Chapter 7 - THE SECOND ANGLE
The second video was clearer than the first.
A parked grocery delivery van had captured the road from the opposite side, giving a partial side view of Margaret’s car and the front of Emily’s yard.
In the clip, Margaret walked to the curb before getting into her vehicle.
She looked toward Emily’s property line.
Then she checked both ends of the street.
No traffic.
No witnesses in sight, as far as she knew.
She tossed something small underhand toward the road.
Buddy’s toy.
Then she got into the car, reversed, pulled forward, and waited.
Seconds later, Buddy came out through the side gate, chasing the toy.
Margaret accelerated.
Not wildly.
Not enough to look insane.
Just enough.
Just deliberate enough.
When the clip ended, Emily sat frozen at Officer Reed’s desk.
“That’s intent,” she whispered.
“It’s strong evidence,” Reed corrected carefully. “But she’ll still claim she didn’t expect the dog to move that fast.”
Emily looked at him. “Do you believe that?”
“No.”
“Then what happens now?”
“We submit everything to the district attorney, continue documenting motive, and see whether we can connect the property pressure angle.”
The property angle.
The larger reason.
Margaret wasn’t just cruel.
She was methodical.
That evening, Emily’s attorneys reviewed the footage. The HOA lawyer, Karen Alvarez, was blunt.
“If Margaret used HOA enforcement to pressure owners into selling or surrendering easements, and targeted Buddy to create a nuisance case, that changes everything.”
“Can we prove it?”
“Maybe,” Karen said. “If someone talked. Or if we got the right paper trail.”
Then Emily’s phone rang.
Unknown number again.
This time it was a woman.
Nervous. Quiet.
“My name is Megan Whittier,” she said. “I live two streets over. June Holloway gave me your number.”
Emily sat up straighter.
“What happened?”
“My beagle disappeared last summer,” Megan whispered. “Margaret told everyone he must’ve gotten loose. Two days later she filed a complaint saying my fence was unsafe and made my property look neglected. I sold three months later.”
Emily’s skin prickled.
“Do you think she did something to your dog?”
A long silence.
Then:
“I think your puppy isn’t the first animal she saw as a problem.”
Before Emily could ask more, another call came through on the other line—from the HOA office.
An emergency board meeting had been scheduled.
Mandatory attendance requested.
Subject:
May you like
Neighborhood Safety and Enforcement Review.
Margaret, Emily thought, had decided to move faster.
