Chapter 7: Mrs. Henderson’s Notebook
Mrs. Henderson knocked at Walter’s door before lunch carrying an old spiral notebook.
She had been recording suspicious vehicles for years after a string of package thefts on their street.
Walter invited her into the kitchen and offered lemonade.
She declined because she preferred tea without sugar.
They settled at Lillian’s oak table, where the morning sun made the pencil marks easier to read.
Her notes showed Darren’s SUV outside Brenda’s house on three earlier Saturdays.
They also recorded a silver pickup that had visited Brenda repeatedly after the first offer arrived.
Walter recognized the pickup from a photograph on Cedar Gate’s website.
He resisted the temptation to declare a conspiracy from two similar vehicles.
Mrs. Henderson agreed that identification required more than resemblance.
She showed him dates, approximate times, and descriptions, each written while the events were still recent.
Walter asked whether she had ever seen Darren inside his yard before Saturday.
She said she had not.
She had seen him carrying camera equipment into Brenda’s garage, however, and once heard him ask whether Walter usually worked outdoors alone.
Walter looked up from the notebook.
“When did he ask that?”
“Last Thursday afternoon,” she answered.
That date mattered because it preceded the supposed emergency by two days.
Walter thanked her and requested permission to share her observations with the investigator assigned to the case.
She agreed but insisted on providing her own statement in her own words.
Walter liked that answer.
She then told him something he had not expected.
Brenda had approached her in May and asked whether Walter’s relatives were helping him maintain the property.
Mrs. Henderson replied that Walter did not need permission from the street to live independently.
Brenda had smiled and suggested that the family might eventually appreciate someone stepping in.
The elderly woman had found the conversation insulting but had not understood its purpose.
Now she wondered whether Brenda had been building a story in which Walter was incapable of taking care of his home.
Walter wrote the possibility in his notebook with a question mark.
He would not turn suspicion into fact merely because it was frightening.
Chapter 8: A Business With No Address
Angela arrived Wednesday with a laptop, three empty folders, and a bag of groceries.
She kissed Walter’s forehead before asking to see the letters from Cedar Gate.
Together they reviewed the company’s public registration and found a mailing address inside a commercial building across town.
The registered agent was a professional service provider,
which was common and not inherently suspicious.
The company had existed for only eighteen months.
Its website displayed polished images of houses but offered few details about completed transactions.
Angela saved copies of the pages for their attorney to review.
She did not want to investigate private individuals through rumors or unreliable online claims.
Their lawyer, Karen Bellamy, agreed to meet that afternoon.
Bellamy listened without interrupting while Walter described Brenda’s complaints, the arrival of Darren, and the attempted purchase.
She warned them that bad behavior did not automatically prove coordination.
They needed the correspondence, witness statements, and any records that law enforcement could lawfully obtain.
Walter asked whether he should make his allegations public.
Bellamy advised him to avoid naming crimes that had not been established.
She said he could speak truthfully about his own experience while allowing the investigation to follow the evidence.
Angela asked how to protect Naomi from unwanted attention.
Bellamy suggested keeping the teenager out of direct communications with Brenda and her brother.
She also recommended preserving footage and correspondence in their original forms with the dates recorded.
Walter took notes carefully.
At the end of the meeting, Bellamy asked about the late wife whose name still appeared on an old property tax statement.
Walter explained that probate had been completed and the deed reflected his sole ownership.
She requested a certified copy anyway.
A legitimate buyer would have no reason to doubt the title once the records were clear.
As they left, Angela told Walter she admired how calmly he had handled the confrontation.
Walter shook his head.
“I wasn’t calm because I wasn’t angry.”
He told her he had stayed still because Darren had made it clear that any movement could be misrepresented.
Angela held his arm for a moment, understanding what that calculation had cost him.
