"What scheduling file?"
She took a breath.
"During the transition meeting this morning, the outgoing management office gave us access to pending work orders."
I stared.
She continued.
"ClearWater Community Remediation has a job scheduled at your address for this evening."
I looked toward the pool.
"To clean up garbage that wasn't there this morning."
She nodded slowly.
"And according to the record, the request was submitted yesterday."
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
The new president looked toward the gate.
Then she said, "I think we've just caught her creating the emergency she planned to bill you for."
I took a deep breath and looked toward the water.
The black bags were floating near opposite ends of the pool. The first had begun leaking refuse through a tear in the plastic, while the second remained mostly intact. The overturned bin lay on the patio, surrounded by loose trash.
I wanted to clean everything immediately.
But I didn't know exactly what was inside the bags.
There were ordinary food wrappers and paper visible near the surface, but I couldn't determine whether the bags contained anything that required special handling. The pool water might need more than a routine cleaning, and I wasn't about to put my daughter or anyone else at risk by guessing.
I stepped away from the edge.
Then I called our pool service company.
The technician answered after several rings.
He sounded confused when I explained what happened.
"Somebody threw what into the pool?"
"Two garbage bags."
There was a pause.
"Actual household garbage?"
"That's what it looks like."
He took a breath.
"Don't let anyone use the pool."
"I won't."
He asked me to describe what was visible and explained that the cleanup would need to begin with a professional assessment of the materials and the pool equipment.
He told me to keep children and pets away from the area until it had been evaluated.
I agreed.
Then I called the nonemergency police line to report the trespass and property damage.
The new president stayed beside me.
She preserved her original recording and sent a copy to the appropriate secure location recommended by the responding authorities when they contacted us.
I also saved the footage from our home security system.
The two recordings covered different angles.
Together, they documented the former president entering the yard, handling the garbage, confronting me, and leaving after being told she no longer had permission to remain.
The new president looked toward the floating bags.