Elaine arranged a meeting with the committee treasurer, a retired accountant named Samuel Reed.
We met at the public library, where tables were separated by low bookshelves and children worked on homework nearby.
Samuel arrived carrying a faded canvas bag full of receipts.
He explained that Gloria had handled most deposits because she organized the neighborhood collections.
He had trusted her to provide the totals, and he now regretted that he had not asked for original bank statements more often.
Elaine showed him the deposit slip.
Samuel recognized the account number as the volunteer reserve.
The money had not vanished outright.
It had been transferred into a short-term account controlled by a newly registered maintenance partnership.
The partnership was called Willow Run Restoration.
Samuel said he had never heard of it.
Cecily asked who signed the transfer authorization.
He searched his folder and found two signatures, Gloria’s and one supposedly belonging to Elaine.
Elaine stared at the second signature.
“I did not sign that,” she said.
Samuel looked sick.
He had witnessed her sign dozens of ordinary meeting forms, and he knew her handwriting well.
The letter shapes were wrong.
Cecily advised the committee to notify the bank through its established fraud and dispute procedures and to preserve the original documents.
We also contacted the attorney already reviewing the property dispute.
Samuel insisted on attending every future meeting with his own copies of statements.
Before leaving, he pulled another receipt from the bag.
It showed ClearField had purchased a large quantity of debris-removal bags and disposable containers two days before Gloria entered my yard.
The billing category was labeled “community demonstration supplies.”
I asked what kind of demonstration required a neighbor’s private pool.
Samuel shook his head.
“That is the question nobody told me we were funding,” he said.
CHAPTER 14: ANOTHER BACKYARD
The Caldwell property’s manager agreed to let Thomas Ives inspect the drainage access, provided everyone followed the owner’s written instructions.
Her name was Karen Pike, and she had managed the vacant house since the family moved its owner into care.
Karen had received repeated calls from Victor offering inexpensive landscaping in exchange for access to the rear utility area.
She said the offers seemed generous until she found disturbed soil beside the drain.
Thomas visited with a maintenance worker and documented the site.
Cecily and I were not there because the property was not ours.
His summary reached us two days later.
He had found a temporary cover placed over part of the original drainage opening.
