.
Naomi thanked her and returned to the car.
She had no idea that an ordinary security alarm would soon trigger the most humiliating encounter of her entire career.
The alarm problem began with a routine equipment update.
Two days earlier, a technician had replaced a faulty sensor near Naomi's garage entrance. During the work, the security system's entry-delay setting had been changed, and the final configuration hadn't been explained clearly.
Ordinarily, Naomi had enough time to enter through the garage and disarm the alarm from the keypad beside the kitchen door.
That afternoon, she pulled into the garage, switched off the Lexus, and began lifting her shopping bags from the passenger seat.
The gown made the task awkward.
Its oversized metallic skirt caught against the steering column as she moved, and one long black glove slipped against the handle of a grocery bag.
She laughed at herself.
"Next time, sweatpants."
She managed to step out of the vehicle with the bags balanced against her arms.
Then the alarm sounded.
A piercing electronic siren filled the garage.
Naomi froze.
For a moment, she thought she'd accidentally opened the wrong door.
Then she realized the system had activated before she reached the keypad.
She hurried toward the interior entrance, struggling to keep the shopping bags from slipping.
One dropped onto the concrete.
A sealed container of prepared food rolled out.
Naomi muttered something under her breath, set the remaining bag down, and entered her access code.
The alarm stopped.
But the monitoring company had already received an activation notice.
A representative attempted to call her.
Naomi's phone was inside her handbag, which she'd left on the Lexus passenger seat.
The first call went unanswered.
A second arrived while she was picking up the spilled groceries.
By the time Naomi retrieved her phone, the automated security system had completed its escalation procedure.
A police response had been requested.
Naomi saw the missed calls.
Then the notification.
She frowned.
She had the correct disarm code and could verify that she was the homeowner.
She intended to call the monitoring company and cancel the response.
But before she could do so, a patrol car turned onto Oakridge Lane.
Sergeant Grant was already irritated when the dispatch came through.
He and Officer Reeves had spent the afternoon handling a series of routine calls, including a disorderly customer at a convenience store and a suspected shoplifting incident near an upscale shopping center.