She arrived alone.
No dramatic entrance.
No badge displayed on the table.
Just a woman with a black folder.
"You shouldn't have come," Daniel said.
Sloan looked at him.
"Neither should the glass."
Daniel placed photographs on the table.
She examined them.
"How many times?"
"Seven."
"Any injuries?"
"No."
"Children?"
"My nephew."
Sloan's expression changed.
"Does he use the pool?"
"He did."
"Not anymore?"
"No."
She closed the folder.
"Good."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What is really happening?"
Sloan looked around the café.
"The HOA financial records are connected to a broader investigation."
"Fraud?"
"Potential fraud."
"Money laundering?"
"Potential financial crimes."
Daniel stared at her.
"Then why hasn't anyone arrested them?"
"Because suspicion isn't evidence."
Daniel nodded.
"That's why I'm documenting everything."
Sloan smiled slightly.
"That's why you're useful."
She told him not to confront Victoria.
She told him to preserve every photograph.
Every email.
Every notice.
Every invoice.
"Don't delete anything."
"I won't."
"And if she returns?"
Daniel looked at her.
"I record."
"Exactly."
That night, Daniel upgraded his cameras.
He also placed a small motion sensor near the pool gate.
At 2:17 a.m., it activated.
Daniel woke immediately.
He checked the feed.
A shadow moved beside the fence.
But this time, it wasn't Victoria.
It was a man.
Black hoodie.
Gloves.
Face hidden.
He stood there for thirty seconds.
Then he looked directly into the camera.
Daniel felt cold.
The man raised one hand.
He pointed at the camera.
Then slowly dragged a finger across his throat.
And walked away.
Daniel sent the footage to Sloan.
She called within twenty minutes.
"Don't go outside."
"I'm not."
"Good."
"Who is he?"
"We don't know yet."
"You sound like you do."
"We have a theory."
"What theory?"
Sloan hesitated.
"Someone inside the HOA may know about our investigation."
Daniel sat upright.
"Someone on the board?"
"Possibly."
"Victoria?"
"Possibly."
"Then why warn me?"
"Because we're not sure."
Daniel understood.
The investigation had reached a dangerous stage.
The next morning, Daniel received a letter from the HOA.
It demanded immediate access to his property.
The reason?
"Routine safety inspection."
Daniel laughed.
He called the HOA office.
"I'll be happy to cooperate with a lawful inspection."
Victoria answered.
"You don't get to decide the terms."
"I own the property."
"You live inside an HOA."
"That doesn't mean you own my backyard."
Silence.
Then Victoria said:
"You have made yourself very difficult."
Daniel replied:
"And you've made yourself very suspicious."
She hung up.
That afternoon, Harold Mason, a retired engineer who lived three houses away, visited Daniel.
"I've seen this before."
Daniel invited him inside.
Harold explained that he had challenged Victoria's spending two years earlier.
Afterward, his wife received violation notices almost every week.
"Did you keep records?"
"Everything."
Harold handed Daniel a box.
Inside were HOA financial statements.
Daniel opened the first folder.
Then the second.
Then the third.
His face changed.
The vendor payments had been happening for years.
But there was something else.
A company named Blue Ridge Consulting.
Daniel had never heard of it.
Harold whispered:
"Look at the owner."
Daniel did.
The company was registered to a man named Thomas Crane.
Victoria's husband.
Victoria returned to Daniel's backyard three nights later.
This time, Daniel was ready.
His cameras were recording from four angles.
A fifth camera captured the side gate.
A sixth recorded the street.
At 11:48 p.m., Victoria entered.
She carried another bag.