Officer Park glanced at Willis.
"Let's slow this down."
Willis nodded.
Marcus pointed toward the backyard.
"Nearly everyone here witnessed what happened."
"We'll take statements."
"Thank you."
Vivian folded her arms.
"I want him removed."
Park looked at her.
"Removed from where?"
"My property."
Park's eyebrows lifted.
Marcus almost smiled.
"This is my property."
Vivian turned toward him.
"I've seen the records."
"You saw the association records."
"They don't list you."
"My mother's family trust owns the property."
Vivian's expression changed again.
Lillian spoke from beneath the tree.
"It has been in our family for thirty-six years."
Vivian stared at her.
Then at Marcus.
Then at the house.
Suddenly, the entire evening seemed different.
But Vivian wasn't finished.
A black SUV turned onto Ashbourne Circle.
It stopped behind the police cars.
The rear door opened.
City Attorney Evelyn Shaw stepped out.
Behind her came Deputy Police Commissioner Raymond Ellis.
A city investigator named Celeste Warren followed.
Vivian looked confused.
"Why are they here?"
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
"I didn't call them."
"I know," Evelyn replied.
She held a thick folder.
"That's why I'm here."
Marcus's expression changed.
"What happened?"
Evelyn looked at Vivian.
"This afternoon, an emergency petition was filed involving this property."
Vivian said nothing.
Marcus took the folder.
Inside were documents.
Not just complaints.
Property records.
Association notices.
Emergency requests.
Financial statements.
Marcus turned page after page.
Then he saw his mother's name.
There were thousands of dollars in alleged association charges.
Security inspections.
Administrative penalties.
Emergency assessments.
Lillian had never been told about most of them.
Marcus looked at his mother.
"Mom?"
Lillian shook her head.
"I never approved those."
Vivian stepped backward.
Evelyn continued.
"We also found a request for temporary control of the property if a criminal incident occurred tonight."
Marcus looked up.
"A criminal incident?"
Evelyn nodded.
"The document was filed hours before this confrontation."
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked at Vivian.
"You knew about the party."
Vivian remained silent.
"You knew the permit existed."
Still silent.
"You filed a petition suggesting there might be a violent incident before anything happened."
Vivian finally spoke.
"It was a precaution."
Celeste opened another folder.
"Then why does this document contain a financial agreement?"
Vivian's face went pale.
Marcus looked at the page.
A private development company.
An access corridor.
Payments.
A deadline.
The barbecue suddenly seemed very small compared with what was sitting inside the folder.
Vivian had not simply wanted the party stopped.
She had wanted something from the Reed property.
Something worth a great deal of money.
And she had apparently planned to use the police, the association, and the courts to obtain it.
By Sunday morning, Marcus's backyard had become the last place he wanted to think about.
The children had gone home.
The tables had been folded.
The decorations were still hanging between the trees.
But Marcus couldn't stop thinking about the documents Evelyn had shown him.
He sat at the kitchen table with Camille, Nia, Jerome, Lillian, Evelyn Shaw, Raymond Ellis, and Celeste Warren.
Lillian had brought coffee.
"This is ridiculous," she said.
Marcus looked at her.
"What is?"
"All of you are staring at those papers like they're going to tell you what happened."
Celeste smiled.
"They might."
Lillian shook her head.
"You don't need papers to know Vivian wanted my land."
Marcus looked up.
"You knew?"
"Of course."
Jerome laughed.
"Grandma has known for years."
Lillian pointed at him.
"Your grandmother knows more than all of you."
She explained that Vivian had approached her repeatedly about the narrow wooded strip behind the Reed property.
Developers wanted the land.
They claimed it could become an access route for a proposed residential project.
Lillian had refused every offer.
"How much did they offer?" Marcus asked.
"Not enough."
"How much?"
"Half what it was worth."
Marcus shook his head.
"That sounds like an insult."
"It was."
Celeste placed another document on the table.
"This is where it gets serious."
The development company had prepared plans that depended on controlling the access strip.
Without it, the project would become far more expensive.
Vivian had apparently promised to help.
In exchange, she would receive money.
Marcus read silently.
Then he looked at Raymond Ellis.
"So the complaint was never just about noise."
"No."
"The permit wasn't the real issue."
"No."
"She needed a police incident."
Celeste nodded.
"Possibly."
Marcus leaned back.
He thought about Vivian's words.
He remembered how quickly she had described the gathering as dangerous.
How easily she had used words like aggressive.
How quickly the police had arrived expecting trouble.