Chapter 1: The Bucket Over the Pumpkins
The bucket was already tipping when Evelyn Carter reached for it.
Black, dirty-looking water spilled over the rim and splashed across the orange paper pumpkins covering her Halloween table. One pumpkin collapsed immediately. Another darkened as liquid soaked through the cardboard, while droplets ran across the handwritten signs Evelyn’s grandchildren had helped her make.
“I’m taking this display down!” Karen snapped. “Nobody is going to ignore the HOA rules!”
Evelyn caught the bucket handle with both hands.
“You’re pouring that black water on children’s decorations!”
For several seconds, neither woman let go.
Karen, a heavyset woman in her early fifties with blonde hair twisted into a messy bun, pulled hard. Her oversized sunglasses sat on top of her head, and her blue-green floral blouse was already spotted with splashes.
“This display violates the rules,” Karen said through clenched teeth. “I’ve told people all week.”
Evelyn looked at the orange LED lights still glowing beneath the wet decorations.
“Those are battery-powered LEDs. There’s no open flame.”
Karen ignored her.
She pulled again.
The bucket suddenly shifted.
Water sloshed over the side and poured across Karen’s white shoes.
A few children nearby gasped.
“Whoa!”
Karen froze.
For the first time, her expression changed. Her jaw loosened. Her eyes dropped toward her soaked shoes before she glanced around at the families watching.
Evelyn slowly pulled the bucket away and set it on the concrete.
The decorations were damaged, but most remained intact.
Then a father standing nearby bent down.
Something on the bucket had caught his attention.
He peeled a small identification sticker from beneath the handle and held it up.
“Why does this have the maintenance closet number on it?”
Karen’s hand shot forward.
“Give me that.”
The father stepped back.
Evelyn looked at the sticker.
Then at Karen.
Then at the bucket.
It was not a decorative prop.
It belonged to the community maintenance department.
And Karen had apparently taken it from somewhere she was never supposed to enter.
Karen grabbed the bucket and hurried toward the clubhouse without explaining.
Evelyn watched her go.
She had lost some decorations.
But now she had a much bigger question.
How had Karen gotten the maintenance bucket—and what else had she been doing before she arrived at Evelyn’s table?
