CHAPTER THREE — WHAT WAS IN THE WATER

The white van driver turned out to be a young delivery worker carrying replacement battery packs.
Ethan signed for them without mentioning the pool.
Carol stood beside the fence, her bucket now hidden behind a planter.
When the van left, Ethan led her into the garage.
He closed the door before Oliver could come downstairs.
“Start at the beginning,” Ethan said.
Carol seated herself on a wooden stool.
Her old hands rested flat on her knees.
“My granddaughter is on one of those teams.”
Ethan remembered a reserved sixteen-year-old named Nell who had visited twice with Priya.
“I didn’t know she was your granddaughter.”
“My daughter lives across town.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Nell asked me not to.”
Carol looked embarrassed.
“She thinks I ruin everything by interfering.

”
Ethan waited.
“Three weeks ago, Nell came to my house with a small orange robot part,” Carol said.
“She wanted me to help repair a broken guard because I used to make molds for a plastics factory.”
“You used to do that?”
“For thirty-one years.”
“You never told me.”
“You never asked.”
Ethan deserved that.
Carol continued.
“The guard had a serial mark etched into it, not stamped.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because someone had scraped off the original maker’s mark and etched a new one over it.”
She pointed at Ethan’s photograph on his phone.
“That shape is the same part.”
“How could you see it in the pool?”
“Nell showed me a picture yesterday.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She’s scared.”
Carol swallowed.
“Oliver told the students their scholarship entries would be disqualified if they talked about his special equipment before Saturday.

”
“That’s normal for a contest.”
“He also made them sign an agreement giving Blue Current permission to exhibit and modify their designs.”
Ethan shrugged.
“Exhibition permission sounds ordinary.”
“It would be, except Nell says the prototype he calls his own is built from the students’ machines.”
Ethan pulled up his pool photograph again.
The orange fragment was visible, but it was small and blurry.
“Why would he put it in my pool?”
“He didn’t mean to.”
Carol stared at the concrete floor.
“Nell was testing the robot Thursday night when Oliver arrived and ordered her out.”
“She wasn’t supposed to be here Thursday night.”
“She knows.”
“How did she get in?”
“The side gate was open.”
“And you knew?”
Carol nodded.
“I brought her over.”
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
Carol continued quickly.
“Nell said the machine moved on its own.”
“Autonomous control isn’t impossible.”
“She said it ignored the safety line and drove straight toward the drain.”
“And the guard broke off?”
“Yes.”
“Then why ruin the pool?”
Carol’s voice fell.
“Because Oliver saw her testing it.”
She lifted her eyes.
“He told her if the broken piece stayed in the water, there would be consequences for her and her school.”
“What consequences?”
“He said she had taken confidential technology.”
Ethan considered the situation.
“He could simply remove it.”
“He didn’t want you watching.”
“Then why not come when I’m asleep?”
“Because you installed a gate alarm this week.”
Ethan nodded reluctantly.
The alarm had been his response to the children entering unsupervised.
Carol wrung her hands.
“I thought if the pool had to be emptied for cleaning, the service crew would find the broken part before Oliver could make Nell look like a thief.”
“You could have told me.”
“I tried Thursday.”
“You complained about the parked cars.”
“I was trying to get you outside without him.”
“That was a terrible way to communicate.”
“I know.”
Ethan glanced toward the garage window.
Oliver was crossing the patio in dress shoes, carrying his laptop.
“Tell me what you dumped,” Ethan said.
“Compost and spent coffee grounds.”
“Nothing chemical?”
“Nothing chemical.”
“That’s still going to take hours to clean.”
“I’ll pay for it.”
Oliver knocked on the garage door.
“Ethan? We need to talk about tomorrow.”
Carol went pale.
Ethan drew a breath and opened the door.
“So do I,” he said.