"I told you not to come here. That doesn't mean I did anything to hurt you."
One of the guests approached from the patio.
She was a thirty-seven-year-old teacher named Rebecca Collins, wearing a blue swimsuit beneath a towel.
Rebecca looked frightened.
"Victoria told us this was an approved HOA event."
Anthony turned toward her.
"It wasn't."
Rebecca stared.
"What?"
"This is my private pool. I've repeatedly told the association not to hold events here."
The woman's expression changed.
For several seconds, she looked toward Victoria.
Then asked quietly.
"You said the owner gave permission."
Victoria immediately interrupted.
"He knew we were coming!"
Anthony shook his head.
"Knowing you planned something isn't the same as agreeing."
Rebecca looked devastated.
She'd brought two friends.
They'd paid registration fees.
And she'd believed she was attending an ordinary neighborhood event.
Now she was standing in a stranger's backyard with irritated skin, waiting for medical assistance.
Anthony felt terrible for her.
But he wasn't going to accept responsibility for a gathering he'd repeatedly prohibited.
Victoria began filming him with her phone.
She held it toward his face.
"Say it again."
Anthony looked at the camera.
"Say what?"
"That you knew people were coming and did nothing to stop them."
He remained calm.
"I told you in writing that you didn't have permission to use my pool."
Victoria laughed.
"He's admitting it! He knew!"
Anthony stopped speaking.
He understood what she was attempting.
She wanted a recording that could be presented without the surrounding context.
A frightened homeowner.
An unauthorized party.
And an accusation that he'd deliberately made the water unsafe.
But he didn't need to argue with her camera.
His own security system had recorded the entire event.
And unlike Victoria's selective filming, the recordings included the minutes before anyone entered the pool.
He walked toward the patio table.
Then looked at the open tote bag.
A colorful container rested beside several towels.
Its label had a stylized flower and the words BloomMist Botanical Spa Experience.
Anthony frowned.
He didn't recognize it as one of the products supplied or approved by his pool-service company.
He didn't touch the container.
Instead, he photographed its location as he found it.
Then he returned to the house to retrieve his phone.
Victoria continued shouting.
"You planned this!"
Anthony opened the security recording.
The relevant segment began before the guests entered the pool.
Victoria was arranging the party supplies.
She removed the BloomMist container from her bag and displayed it to several guests.