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Much of the light that had filtered out onto the street from inside houses is gone now, and things have quieted considerably - but there is still some light splashing out onto the street, and you can hear movement, quite clearly. Judging from the reaction of the Guard in the window, he can hear it as well - you can make out him sticking his head further out of the window, and craning it in the direction of the alley to the right of the house. You are confused - both by this sound, and by the Guards relatively nonchalant response to it - until out of the shadows of this other alley walks another Guard, this one properly potted with helmet and cuirass, carrying an awl-pike like a large and lethal walking stick, as well as an unlit shrouded lantern in his free hand.
"You heard it too, then?"
The question is directed from the window to the alley, and while spoken in a causal tone and in a typical volume, it feels damned near booming in the stillness of this sleepy Cleanport street.
"Aye. D'you have a snapper up there with you? The one on this lantern has gone bum."
There is a soft grunted affirmation from the window, then it closes. The Guard takes a couple of lingering looks up and down the street, then departs back to where-ever he was on the far side of the house. What lights remained on the street - besides the street-lamps, of course - have all gone away now, and the soft noises that you heard are fading into inaudibility. Even the tapping footfalls of the retreating Guard are getting quieter and quieter. Now ... you have learned that there is a Guard out behind the Clerking House, and there is ... someone on the second floor. But it is what you <span class="mu-i">didn't</span> see that is of real interest to you. You didn't see a helmet on the man hanging out of the window, and Guards are typically assigned to postings in pairs. So if this just happens to be a ... boarded and bonded servant of the Clerking House, or something in that vein, then that means there is one Guard roaming around unaccounted for. But what you also didn't see was anyone sticking their head out of the front door. It might just be that as far as the situation inside of the Clerking House is concerned, that is the best ingress. Of course, that would mean picking the lock in sight of the entire street. No shadows, no nothing. And while this street is quiet enough, you did run across some traffic on your way here, didn't you?
Your other alternatives are similarly dissuitable. You could try to pull open one of the shutters, but given the time that it took for the ones to open up above the front door, they almost certainly have latches on the inside. You could try cutting them like you cut through the door-bar on the Euthyphro, but that would take serious time and leave physical evidence of a break-in. The other option would be to follow the Guard back behind the Clerking House, as it sounds like he might be heading inside momentarily to fetch a snap-sparker.
