For several seconds, she remained silent.
Then answered.
“I understand why.”
I took a breath.
“Because it wasn't confusion at that point. It wasn't a rushed safety decision. He was enjoying what he was doing.”
Andrea didn't immediately agree with my interpretation.
That was appropriate.
She needed to examine the evidence before reaching conclusions.
But she looked at me with unmistakable seriousness.
“We'll compare your account with the recordings and other evidence.”
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
Before leaving, I asked about the process for investigating the private security entries.
Andrea explained that the issue could be examined separately if the records suggested improper reporting, false statements, or coordination with police personnel.
She also emphasized that any broader pattern would need its own evidentiary basis.
I appreciated that.
I didn't want my experience used as an excuse to accuse everyone connected to CrestWatch.
But I did want the underlying facts examined.
Because three entries had been made about my property before the day Cole arrived.
And somebody had been trying to describe me as a suspicious person long before the garden hose became part of the story.
The first complete recording came from my front-door camera.
It began at 1:34 p.m., with an ordinary view of the stone walkway and a patch of sunlight beside the rosebush.
I appeared carrying the green hose.
I bent to check the flowers.
Then a police cruiser passed slowly across the frame.
A minute later, Nathan Cole entered the picture.
The camera captured his first question.
What are you doing here?
It captured my answer.
Checking my flowers.
It captured the questions about residence and identification.
Then it captured something the incident summary submitted by Cole had initially failed to mention.
He stepped toward me after I offered to identify myself.
He told me not to reach into my handbag.
He ordered me off the property.
And when I asked why he believed I was trespassing, he said I didn't know how to behave in a neighborhood like Silver Crest.
The audio was clear.
Then he bent toward the hose.
The camera showed him picking it up.
Raising it.