The woman who'd spent months demanding answers from me was suddenly very interested in limiting what she said.
Additional personnel arrived to assess the contamination report.
The pool was treated as potentially unsafe until the necessary evaluation could be completed.
The blue bag was documented and secured appropriately, and qualified specialists arranged for analysis of the material and relevant water samples.
I didn't attempt to clean the pool myself.
I didn't add chemicals.
And I didn't allow anyone to swim.
My sister called while the officers were still there.
I answered.
She was on her way to pick up the children.
I told her not to come to the house yet.
Her voice changed.
"What happened?"
I took a slow breath.
"Someone put an unidentified substance in the pool."
For a moment, she didn't speak.
Then she asked whether I was safe.
"Yes."
"The kids?"
"They're not here."
I heard her exhale.
Then she asked the question I'd been trying not to imagine.
"What if they'd arrived early?"
I closed my eyes.
The children sometimes came ahead of schedule.
My nephew occasionally waited beside the gate for me to finish working in the yard.
My niece loved running toward the pool as soon as she entered the backyard.
If the president had acted an hour later, the situation could've been much worse.
I didn't know whether the substance was dangerous.
But I knew she'd deliberately introduced uncertainty into a place where children were expected to play.
That was enough to frighten me.
I told my sister the pool was closed until we had reliable answers.
She agreed immediately.
Then she said something that brought tears to my eyes.
"I'm glad you saw her."
I looked toward the water.
"So am I."
The president was taken through the relevant enforcement process for the apparent violation of the court order and the new incident.
The officers didn't declare her guilty of attempted murder simply because she'd made a frightening statement.
They explained that the nature of the material, her actions, and the evidence of intent would have to be examined.
The investigation included the possibility of a serious offense, but the final legal classification would depend on what investigators could establish.
I appreciated that.
I wanted accountability.
Not an exaggerated accusation that would collapse because someone rushed to conclusions.
Before the president left, she looked toward me.
Her sunglasses had been removed.
Without them, she looked older.
And angrier.
For several seconds, she stared.
Then she spoke.
"You have no idea what you've done."
I felt my chest tighten.
The male officer looked toward her.
"Ma'am, that's enough."
But I answered quietly.
"I know what I did."