“Who called?”
“I did.”
Daniel stepped off the porch.
“She set my mailbox on fire.”
Karen immediately raised her voice.
“That is not what happened.”
Daniel looked at her.
Torres held up one hand.
“Let me talk to him first.”
Karen stared at the officer as if the instruction itself were unreasonable.
Daniel explained everything.
The trash-can complaints.
The repeated HOA notices.
The board meeting.
Karen confronting him that afternoon.
The lighter.
The flame.
The struggle over the hose.
Then he pointed toward his security camera above the garage.
“It should all be recorded.”
Torres looked up.
“That camera working?”
“Yes.”
Karen’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But Daniel saw it.
Walsh saw it too.
Karen stepped forward.
“He was provoking me.”
Torres turned.
“With what?”
“He’s been deliberately violating neighborhood standards for months.”
Daniel said nothing.
Torres glanced at him.
Then back at Karen.
“Ma’am, I’m asking what he did immediately before the fire.”
Karen hesitated.
“He laughed at me.”
Daniel frowned.
“I didn’t.”
“You smirked.”
Torres stared at her.
“That’s what you’re giving me?”
She seemed offended.
“You weren’t here.”
“No.”
He pointed toward the burned mailbox.
“But that is.”
Karen looked away.
Walsh walked toward the post.
She photographed everything.
The blackened underside.
The scorched wooden support.
The wet envelopes on the porch.
Then she looked toward Daniel.
“Any damage to mail?”
“One envelope.”
He walked back to the table.
The hospital letter had dried enough to handle.
He brought it over.
Walsh read the sender.
“Medical records?”
“My mother.”
She looked at him.
“Is she still living?”
“No.”
The officer’s expression softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel nodded.
“She died three years ago.”
Karen muttered:
“The letter’s still readable.”
Daniel turned.
For the first time, his anger showed plainly.
“That isn’t the point.”
Karen laughed sharply.
“Then what is the point?”
“The point is you put fire against a mailbox with mail inside.”
“It was a small flame.”
“You grabbed the hose when I tried to put it out.”
“You were refusing to listen.”
Torres stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Karen went quiet.
He looked at Daniel.
“You want to press charges?”
Karen’s head snapped toward him.
“What?”
Daniel looked at the mailbox.
Then at the letter in his hand.
“Yes.”
Karen stared.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“Over this?”
Daniel met her eyes.
“You keep calling it ‘this’ like you don’t understand what you did.”
Her mouth tightened.
Torres asked:
“Do you have the video now?”
Daniel pulled it up on his phone.
The entire scene appeared clearly.