Mara laughed bitterly.
“After burglary?”
Derek closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Caleb holstered only after the room was secure.
“Why stop?”
Derek looked at him.
“At your house.”
Caleb waited.
“You showed the badge.”
“Travis knew.”
“He didn’t care.”
Derek swallowed.
“Then we got to Vale and Mrs. Whitcomb went through your safe herself.”
“She wasn’t looking for debt.”
“No.”
“What was she looking for?”
“Ledger.”
Mara stared.
Derek looked at her.
“Travis said if it wasn’t at Roark’s, you still had it.”
The room went silent.
Caleb asked:
“How many recoveries have you done?”
Derek’s face changed.
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
“Twenty?”
Mara whispered:
“Twenty?”
“Maybe more.”
“Over how long?”
“Two years.”
“Who prepared the orders?”
“Travis.”
“Who gave them to Travis?”
“Usually Mallory’s office.”
“Did you verify court authority?”
Derek looked ashamed.
“No.”
“You broke into houses?”
“Sometimes owners let us in because of the paperwork.”
“Sometimes?”
“When they weren’t home, Travis said the emergency authorization covered entry.”
“It didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
Caleb looked at him.
“You knew before today.”
Derek said nothing.
That answer mattered too.
Cooperation would not erase what Derek had done.
But it might help uncover the rest.
Mara sat down slowly.
Caleb turned toward her.
“You called me because of the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Not here.”
“Where?”
She looked at Derek.
Then back to Caleb.
“Commercial storage facility.”
“You moved it?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because Mallory started asking questions about what records I kept after leaving the board.”
Mara Ellison had been Briar Hollow treasurer for six years.
Fifty-two.
Former accountant.
Widowed.
Lived alone.
She had first noticed financial irregularities nineteen months earlier.
Invoices labeled SECURITY REMEDIATION.
EMERGENCY COMPLIANCE RECOVERY.
ASSET STORAGE.
LEGAL COLLECTION SUPPORT.
The amounts varied.
Enough to avoid becoming dramatic.
Four thousand here.
Seven thousand there.
Nine hundred.
Twelve hundred.
Payments flowed to companies that appeared legitimate until Mara traced ownership.
Some shared mailing addresses.
Some used the same registered agent.
One paid Vale Asset Recovery.
Another paid Whitcomb Community Security.
A third had no employees and no visible operation at all.
Mara asked Mallory at a board meeting.
Mallory responded smoothly.
“Legacy vendor structures.”
Mara requested contracts.
Some appeared.
Some did not.
Then Mara found duplicate meeting minutes.
One set stored in HOA records.
Another version supplied to the management company.
Votes had been changed.
Approvals inserted.
Signatures copied.
Mara quietly began making copies.
Mallory discovered it.
Two days later, the board called an emergency disciplinary meeting.
Mara was accused of mishandling funds.
Removed as treasurer.
Then violations began.
Mailbox paint.
Landscaping.
Unapproved rear-camera installation.
Trash-bin placement.
Roof color.