Outside the courthouse, Marcus stopped on the steps and watched ordinary people passing with folders under their arms. A bail amount that large would have been impossible for most residents of Brookside, and that fact disturbed him more than the courtroom's sternness. He could eventually find financial assistance, but a person with fewer resources might stay in custody simply because the system moved slowly. He called the only reporter he trusted, Jack Morrison at the Metro Daily, and asked whether Jack would look into Vision Heights without promising in advance that the story would come out the way Marcus expected.
Jack had spent twenty years reporting on local government and knew how easily a true suspicion could become a bad article if it outran the documents. "Give me the public filings, the neighbor statements, and the videos," he said. "I won't print an allegation of bribery because a captain owns expensive golf clubs. But if there's a pattern, we'll follow it."
"My wife is in jail because somebody doesn't want that pattern examined," Marcus replied.
"Then let's make sure the facts are strong enough that the story doesn't fall apart when somebody important hires a lawyer."
A friend of Jack's named Daniel Reeves joined them that afternoon. Daniel worked as a data researcher and investigative consultant, a quiet man who carried a scuffed messenger bag and had once spent nine months reconstructing property purchases connected to a failed redevelopment project. They met at Joey's Diner, choosing a back booth not for secrecy but because the lunch crowd had thinned and they needed room to spread out documents. Daniel asked Marcus to separate the things Angela had witnessed from the things they only suspected, then began placing dates in order on his laptop.
The county records showed that Vision Heights or its affiliates had bought thirty-six residential properties across three nearby districts in eighteen months. Many of the purchases occurred after repeated citations, unusual police calls, or public complaints that residents said had been unfounded. The data could not prove a conspiracy on its own, and Daniel was careful to say so. Still, the overlap was strong enough to justify inquiries into the developer's principals and the officers who had been involved in the most aggressive enforcement.
"You're looking at neighborhoods where people don't have the cash to fight prolonged legal harassment," Daniel said, pointing to a map. "Even if each citation gets dismissed eventually, the workdays, legal fees, and uncertainty cost people something. A developer can make that pressure look like the market is simply changing."
Marcus studied the map, seeing Brookside Street marked in the center of a shape that spread toward the old freight depot and the riverfront road. The proposed Vision Heights project would need a continuous block of parcels, and Mrs. Carter's house sat near the place where the planned access route would cut through. If she held on to her property, the developer would have to redesign part of its plan or offer her terms she considered fair. That gave the threats Angela had described a motive, though not yet a proven author.