I opened the maintenance section and walked him through the water reports, Rosa's recommendation, Luis's inspection, and the waterproofing schedule. Martinez asked whether I had hired qualified contractors and whether the work was complete. I explained that the cleaning and inspection were complete, that the finish had been prepared, and that the pool would remain empty through the appropriate maintenance period before reopening the following season. I showed the dated photographs of the controlled drain and the safety barriers erected while the pool was empty.
"Is the shell damaged?" he asked.
"The contractor reported ordinary wear requiring repair. Not intentional damage. The work is designed to preserve it."
"Did Ms. Fielding pay for any of this?"
"No."
Sandra interrupted. "That's not the point. I would have helped if she had asked."
"Have you ever offered to contribute to the pool's construction or long-term expenses?" Chen asked.
"We brought supplies. I already told you."
Martinez looked down at the invoices again. He asked whether my insurance policy listed the pool. I opened the declaration. He asked whether there were any shared operating accounts or formal maintenance agreements with the neighbor. There were none. He asked whether anybody other than me had contracted with the service company. Rosa's records showed payments from my account and invoices in my name at my address over twelve years.
The questions were repetitive only in the way good verification often is. Each approached the same issue from a slightly different direction. A person can falsely claim ownership of a thing, but the surrounding records tend to reveal who assumed its responsibilities over time. Permits, insurance, repairs, maintenance, and payments are not glamorous evidence. They are the ordinary trail left by the person who actually owns and operates something.
Chen asked if he could speak with Sandra privately in the hall. She agreed and left with him, still looking offended. Martinez remained at the table. He closed his notebook for a moment and looked through the window at the pool.
"You said you've been keeping this for seven months?" he asked.
"I began organizing the chronology in the spring. The detailed camera record starts in early summer. The construction documents go back twelve years."
"Most people call us after an argument and have to remember what happened months earlier. You're able to show it to me."
"Remembering and proving are different jobs," I said.
He gave a small, approving nod. "They certainly can be."
Then he asked whether I had any reason to believe Sandra had intentionally damaged the pool itself. I told him no. The fence had been disturbed, the water chemistry affected, and supplies used, but the maintenance inspection had not identified deliberate damage to the shell. I was not going to attribute vandalism to somebody simply because I disliked what they had done. He wrote that down, too.
"That's helpful," he said. "I don't want either side claiming something the evidence doesn't support."