My father’s name appeared on the screen for four seconds.
The reporter said his original concerns were being reexamined.
I turned off the television and sat in the dark.
For years I had wished someone would say he had been right.
Now I understood that vindication could arrive carrying costs for people who had done nothing wrong.
Chapter 40: The Price of a Recording
Patricia’s attorney demanded a settlement conference.
He proposed that I pay eighteen thousand dollars for the camera system, storage fees, and alleged damage to Patricia’s reputation.
The figure was absurdly larger than the equipment’s apparent value.
Simone asked for invoices, proof of ownership, and documentation of the supposed security program.
The attorney provided a receipt from a consulting company called Clearline Residential Analytics.
The invoice described a custom monitoring package and included a service fee for private interior placement.
The phrase made my stomach tighten.
It was the first written acknowledgment I had seen that the device was intended for use inside my house.
Simone compared the invoice date with the association’s meeting records.
The purchase occurred before any discussion of neighborhood security.
She also noticed that Clearline shared a registered mailing address with a subsidiary of Halden Development.
The address alone proved little, but it justified further questions.
At the settlement conference Patricia refused to answer who had installed the camera.
She said her contractor handled technical matters.
When Simone asked who paid the contractor, Patricia’s lawyer objected that the question was irrelevant to damaged property.
Simone placed the invoice on the table.
She said the source of the camera mattered because Patricia was seeking damages for something she might not own.
Patricia stared at the paper, and for a moment her confidence slipped.
Then she said she had been assured everything was legal.
Simone asked who gave that assurance.
Patricia’s attorney called for a break.
I watched them leave the room and realized the lawsuit was no longer a weapon Patricia could control with a smile.
Chapter 41: Elise Makes a Choice
Elise had once worked as a project coordinator for Halden Development.
She was also the person who had introduced Patricia to the consultant behind Clearline.
When she requested a meeting with investigators, Simone told me not to speculate about her motives.
I tried to follow that advice.
A week later investigators obtained records showing that Elise had approved a payment coded as community outreach.
The payment covered installation and remote access for the camera in my living room.
Elise’s attorney said she had believed the system would monitor a vacant property owned by an affiliated company.
