That afternoon, I called my property attorney, Daniel Reed. Daniel had handled several disputes involving Silver Ridge before. He listened quietly while I explained what happened. When I finished, there was a long pause. You said thousands.
That's what it looks like. Did Karen tell you the species? No. Did she provide transfer records? No.
Health certificates? No. County authorization? No. Daniel sighed.
Robert, that's not normal. I figured. No, he said. I mean, it could be much bigger than an HOA dispute. That got my attention.
He asked me to photograph the fish. I walked down to the pond. Some were near the shoreline. Now, I took several pictures. Then I noticed something strange.
A small metal tag was attached near the fin of one of the larger fish. I zoomed in with my phone. There was a number stamped on it. I photographed another. Then another.
These weren't random markings. They looked like tracking tags. I sent the pictures to Daniel. He called me back less than 10 minutes later. Robert.
Yeah, don't let anyone remove those fish. I looked across the pond. Why? I just searched the state wildlife database. My stomach tightened.
What did you find? The tags aren't Silver Ridge property. Then whose are they? Daniel paused. They appear to be part of a registered fish breeding program.
I looked at the thousands of fish moving through my pond. How much are we talking? I don't know yet. Then he added something that changed the entire situation. But if I'm reading these records correctly, some of those fish may have commercial value.
The next morning, Daniel came to the ranch. He brought copies of county records, wildlife registrations, and old property maps. We sat at my kitchen table while he spread everything across it. These fish weren't simply moved because Silver Ridge had too many, he said. So why were they moved?
That's what we're going to find out. He pointed to one document, a state fisheries registration from several years earlier. It listed a private aquaculture operation connected to a company called Ridgewater Fisheries LLC. Then he showed me something else, a map. The property where the fish had originally been kept bordered Silver Ridge Estates, and right through the middle of that property was an old drainage corridor.
Daniel tapped it. This is the interesting part. What? This corridor eventually connects to your pond. I frowned.
So, so whoever transferred the fish may have known exactly where they were going. I stared at him. You're saying Karen deliberately put them here? I don't know yet. He pulled another document from the folder.