CHAPTER SEVEN — THE MISSING TWENTY
The next morning, Lena called Rachel before sunrise.
ClearMeasure’s filed training report had listed twenty-eight participating addresses, not the eight Graham had mentioned publicly.
The city’s actual approval had covered laboratory simulations only.
Several addresses in the report belonged to homes whose occupants had never heard of the program.
“How many installations do you suspect?” Rachel asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Lena said.
“We’re conducting a block-by-block verification.”
Rachel thought about the households that had not experienced obvious pressure losses.
A device could sit inside their plumbing unnoticed until a busy morning or an emergency made the restriction matter.
She asked whether the city could shut off the whole branch while crews worked.
Lena said any shutdown would require notice, an alternative supply plan, and careful sequencing so vulnerable residents were not left without service.
“The inspection teams are already moving,” she said.
“What I need from you is help getting people to answer their doors.”
Rachel wanted to say she had promised only one meeting.
Instead she asked what the city planned to do for June’s dishwasher and Dennis’s ruined inventory.
Lena said independent adjusters would document direct losses while the city pursued the responsible parties.
“I know that doesn’t pay anybody today,
” she added.
“No,” Rachel agreed.
“It doesn’t.”
Pilar visited Rachel that afternoon with a rough diagram of the neighborhood supply branches drawn from publicly posted utility planning material.
She avoided showing the layout of anyone’s private connections.
Her point was simpler than that.
The affected properties were clustered near locations where the company’s team could park without attracting attention.
The pattern suggested convenience for installers, not a scientifically designed experiment.
“Look at these streets,” Pilar said.
“There is no balanced sample of old and new houses.”
Rachel studied the sketch.
“So why did they claim the results represented the whole neighborhood?”
“Because a grant reviewer might not visit every house.”
Rachel asked where Pilar had learned about the grant.
Pilar showed her a public notice announcing a county sustainability showcase scheduled for Saturday.
ClearMeasure was due to present preliminary findings and receive consideration for a larger demonstration award.
The event was open to residents, contractors, and local officials.
“They are going to tell a room full of people this worked,” Rachel said.
“Unless somebody stops them.”
Pilar did not smile.
“The inspectors can stop unsafe installations,” she said.
“The residents need to stop the false story about what happened here.”
