Another showed workers excavating a narrow trench near the eastern edge of the neighborhood.
The final photograph showed a corroded metal access cover embedded in a concrete foundation.
Victor placed the images side by side.
"The old municipal records are incomplete," he said. "Until we know what remains underground, nobody touches anything."
Richard nodded.
"And Mercer?"
"Leave him alone."
"But he has the diagram."
"Then we need to determine what he knows before we decide what to do next."
Victor closed the folder.
"One more mistake, Richard, and your involvement with this project ends permanently."
Richard left the office without answering.
Victor remained beside his desk, staring at the photograph of the abandoned pumping station.
For years, Westbridge had believed that acquiring the surrounding properties would provide the access it needed to complete a major redevelopment project.
The plan had been expensive, complicated, and dependent on several layers of approvals.
But the underground system had introduced a problem that nobody had anticipated.
The old facility had not been properly documented when it was closed.
Some records suggested that the pipes had been sealed. Others indicated that a section had been left accessible for future maintenance. A preliminary inspection had found evidence that at least one connection might still be open.
If the system contained only ordinary drainage infrastructure, the problem would be manageable.
If it contained something else, the consequences could be far more serious.
Victor picked up his phone and called the project's chief engineer.
"We need a complete review of the original municipal records," he said when the call connected. "Every inspection report, every maintenance log, every environmental assessment. I want the full history of the pumping station."
The engineer asked when he needed the information.
"As soon as possible."
"And the properties?"
Victor looked again at the map.
"Do not enter them without authorization. Do not remove anything. Do not conduct underground testing until we have the necessary approvals."
He ended the call.
For the first time in months, Victor wondered whether the project had been built on an assumption that nobody had ever properly verified.
Across town, Daniel Mercer was asking the same question.
Neither man yet understood how closely their investigations were approaching the same answer.
And neither knew that the old pumping station had already appeared in a sealed municipal report that had been missing from the public archives for more than two decades.
That report contained the one fact capable of transforming a neighborhood property dispute into a case that would reach far beyond their quiet street.
By morning, Daniel would have the first clue.
And by the end of the week, someone would try to make certain that he never discovered the rest.
At 6:12 the following morning, Daniel Mercer woke to the sound of someone knocking on his front door.
The knock was not loud, but it was deliberate. Three evenly spaced taps, followed by a pause, then three more.
For several seconds, he remained in bed, listening.
Sophie was still asleep in the room across the hallway. The house was unusually cold because the temporary covering over the broken window had not completely sealed the living room from the night air. Daniel had spent most of the previous evening reviewing documents and had fallen asleep at his desk shortly after midnight.
The knocking came again.
He rose, pulled on a sweatshirt, and walked downstairs.
Through the narrow glass panel beside the front door, he saw a woman standing on the porch. She wore a navy coat and carried a leather briefcase. Her dark hair was tied back, and a silver badge was clipped to the belt of her trousers.
Daniel opened the door but kept the security chain in place.
"Can I help you?"
The woman held up her identification.
"My name is Rebecca Shaw. I'm with the county environmental compliance office. I need to ask you some questions about an underground utility line running beneath your property."
Daniel felt the sleep leave his mind.
"Which utility line?"
"The line associated with the old municipal pumping station on the eastern side of the neighborhood."
He studied her face.
"Why are you asking about it now?"
Rebecca glanced toward the plywood covering the broken window.
"Because a preliminary report was filed yesterday afternoon concerning unauthorized activity near a suspected access point."
Daniel did not immediately answer.
He remembered Kevin Doyle's photograph.
He remembered Richard's inspection near the shelter.
And he remembered the notation beside the red circle.
ACCESS POINT 4.
"Who filed the report?" he asked.
Rebecca hesitated.
"I can't disclose the reporting party's identity without authorization."
"Was it Westbridge Development Group?"
Her expression changed slightly.