The next development came from a neighbor I had barely noticed.
A seventeen-year-old boy named Aiden Park lived across from the Sloanes and repaired bicycles in his family’s garage.
He had been editing a video of a thunderstorm when he realized his camera had captured a white visor and a bright green tote passing near my back lane.
The footage was taken on the day Meredith entered my pool area.
He showed the clip to his parents, who contacted Tran.
The camera did not show the pool itself.
It did show Meredith leaving with a small silver object visible through the opening of her tote.
The timestamp matched the period when I had found her beside the water.
Aiden was nervous about becoming a witness.
His father told him he did not have to confront anybody, only describe what the video showed.
I thanked him through his parents and left him alone.
He had already done something important.
He had preserved a moment instead of editing it into a dramatic accusation.
I wished more adults had shown the same restraint.
The day Meredith finally spoke to me without shouting was colder than I expected for late October.
I was cutting back the dead stems along the front walk when she approached from the sidewalk.
She wore a plain gray coat and carried no phone in her hand.
For several seconds she stood beside the mailbox, watching me fold the stems into a paper garden bag.
“Owen,” she said.
I put the clippers down.
“Meredith.”
“I’m not supposed to discuss the investigation.”
“Then don’t.”
She looked toward her house.
Its front curtains had been closed for days.
Grant had moved into a short-term rental, and Ivy’s car appeared only occasionally.
“I didn’t think it would go this far,” Meredith said.
I waited.
“The neighborhood plan was supposed to save us.”
“From what?”
“Losing the house. Losing everything.”
She gripped the strap of her purse.
“Grant told me the investment was safe.”
“You still had a choice about how you treated your neighbors.”
Her eyes filled with anger, then tears.
“You think I don’t know that?”
I picked up the garden bag, not because I was finished but because I needed something ordinary in my hands.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
She glanced at the green gate.
“I want you to understand that I never meant for anybody to get hurt.”
“You entered my yard without permission.”
