And the possibility that their home might become unsafe made old arguments seem less important.
She thanked him.
Then ended the call.
The following morning, Malik found her sitting at the kitchen table beside the old metal box.
He looked toward the documents.
"Are you still trying to fix the pond?"
Naomi smiled tiredly.
"Yes."
He sat beside her.
For a moment, he examined Ruthie's notebook.
Then asked whether Grandma Ruthie had ever been scared of the pond.
Naomi considered the question.
"I think she was."
Malik frowned.
"Then why didn't she just fill it in?"
Naomi looked toward the old map.
For several seconds, she was quiet.
Then answered.
"Because the water came from somewhere. Filling the surface wouldn't necessarily stop whatever was happening underneath."
He nodded slowly.
Then looked toward the photograph of Ruthie standing beside the water-control structure.
"She looks brave."
Naomi smiled.
"She was."
Malik studied her.
Then said something that made her throat tighten.
"You look like her when you're working."
Naomi laughed softly.
"Do I?"
He nodded.
"Especially when you're staring at numbers."
For a moment, she looked toward the notebooks.
Then toward her son.
She reached out and pulled him into a hug.
And as she held him, she realized that the farm had already given them something she hadn't expected.
It had reconnected her children to a woman they'd known only through photographs and stories.
Now they were learning what Ruthie valued.
Patience.
Careful observation.
And the courage to ask questions when everyone else said there was nothing worth finding.
The investigation changed direction when a Ridgeline employee contacted Claire.
His name was Daniel Ruiz.
He was forty-six, a maintenance supervisor who had worked in industrial water systems for nearly twenty years.
Daniel wasn't a senior executive.
He didn't negotiate land purchases.
And he didn't make decisions about the company's environmental permits.
His job involved maintaining equipment, coordinating inspections, and reporting problems when systems weren't operating as expected.
He had worked at the Hollis Ridge operation since the expansion.
During that time, he'd noticed something unusual about an old conduit running beneath the northern section of the property.
According to the company's internal drawings, the conduit had been classified as an inactive drainage feature.
But during recent site modifications, workers had discovered that it remained physically connected to part of the old Crescent Branch system.