HavenScope’s counsel provided a written statement through the investigation.
The company acknowledged that Patricia had served as an independent referral representative.
She had no authority to install equipment in homes without customer consent.
Its records showed a device assigned to a demonstration account linked to Patricia.
The company said it was examining whether that account had been used outside authorized demonstrations.
It denied approving a secret installation in my home.
I read the statement with Leah.
The language was cautious and defensive, but it established that Patricia’s claimed authority came from a private referral arrangement rather than the neighborhood association.
That distinction mattered to me.
She had used the association’s name to make a commercial relationship sound like a public duty.
Leah said the company’s responsibility would depend on what it knew, what controls it had in place, and how it responded to warnings.
The statement alone did not answer every question.
It did contradict Patricia’s earliest story.
I imagined the old woman on my porch telling police the camera belonged to the neighborhood.
She had spoken with the confidence of someone who expected the difference between a volunteer group and a private company to be ignored.
I was glad it had not been.
Chapter 52: The Worker Who Installed Nothing
A technician named Colin Marsh gave a statement to investigators.
He had been asked by Patricia to configure a device under a demonstration account.
He said he did not visit my home and did not install anything behind the clock.
He configured the unit in a workshop and explained that all residential installations required written consent.
Patricia told him she was preparing a demonstration for a neighborhood safety presentation.
She collected the device herself.
Colin remembered warning her that pointing cameras into private areas without permission could create serious legal problems.
He said she waved away the warning and insisted that everyone involved had agreed.
Investigators examined work orders and messages associated with the device.
The records supported part of Colin’s account but still required comparison with other evidence.
When Leah summarized the statement for me, I felt an odd mixture of relief and disgust.
The technician had not wandered into my living room.
The evidence increasingly pointed toward a choice made by someone I had welcomed there.
I asked whether Patricia had worked alone.
Leah said that was still uncertain.
The involvement of Pike and the possible transfer of recordings remained separate questions.
I had to accept that one answer did not solve the entire story.
