She asked if there were any other copies.
“Possibly in Hannah’s photo boxes,” I said.
“We will look.”
Tran then told me the anonymous messages had been sent through a service that made immediate attribution difficult.
“We’re following the available records,” she said.
“Don’t let anybody convince you that the source has already been proven.”
I appreciated the caution, even as part of me wanted a name that evening.
After the call, Hannah found an old digital backup from a family vacation drive.
The photograph was there, complete with the note Elise had typed below it.
The note mentioned the afternoon a maintenance worker from Sterling asked whether he could measure near the stone wall.
I read that sentence three times.
It was not proof that Elise had discovered a secret.
It was proof she had noticed something and written it down.
The next line said she had declined the request until the worker brought written authorization.
I smiled despite the ache in my chest.
She had been protecting our boundary long before I knew anyone wanted it.
Grant Sloane came to the public library on Tuesday carrying a red folder and looking like he had not slept for a week.
Hannah sat beside me, and Doris Pike agreed to remain nearby as a witness to the meeting.
We chose a table in an open area where nobody could accuse anyone else of a secret arrangement.
Grant kept his hands flat on the folder.
“I didn’t know she had gone into your house,” he said.
“Which part did you know?” I asked.
He stared at the wood grain.
“I knew about the proposed easement and the neighborhood meetings.”
“And the pool?”
“I knew something had been found there.”
“Did you know where it came from?”
He shook his head.
“I want you to understand how we got into this.”
I almost told him I was not interested in his excuses.
Hannah touched my sleeve, and I waited.
Grant said he had invested his savings in Hollow Creek Access Partners after Finch presented the access corridor as a modest local improvement.
The company promised to buy easement rights and lease the route to a warehouse operator.
The projections were optimistic, and the upfront payments came from a line of credit secured against Grant and Meredith’s house.
“We believed the contracts would be signed within three months,” he said.
“Then people started asking questions.”
“People like me?”
“Yes.”
