Elena held out her arm.
Three scratches.
No serious injury.
But fresh.
Foster said:
“She says Mrs. Rosenberg grabbed her.”
Nancy followed them.
“I did not attack her.”
Elena turned.
“You grabbed me hard enough to do this.”
“You shoved me.”
“I pulled my arm away.”
“You threw me into that planter.”
“I never touched you after I got free.”
Nancy looked toward Reyes.
“You see what she's doing?”
Reyes stayed calm.
“What I see is two different accounts.”
Maya opened the sliding door.
“I have the video.”
Elena looked toward her.
“You don't have to—”
“I recorded because Mrs. Rosenberg was yelling.”
Nancy’s face tightened.
“She was filming me without permission.”
Reyes looked at her.
“She was inside her own home?”
Nancy said nothing.
Maya handed the phone to Foster.
The video began late.
It did not show the entire argument.
But it showed enough.
Nancy crossing the grass.
Elena holding the blower.
Nancy grabbing Elena’s arm.
Elena twisting away.
Nancy slipping backward.
No shove.
No punch.
No attack from Elena.
Only Elena freeing herself.
Reyes watched twice.
Then looked at Nancy.
“Mrs. Rosenberg.”
Nancy stared at the phone.
“I was trying to turn off the machine.”
“You grabbed her arm.”
“She wouldn't listen.”
“That doesn't give you the right to put your hands on her.”
Nancy became pale.
“You don’t understand how long this has been happening.”
Reyes nodded.
“We can discuss noise complaints separately.”
He pointed toward Elena’s arm.
“This is separate.”
Nancy looked across the lawn.
Elena was talking quietly to Foster.
For the first time since police arrived, Nancy seemed to understand that calling first had not guaranteed anything.
“What happens now?”
Reyes asked Elena whether she wanted to make a formal complaint.
Elena hesitated.
She looked toward Nancy.
Then toward Unit 56.
Through the window, Harold was visible standing near the recliner.
Not sitting.
Standing.
Without his walker.
Elena’s expression changed.
“Harold.”
Nancy turned.
Her husband took one step.
His right leg buckled.
He disappeared from the window.
Nancy screamed.
Chapter 4: The Fall Inside Unit 56
Everyone moved at once.
Nancy ran toward her patio door.
Reyes followed.
Elena did too.
Nancy turned sharply.
“Stay out!”
Elena stopped.
Then they heard Harold call from inside.
“Nancy!”
His voice was weak.
Elena’s professional instincts overrode the argument.
“I’m a physical therapist.”
Nancy looked at her.
“You review insurance cases.”
“I practiced clinically for fifteen years before that.”
Officer Reyes opened the door.
“Mrs. Rosenberg, let her help until EMS gets here.”
Nancy looked furious.
Then frightened.
Fear won.
Harold was on the carpet beside the recliner.
He had apparently tried to stand and reach the hallway.
His walker remained folded near the wall.