Ruiz was right.
Evidence.
Not certainty.
“What do we know?” Marcus asked.
Ruiz nodded approvingly.
“We know she entered today by manipulating the lock.”
“We know she carried contaminated liquid.”
“We know she poured it into your pool.”
“We know she said she intended to photograph the result before you noticed.”
“We know similar photographs appeared in prior HOA enforcement.”
He paused.
“What we don't yet know is who created those earlier conditions.”
Marcus nodded.
The distinction mattered.
He hated it.
Still mattered.
Outside, Brenda knocked hard on the sliding door.
“Officer?”
Ruiz looked toward Marcus.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Good.”
They went outside.
Brenda stood rigidly.
“What took so long?”
Ruiz said:
“We reviewed footage.”
Her face changed.
Marcus watched.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
“What footage?”
“The entry.”
“Anything else?”
Ruiz did not answer immediately.
That made her nervous.
He said:
“I need to ask you about a statement recorded before Mr. Reed came outside.”
Brenda's shoulders tightened.
“What statement?”
Ruiz read from his notes.
“‘Let him prove this one isn't his fault.’”
Silence.
Then:
“‘He wants to fight every violation, he can fight this.’”
Brenda looked toward Marcus.
Not Ruiz.
Marcus understood.
She was trying to determine how much he knew.
Ruiz continued:
“Who were you speaking to?”
“No one.”
“The recording suggests a conversation.”
“I talk to myself.”
Marcus almost laughed.
Ruiz did not.
“Were you on a call?”
“No.”
“Earbuds?”
“No.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Brenda's expression hardened.
“I was frustrated.”
“About?”
“His constant hostility toward the association.”
“What did you mean by ‘this one’?”
“I don't remember.”
“And ‘get the pictures before he sees it’?”
Brenda became still.
Marcus felt his pulse in his neck.
She answered:
“Routine documentation.”
Ruiz looked toward the pool.
“You intended to photograph the contamination you were adding?”
“It was a test.”
“Before and after?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the before photo?”
Brenda said nothing.
Ruiz waited.
She said:
“I forgot.”
Marcus looked away.
The lie was almost insulting.
Ruiz wrote something.
Brenda's voice sharpened.
“Am I being arrested?”
“No.”
“Am I free to leave?”
“Yes.”
She immediately grabbed the hose.
Ruiz said:
“Leave the container.”
Brenda froze.
“Excuse me?”
“I'd like to preserve it while we determine whether it contains biological waste.”
“You said I'm free to leave.”
“You are.”
“The container is mine.”
“I'm requesting you voluntarily leave it.”
“No.”
Ruiz nodded.
“Okay.”