Chapter 2: The Neighbor’s Son
His name was Tyler Brooks.
Margaret knew the name because Tyler lived two houses down with his mother, Denise.
She had seen him occasionally over the years, usually getting into a car, carrying groceries, or working on an old pickup truck in his driveway. They had never been friends, but there had never been a serious problem between them either.
That made the camera feel even stranger.
Margaret finally set the hose down.
Tyler lowered the phone just enough to speak.
He said he wanted proof of what she was doing.
Margaret glanced at the hose.
She had been filling the pool after losing several inches of water during a routine cleaning. There was nothing unusual about it.
But Tyler wasn’t looking at the pool.
He was looking toward the fence.
Margaret followed his gaze.
A section of the wooden privacy fence separated her backyard from the Brooks property. It had stood there for years, its posts weathered by sun and rain.
One section near the far corner leaned slightly.
Margaret had noticed it earlier in the week.
Tyler told her that his mother believed Margaret had moved the fence.
Margaret almost laughed.
The fence had been there long before Tyler was old enough to drive.
She explained that she had not moved anything. She had only noticed that one of the posts was loose and had planned to have it repaired.
Tyler kept recording.
That bothered her more than the accusation.
Margaret asked him to leave.
Instead, he pointed the camera toward the fence again.
He said his mother had called the property association that morning because something had happened along the boundary.
Margaret felt her irritation turning into concern.
There was a difference between a neighbor’s disagreement and an accusation involving property.
She walked toward the fence.
The young man followed at a distance, still filming.
Near the corner post, Margaret saw what she had missed before.
The soil around the base had been disturbed.
Not recently watered.
Dug.
A narrow trench ran beneath the fence and disappeared into a patch of landscaping.
Margaret crouched.
She touched the loose soil.
Her first thought was that an animal had gotten underneath.
Then she noticed a small length of black plastic conduit sticking out from beneath the dirt.
She stared at it.
Tyler zoomed in with his phone.
Margaret stood slowly.
She had no idea what was buried there.
But suddenly the argument about a fence no longer seemed like a simple property-line dispute.
Something had been placed beneath the ground.
And someone had apparently wanted it hidden.
