Marcus at the HOA table slowly closed his eyes. Dana put a hand flat on the table in front of her. Greg leaned forward and stared at his shoes.
The HOA's new attorney turned his head one inch toward Linda and stopped.
Linda did not move.
I opened the briefcase.
I took out three pieces of paper. I did not take out the rest of the file. Not yet.
I laid the three pieces of paper on the lectern.
I said, "These are the three certified-mail return receipts that paired with the engineering warning letters delivered to Linda Hargrove personally at her home address on April 14th, June 2nd, and August 9th of this year. Each green card bears her signature in her own hand. The signatures match the signature on the lien demand letter she handed me in front of 40 residents on June 17th."
I held up the first card. I read the signature aloud. "Linda Hargrove."
I held up the second card. "Linda Hargrove."
I held up the third card. "Linda Hargrove."
I set them down.
I said, "I would like to read into the record the summary paragraph from the cover letter that accompanied all three of those certified mailings. It is identical in each letter. I wrote it myself."
I read it.
"Demolition of Structure SW-014 will, under any storm event exceeding 2.1 inches in 24 hours, result in inundation of Lots 8 through 19 of the subdivision, including the property of the recipient of this letter, to a calculated depth of 14 to 22 inches."
I lowered the page.
The federal liaison from the Army Corps wrote something down. The insurance investigator did not write anything down.
He stood up. He walked to the back of the chamber. He took out a phone.
He did not come back.
Linda spoke for the first time. She lifted her chin. She used the voice she had used at the June board meeting.
She said, "This board does not recognize pre-incorporation documents. We are a self-governing community, and we set our own standards."
It was the third time she had said that sentence in 18 months. The first time had been in an email. The second time had been in front of 40 neighbors.