She noticed something I had overlooked.
The date on the first page was Monday, but the inspection report in the attachment had been signed the preceding Friday.
The rubbish had not entered my pool until Saturday.
I reread the Friday report and saw references to bacterial contamination, failing filtration, and a blocked drainage outlet.
There were no test results, photographs, or names of the people who had supposedly inspected the site.
The report listed Gloria as the person who provided access.
She did not own my property or have permission to authorize an inspection.
I called Cecily Grant, a local attorney who had helped Ben and me settle a contractor dispute years earlier.
Cecily suggested we preserve the original correspondence and make no payment or admission until she reviewed it.
She also advised that the county drainage office could answer questions about whether the trench served multiple properties.
I emailed the office and asked for public records concerning our subdivision’s drainage layout.
That afternoon, Elaine called again.
She had discovered that two other homeowners had received proposals from ClearField within the last six weeks.
One proposal referred to a contaminated pool, although the house in question had no pool.
I asked Elaine whether Gloria had prepared those complaints too.
Elaine took a long breath before answering.
“Her signature is on both,” she said.
“I think we have a bigger problem than one terrible Saturday.”
CHAPTER 9: THE BLUE ENVELOPE
The blue envelope became important on Tuesday because the police had obtained another camera angle from my neighbor’s garage.
The garage belonged to Alma’s son, who used it to repair antique bicycles and had installed a camera facing the alley.
His footage showed Victor returning to Gloria’s house before dawn on Saturday.
Victor opened his clipboard and removed a bundle of cash before closing the garage door behind them.
The camera was too far away to establish an exact amount, and I refused to guess.
What it did establish was a meeting that neither Gloria nor Victor had mentioned to Deputy Ortiz.
Cecily thought the footage could support questions about their planning, but it did not explain the exchange.
That afternoon, I went to the county office to review the drainage drawings.
The clerk gave me copies of maps from the original subdivision approval.
The drainage trench behind Caldwell’s garage was part of an easement benefiting several lots.
The easement passed close to our pool deck but did not grant anybody permission to enter our yard or use our facilities.
