Rachel looked at her carefully. "She told the treasurer not to speak with the seller?" Susan nodded. "Apparently our job was to collect the money, not understand where it went."
I asked what the association already owned. Susan stared into her cup. "As far as I can verify, no share of the marina operating company. No deed to the shoreline, no recorded purchase of the cottages, nothing showing that the promised transfer has closed."
She explained that a special assessment had been approved in stages and that additional premium marina deposits were being accepted from residents. More than six hundred thousand dollars had either been collected or committed under payment schedules. Most of the money was still identifiable, but some had already been paid for planning, consulting, and transaction expenses.
"How much do homeowners think they're paying for the marina itself?" I asked. Susan pushed the presentation toward me. The words COMMUNITY-OWNED LAKEFRONT appeared on almost every other page.
Beneath a photograph of children on the beach was a caption describing secured, permanent western access. Susan swallowed before answering. "They think we're buying everything in those photographs. Laura has never explained that some of those things might belong to other people."
Rachel asked permission to retain copies of the records and warned Susan not to obtain anything she had no authority to access. Susan was treasurer, which gave her legitimate reasons to review spending and report concerns to the board, but Rachel wanted no questionable shortcuts. Susan agreed and told us she had preserved the original meeting minutes and authorization forms. "If Laura asks whether I spoke to you," she said, "I'm not going to lie. I'm tired of the way she makes everyone act as if normal questions are acts of disloyalty."
The next two days were an education in what happens when a beautiful sales brochure meets an old county archive. Rachel arranged for the clerk to retrieve original subdivision plats, survey corrections, recorded leases, and conveyances dating back to my grandfather's ownership. Walter joined us in the records room with a magnifying glass and a pencil he refused to use on any original document. We traced sections by legal description rather than by the colors Laura's designer had used in her presentation.
Parcel 18-C was not a mistake. It was a long, irregular ribbon of land running along the western shoreline and then bending inland beside the old ranch road. It widened beneath part of the marina parking area, crossed the service yard behind the clubhouse, and included ground under portions of the western slip structures and the fuel operation. My family had retained title when surrounding tracts were sold for the initial development. The reserve had been kept to protect a water access point, maintain drainage rights, and prevent uncontrolled grading near the lake.