“No.”

I looked directly at her.

“That is the record.”

Thirty-One Videos

Then someone asked the question Karen didn't want.

“Haven't you been using that road, Karen?”

Karen smiled.

“I have used the route occasionally while the matter is being clarified.”

Occasionally.

I almost laughed.

My cameras had recorded her SUV thirty-one times in forty days.

I opened my folder.

“This is what occasional looks like.”

I placed the photographs on the table.

One after another.

Karen's SUV.

The same entrance.

The same road sign.

The same license plate.

Morning after morning.

The room changed.

Karen picked up one photograph and immediately put it down.

“I don't appreciate being surveilled.”

“You were recorded on posted private property.”

“That word is inflammatory.”

“It is accurate.”

A quiet man named Daniel Price, another board member, cleared his throat.

“Karen, do we have any documentation of access?”

“The matter is under review.”

Daniel looked uncomfortable.

Rachel's letter sat directly in front of him.

After the meeting, two residents approached me.

An older man named Harold shook his head.

“She told us that road was part of the old subdivision access plan.”

“It isn't.”

A younger woman named Melissa looked embarrassed.

“We've used it before.”

“Then stop.”

She nodded.

Harold lowered his voice.

“She also told people you're trying to block emergency access.”

“Emergency access?”

“That's what she said.”

That night, I checked my cameras.