“I don’t understand why somebody would do that to you,” she said.
I told her I had begun to suspect Vivian wanted both to discredit me and to dispose of supplies linked to the people in her house.
June said Vivian had once pushed bags of discarded medical packaging into June’s recycling bin on collection day.
June had objected because the packaging contained names and dates.
Vivian claimed it was harmless administrative material.
“She told me nobody checks the rubbish,” June said.
The sentence stayed with me long after she left.
Nobody checks the rubbish.
Vivian may have believed the pool was simply a more dramatic place to abandon things that should not have been discarded carelessly.
The garbage gave her two advantages at once.
It created a nuisance, and it made sensitive material appear to belong to me.
I sent the exact quote and June’s contact information to Morse with her permission.
That evening, Simone called to tell me the agency had received information from several people connected with Vivian’s household.
She could not discuss individual placements or medical needs, but she thanked me for preserving the materials and reporting the threatening conduct.
I asked whether the adults who had left the house were safe.
She said appropriate services were working with them and that decisions about their care would account for their wishes and needs.
I wanted to ask about Ruth.
I stopped myself because Simone could not answer without violating somebody else’s privacy.
Instead, I asked whether there was anything practical I should do next.
“Keep your daughter away from direct confrontation and maintain your records,” she said.
“Let the investigation follow the evidence.”
I promised I would.
Three days later, the neighborhood gardening club held its monthly meeting at a public library.
I attended because Vivian had placed the pool on the agenda without notifying me.
The room smelled of wet umbrellas and coffee from a vending machine.
About twenty people sat around folding tables decorated with bowls of artificial flowers.
Gordon Leach introduced the discussion as a community concern about unsafe backyard conditions.
I waited until he finished and asked whether I could address the facts.
He looked toward his wife, Marion, before agreeing.
I summarized the county inspector’s finding that my pool was private, that no commercial operation had been established, and that I had completed maintenance after repeated dumping.
I did not mention the investigation into Vivian’s household.
