It belonged to a man named Victor Hale.
Victor was not a random stranger.
He was the owner of the agricultural storage property.
He was also the developer who had been trying to buy Ethan's land.
Suddenly, everything changed.
Victor had approached Ethan six months earlier with an offer.
Ethan refused.
Victor raised the offer.
Ethan refused again.
Then Victor explained that a new housing project would be built nearby.
The project needed access through Ethan's property.
Without Ethan's land, the project would be significantly more expensive.
Ethan still refused.
Victor had told him:
“You'll regret making this difficult.”
Ethan had assumed it was a threat meant to pressure him financially.
Now it sounded different.
June interviewed Clara.
“Did you see Victor Hale on Ethan's property?”
“No.”
“Did you see his truck?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two days before Milo became sick.”
“What was he doing?”
“Talking to Ethan.”
“Anything else?”
Clara hesitated.
“He was holding a folder.”
“What kind?”
“Blue.”
June looked at her.
“Blue?”
“Yes.”
Clara suddenly remembered something else.
Victor had been wearing a pair of gardening gloves.
Blue.
With black marks on the wrists.
The same pattern as the tape.
June said nothing.
But she wrote it down.
Investigators obtained footage from a nearby business.
At 5:13 the morning Milo became sick, Victor's truck appeared on a side road.
At 5:27, it disappeared behind the old storage building.
At 5:41, it emerged.
Then it drove directly toward Ethan's street.
At 6:02, the truck stopped.
The driver got out.
He carried a small container.
At 6:08, he left.
At 6:47, Clara heard Milo scream.
The timeline was beginning to fit.
But there was still one missing piece.
Why had Clara accused Ethan so quickly?
Investigators returned to that question.
They examined the anonymous message Clara had received the night before.
She had forgotten about it.
A text from an unknown number:
“Watch your neighbor. Something is wrong with his dog.”
She had assumed it was a warning from someone in the neighborhood.
But the phone number was traced.
It belonged to a prepaid device purchased at a gas station.
Security footage showed Victor buying it.
He had been manipulating Clara.
He knew she already distrusted Ethan.
He knew she would react emotionally.
He knew that if she discovered Milo sick beside the bucket, she would make the accusation herself.
He would never need to say Ethan had poisoned the dog.
He only needed Clara to say it first.
The plan was almost perfect.
Almost.
Because Victor had overlooked the tape.
He had used Clara's garage to obtain the same blue tape, believing it would make the planted food look like something from Ethan's property.
But he had left a piece behind.
The tape was distinctive.
And the torn edge matched the roll in Clara's garage.
Investigators confronted Victor.
At first, he denied everything.
Then they showed him the footage.
He demanded a lawyer.
But before he could leave, another piece of evidence arrived.
The old storage building had a security system.
It had recorded Victor entering.
Inside the building were dozens of boxes of recalled pet food.
Victor had been purchasing damaged and expired stock at extremely low prices.