"I'm not asking you to declare me the winner," I said. "Your letter accuses an occupant of her unit of harassment and threatening behavior. Either you can prove that or you can't. If you can't, the right solution is to withdraw it without conditions."
Richard rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Linda is convinced you engineered the whole incident."
"I prepared for the police because you warned me that you might call them. I didn't make her accuse me of a threat. I didn't make her reach for my cooler. I didn't make her say she'd been watching our unit."
"You knew she would react."
"I believed she might. That's why I checked everything before cooking. If a person is likely to make an unfounded accusation, documenting the facts is sensible. It isn't the same as causing the accusation."
His expression hardened. "You don't understand what Linda has done for this community."
"Gary told me about the pool. Mrs. Alvarez told me about the burst pipe. I know she has helped people. Those things still don't make every later action correct."
Richard seemed surprised that I knew any positive history about Linda. He shifted his weight and looked toward our window, where Emily had appeared with a worried expression. I told him she had decided to pursue the hearing and that any settlement affecting her unit needed to be proposed to her in writing. I would not strike a private bargain on her behalf.
"You're really going to put everybody through this?" he asked.
"We're going to ask the board to review its own notice. That's what its hearing procedure is for."
Richard left without shaking my hand. I watched him walk toward the courtyard, his shoulders stiff, then went inside to find Emily standing beside the table. She had heard fragments through the open window. I repeated the entire conversation, including his offer to withdraw the notice if I agreed not to grill near the city boundary.
"So they think I'm going to trade away your right to be there in exchange for them taking back an accusation they couldn't prove?" she asked.
"That seems to be the proposal."
She stood still for a moment, then went to her laptop and drafted a brief note to the management company. The note stated that no private settlement had been reached, that she remained willing to consider unconditional correction of the notice, and that the hearing would proceed as scheduled. She sent it before dinner, and for the first time in several days she seemed less anxious.
"I think I finally understand why you kept asking for the rule," she said.
"Why?"
"Because if somebody gets to make up the rule after the fact, they never have to admit they were wrong."
I nodded. It was a better explanation than any I had given her.
On the night before the hearing, our dining table disappeared under paper. I had prepared a chronological exhibit list with the dog reminder, the first grill interaction, the association documents, the city records, the survey sketch, the municipal authorization, the police incident information, the conduct notice, and our requests for evidence. Emily had prepared her own statement as the owner. We rehearsed it once, not to make her sound dramatic, but to ensure she could say what she meant without being interrupted by people who knew how to turn a meeting toward another subject.