She gestured to the young man.
“My nephew installs privacy fencing, and he can finish the work this weekend.”
The young man looked as surprised as I felt.
“I came to give an estimate,” he said.
“Nobody mentioned the pool was contaminated.”
Vivian’s smile sharpened.
“People can see everything happening in that yard.”
I stepped away from her and addressed the contractor.
“My property is not available for work, and I did not request a fence.”
He rolled his measuring wheel toward the truck.
Vivian watched him leave with an expression that lasted only a second but made her face look completely different.
“The county can require you to conceal a hazardous area,” she told me.
“You should cooperate while people are still being polite.”
I looked directly at her upstairs windows.
The curtains moved, although the morning air was still.
“Why do you need that fence so badly?” I asked.
Vivian folded her arms.
“I need decent neighbors.”
She walked away before I could respond.
I photographed the fence, the debris, the garbage bag caught on my pool ladder, and the tire tracks in my driveway.
Then I retrieved the memory card from my outdoor camera and backed it up onto a drive that remained inside my desk.
I had no proof of what was happening in Vivian’s house.
I had proof that something was wrong in mine.
That difference would matter more than I understood.
The inspector arrived at two thirty in a county vehicle with a bright blue emblem on the door.
Her name was Marisol Vega, and she was younger than I expected.
She walked around the pool once without touching the water.
“Did you have a party?” she asked.
I told her that someone was dumping garbage into the pool.
I showed her photographs with timestamps and the part of the video that captured a dark bag striking the water.
Marisol examined the footage without making an accusation.
“Our office received four reports over eleven days,” she said.
“Each claimed you were using the pool for commercial events.”
I laughed before realizing she was serious.
“I work from home, and my daughter uses it on weekends.”
“That is what I am trying to establish.”
She photographed the equipment and asked whether anyone outside my household had been invited to swim.
I explained that Lucy’s classmates occasionally came with their parents.
Marisol checked the filtration controls and my maintenance receipts.
