I called her office and was offered an appointment the next morning.
That evening, the police technician arrived to collect the pieces of the clock.
He found a wireless transmission module, a miniature camera, and an empty slot where the memory card had been.
I showed him the card I had recovered from the floor.
He placed it in an evidence sleeve and asked whether I had tried to open it.
I said I had not.
He looked relieved.
Then he told me the camera might have been transmitting footage even without the card.
For the first time, I understood that breaking the clock might not have stopped anyone from watching.
Chapter 4: The Woman in the Gray Suit
Simone Hart’s office occupied the second floor of a brick building near the courthouse.
She was in her forties, with close-cropped hair and a gray suit that looked too practical to be fashionable.
She listened without interrupting while I described the camera, the inspection, and the lawsuit.
When I finished, she placed Patricia’s complaint on the desk between us.
She said the most important sentence was buried on page four.
Patricia claimed that the camera had been installed with authorization from the Briar Glen Residents Association.
That meant the association might have records, votes, invoices, or correspondence about the device.
It also meant Patricia had potentially involved other people.
Simone asked whether I had signed anything during the inspection.
I remembered a sheet on Patricia’s clipboard.
I had signed next to my address to confirm that someone had visited the property.
Simone asked for a copy.
I told her Patricia had kept it.
She made a note and said they would request the original.
Then she explained that destroying the device had complicated the dispute but had not automatically made Patricia’s conduct lawful.
She was careful not to promise an outcome.
She said the facts mattered, and the documents would matter even more.
I asked whether I could countersue.
She said we would decide after learning who installed the camera and what recordings had been made.
Before I left, she asked one final question.
Had anything unusual happened in my business shortly before Patricia’s inspection?
I told her about the municipal contract I had lost.
My firm had submitted a proposal to renovate three aging public libraries.
We had been the lowest qualified bidder until an anonymous complaint accused us of falsifying project references.
The city suspended our application while it investigated.
The allegations were false, but two of my investors withdrew before the city cleared us.
Simone leaned forward.
She asked whether I had discussed the proposal in my living room.
