Private investigators can lawfully observe people in public places. I knew that, and Tom reminded me not to turn every parked car into a crime. But one afternoon I watched from inside the hardware store as the man approached my locked truck, looked around, and tried both front door handles. He appeared to examine the gap beside the window before stepping away. I called the store manager and the police instead of confronting him.
The officer who responded took statements and reviewed the store's camera footage. The investigator identified himself as Rick Patterson and claimed he was checking whether the vehicle was occupied. The officer did not accept the explanation without further questions, and the matter went to the prosecutor for review. I later learned that Rick's professional license had been the subject of earlier complaints. It was another fact for the authorities to investigate, not another reason for me to threaten someone on social media.
Rebecca obtained information connecting his work to an outside contractor hired for Willow Creek-related investigations. She requested invoices and communications rather than assuming Vivian had personally ordered every action. It was becoming clear that association funds had been spent on services not approved in the ordinary way. Some invoices carried vague descriptions, like special property-risk review or emergency environmental maintenance. The explanations changed depending on who asked.
Patricia Morgan, an HOA board member and a homeowner for eight years, started asking the same questions from inside the association. Patricia had a practical manner and a habit of keeping minutes more carefully than the people around her liked. She was no relation to Sarah Morgan, the journalist. She had two teenagers, an aging golden retriever, and a stubborn belief that the purpose of a neighborhood association was to take care of shared property, not settle someone's private grudges.
Patricia called me on a Sunday afternoon. She sounded nervous. "Mr. Reed, I don't know whether you're willing to talk to an HOA board member," she said. I told her I was willing to talk to anyone who wanted facts.
"Then I need to ask a difficult question. Have you ever authorized the association to treat your lake?" I said no, never, not in writing and not verbally.
She was silent for a moment. "That's what I thought."
We met with Tom at a coffee shop in town, where conversation could be witnessed and nobody would confuse a private meeting for an attempt to influence her secretly. Patricia brought publicly shareable meeting records and identified documents she believed the board should review internally. She explained that a $3,500 expense had appeared under the landscape maintenance category without a recorded board vote authorizing work outside the subdivision. Other entries suggested money had been spent on investigative services related to me personally. She did not claim to know where every dollar had gone, and that honesty made her more credible.
"Why didn't anyone question it sooner?" I asked. Patricia looked exhausted. "We did question things," she said. "Vivian always had an answer, and she knew how to make people feel disloyal for asking twice."