Howard looked at me. "Walk us through your records."
I opened the binder.
"First, your record. Emergency Generator B, asset 04-117, acquired during original development, current location listed as reserve field storage."
Howard tapped the page. "What does this entry physically identify?"
Karen answered. "It identifies the reserve generator carried in the association asset register."
"How?"
She paused.
"It does not contain a serial number."
"Manufacturer?"
"Not on this version."
"Model?"
"No."
Howard removed his glasses.
"So our current register tells us a generator existed. It does not tell us which generator."
Keller nodded. "That is accurate."
I placed the West Ridge liquidation invoice on the table.
"DSB7419KC."
Next came the canceled check, the bank archive image, the delivery receipt, the tax schedule, the insurance schedule, and the dealer summary.
Howard moved through them in order.
"Sale. Payment. Delivery. Accounting treatment. Insurance. Maintenance."
"Yes."
"How long does the maintenance history run?"
"About twenty-one years."
Susan looked toward Karen. "And our claim on his machine came from an asset line with no physical identifier."
Vanessa spoke before Karen could answer. "The association also owned a generator of the same manufacturer and comparable capacity."
"That part is correct," I said.
I opened the next section.
"The original developer service record identifies DSB7384KC."
Howard read both numbers aloud.
"7419 is the Cole Ranch machine?"
"Yes."
"7384 is the developer machine?"
"That is what the archived dealer records show."
Karen turned her laptop around.
"I found the old turnover schedule."
On the screen was a scanned asset handoff sheet from West Ridge.
Standby Generator - DSB7384KC.
Howard leaned forward.
"So 7384 was transferred with the development."
"It appears to have been," Karen said.
Vanessa folded her hands. "Turnover records from that period were incomplete."
Keller replied before I could.
"Incomplete records may explain missing fields. They do not make two serial numbers the same machine."
Silence settled over the room.
Howard returned to the modern asset sheet.
"Why did 7384 lose its serial number in later records?"
Karen brought up the migration history.
"Several management companies handled the association. The modern register was eventually reconstructed from accounting data. Descriptions survived. Some source documents did not."
She showed the earliest spreadsheet: GEN B - RESERVE EQUIPMENT.
Then a later system: EMERGENCY GENERATOR B - ASSET 04-117.
Then the conversion worksheet with LAST KNOWN LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
Then the newest register: RESERVE FIELD STORAGE.