The man was sitting in the center of the southern room when they entered.
There was no weapon on him, and his hands rested on his thighs as he watched the door with no urgency at all.
He was of medium build, with brown hair cut short in a way that suggested he had done it himself.
His clothes were unremarkable, browns and greys, nothing that would catch an eye in a crowd.
Alistair's Equalizer scanned him and returned a reading that confirmed what he had felt from outside the house.
The Characteristic was real but crude, worn down from years of use rather than undeveloped.
An Absence, like the one Silas carried, was, however, rougher around the edges. Shaped by survival instead of study.
The man's gaze moved across Alistair, Due, and Elara, then stopped on Silas one beat longer than the others.
"You came back," he said.
Silas stood in the doorway. His Absence held steady through what Alistair estimated was considerable effort.
