“Correct.”
“You do not direct the investigation.”
“Correct.”
“You do not select charges.”
“Yes.”
“You do not contact suspects.”
“Agreed.”
“You do not ask patrol to do favors.”
“I haven’t.”
She looked at Alicia.
Alicia nodded.
Sarah closed the file.
“Then I’m opening it.”
“What do you need from me?”
“The same thing I need from everybody else.”
She smiled faintly.
“Stop helping.”
That was harder than it sounded.
Within forty-eight hours, Sarah found the first other victim.
His name was Raymond Ellis.
Seventy-one.
Retired Delta mechanic.
Former Fox Hollow homeowner.
He once owned a restored 1965 Corvette.
Lorraine offered to buy it for Tyler’s cousin.
Raymond refused.
Six months later, he accumulated more than nine thousand dollars in HOA fines.
Noise.
Driveway stains.
Unapproved exterior storage.
Vehicle violations.
One of the complaints alleged his Corvette leaked fuel.
Raymond eventually sold the car cheaply.
Buyer?
A company called Meridian Neighborhood Holdings LLC.
Registered agent?
Charles Mercer.
Sarah found a second case.
Then a third.
A widow named Carol Jensen received nearly thirteen thousand dollars in fines after refusing to sell her late husband’s lake boat to a board member.
She later sold her Fox Hollow home to Meridian Neighborhood Holdings at a significant discount.
The LLC renovated the house.
Resold it eight months later.
Profit exceeded $170,000.
Sarah called me on a Wednesday evening.
“You’re not the story.”
“I assumed.”
“The HOA is.”
She had compared financial reports.
Fox Hollow collected approximately $236,000 in fines and special compliance charges over five years.
Association records showed only about $71,000 used for community repairs, legal expenses, inspections, and enforcement costs.
The remaining funds moved through contractor payments and consulting fees.
Several companies receiving those payments were connected to Charles Mercer.
One shared a mailing address with Meridian Neighborhood Holdings.
Then came property records.
Five Fox Hollow homes had been purchased by Mercer-connected entities after owners accumulated unusually large HOA debts.
All five sold below neighborhood market estimates.
All five were renovated.
All five were resold at substantial profit.
One homeowner had died before Sarah could interview him.
Another had moved to Tennessee.
Three agreed to statements.
The pattern was no longer about a Chevelle.
It was about pressure.
Find something a resident values.
Apply violations.
Increase fines.
Create liens.
Escalate legal threats.
Convince the owner that fighting costs more than surrender.
Then appear with a solution.
Sell the car.
Sell the property.
Make the problem disappear.
Sarah obtained banking records through warrants handled by the county prosecutor.
I had no role.
That was important.
She also discovered something I had not expected.
Lorraine had filed seven prior stolen-property or ownership-dispute reports involving vehicles.
One classic truck.
Two motorcycles.
A Corvette.
A Jeep.
A restored Bronco.
And an enclosed race trailer.
Each involved Fox Hollow residents.
Four eventually sold the disputed property to someone in Lorraine’s family or social circle.
Three reports were closed after owners produced documentation.
Nobody had compared them.
Sarah did.
Then she found the notary.
Judith Baines had once been legitimate.
After her commission expired, Lorraine apparently kept using older stamp impressions copied from prior HOA documents.
Several bills of sale contained the same notary signature.
Too similar.
Exactly similar.
Forensic document review confirmed the signatures were duplicated.
Sarah called Evan.