Bryce said he believed the meetings were open to anyone affected by development.
She showed him a video in which he explicitly said that he lived on Juniper Lane.
Bryce acknowledged that the statement was false.
He said a supervisor had suggested the wording.
Mara asked him to identify the supervisor.
He named the same consultant who appeared beside Karen in Helen’s old photograph.
Bryce then described a meeting at a coffee shop before the vandalism began.
He said Karen wanted footage showing me behaving aggressively.
He remembered her saying that the board needed a reason to treat me as a safety problem.
Bryce claimed he had not known anyone planned to damage the house.
He said he stopped participating after the brick incident.
His payment records suggested that he had received another fee afterward.
He explained that the fee covered work already completed.
Mara did not tell me whether she believed him.
She said his testimony could help establish coordination while leaving questions about his own credibility.
I thought about the dark sedan and the phone raised toward my porch.
The people watching had not cared whether I was frightened.
They had cared whether I looked frightening.
Bryce’s admission finally gave that distinction a human voice.
THE HEARING ON THE RECORDINGS
The civil court scheduled a hearing to decide which recordings and documents could be used at trial.
Russell’s attorneys challenged the vendor backup as incomplete and potentially misleading.
Karen’s attorney argued that the files did not identify the person who threw the brick.
Mara agreed with that narrow point.
She said the recordings were offered to show the observers’ purpose and coordination.
The forensic specialist explained how the backup had been recovered and checked for alterations.
He identified the original storage structure and the records that linked the files to the vendor account.
The judge asked careful questions about missing footage.
The specialist acknowledged that not every recording from the assignment survived.
He said the recovered files had not been edited after preservation.
Mara introduced the invoice approvals and field report entries.
Together, the records connected the observation work to the development project.
The judge allowed several recordings for limited purposes.
She excluded portions that could not be reliably authenticated.
She also directed the parties not to present allegations as established facts outside the proceedings.
I appreciated that instruction.
The case had already attracted more gossip than anyone deserved.
After the hearing, a reporter asked whether I believed Karen would be arrested.
