"That will depend on the investigation."
Marcus listened.
He had learned something important.
Removing one person did not repair a system.
A broken system could produce another Victoria.
The answer had to be bigger than that.
Records.
Audits.
Independent oversight.
Transparent contracts.
Clear authority.
Appeals.
Rules that applied equally.
The meeting lasted four hours.
When Marcus finally walked outside, Harold followed.
"You changed this place."
Marcus shook his head.
"No."
Harold looked at him.
"The records did."
The camera footage became central evidence.
Investigators reconstructed the timeline.
Monday.
Victoria's vehicle was recorded near the neighborhood pool.
Tuesday.
A contractor associated with Northline entered the community.
Wednesday.
Victoria drove past Marcus's house twice.
Thursday.
She entered the yard with the first bag.
Friday.
She returned with cutters.
Every timestamp matched.
But investigators discovered something else.
Victoria had not acted alone.
A maintenance employee had provided information about when Marcus usually left for work.
Another contractor had photographed the pool.
A third person had apparently supplied the first broken bottles.
The intimidation campaign had become organized.
Not sophisticated.
Just persistent.
The goal was psychological.
Make Marcus feel watched.
Make him uncertain.
Make his own home feel temporary.
That was why the broken glass mattered.
It transformed an ordinary backyard into a place of suspicion.
Every step could become dangerous.
Every swim could become an emergency.
Every morning required inspection.
Marcus realized that was the real weapon.
Not glass.
Fear.
And he had nearly fallen into it.
For several nights, he slept badly.
He checked the cameras repeatedly.
2:00 a.m.
3:15.
4:00.
Every movement triggered his attention.
A raccoon.
A branch.
A neighbor's headlights.
Nothing.
Still, he checked.
Torres noticed.
"You need to stop watching the feeds constantly."
"What if something happens?"
"Then the system will alert you."
"I know."
"Then trust the system."
Marcus sighed.
"I've spent my entire career looking for hidden things."
"And now?"
"Now I'm trying to learn when to stop looking."
Torres nodded.
"That's harder."
Marcus knew she was right.
The investigation was progressing.
But his mind had not received the message.
His home was safe.
The danger had passed.
His body did not believe it yet.
The audit uncovered more than anyone expected.
Northline had received millions in contracts over several years.
Some were legitimate.
Some were questionable.
Some had incomplete supporting documents.
Investigators traced payments through several entities.
Leonard Price's companies were connected through overlapping officers, addresses and financial services.
The structure was designed to make ordinary review difficult.
But not impossible.
Marcus was asked to explain his spreadsheet.
He sat with investigators for hours.
He showed them how he had identified unusual timing.
He explained why certain invoices were suspicious.
He showed the relationship between contracts.
He never claimed that every payment was fraudulent.
He did not need to.
His job was to identify anomalies.
Investigators would determine what those anomalies meant.
Eventually, subpoenas were issued.
Bank records were obtained.
Phones were examined.
Emails were recovered.
The glass incident became part of a much larger case.
Victoria's attorneys argued that she had never intended to injure anyone.
That argument became important.
Because intent was only part of the question.
If someone knowingly placed sharp glass into a swimming pool, the foreseeable risk was obvious.
If that person entered private property without permission, broke a lock and continued after being confronted, the situation became more serious.
And if the act was connected to an effort to force a homeowner to sell his property, the motivation mattered too.
Marcus was never asked to decide guilt.
He simply provided records.
That was what he understood.
Evidence did not need anger.
It needed accuracy.
Months later, one investigator told him:
"You were careful."
Marcus replied:
"I didn't want assumptions mixed with facts."
The investigator smiled.
"That's why your records survived scrutiny."
Victoria eventually agreed to speak.
Not to Marcus.
To investigators.
At first, she denied everything.
Then she admitted entering the yard.
Then she admitted cutting the lock.
Then she admitted placing glass into the pool.
But she insisted she never intended anyone to be injured.
She said she believed Marcus would become frightened enough to sell.
When asked why she wanted him gone, she initially said:
"He was destabilizing the community."
That answer did not survive questioning.
Eventually, the financial investigation forced a different explanation.
Marcus had discovered irregularities.
Victoria had feared what he might uncover.
Leonard had encouraged pressure.
Victoria had convinced herself that intimidation was justified.
It wasn't.
During one interview, she reportedly said: