HOA.
He opened it.
There were dozens of clips.
Celeste photographing my side yard.
A property manager measuring my grass.
A private security vehicle parked across from my house.
A man taking pictures through a gap beside my fence.
The sheriff frowned.
"How long has this been happening?"
"Months."
"Why didn't you report it?"
I shrugged.
"I didn't know where annoying ended and illegal started."
The sheriff nodded.
"Fair answer."
He continued reviewing the footage.
Then he stopped.
A clip showed the same sedan I had reported.
The vehicle parked near my home.
The sheriff wrote down the license plate.
"That's the same company vehicle listed in an HOA report."
I looked at him.
"You're sure?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he called the deputy outside.
"Get every report involving the HOA's private security contractor."
The deputy nodded.
Celeste heard him.
Her expression changed.
"This is unnecessary."
The sheriff turned toward the window.
"Maybe."
Then he looked back at the screen.
"But now we're going to find out."
The HOA had hired a private security company six months earlier.
Celeste had presented it as a neighborhood safety initiative.
At the board meeting, she had used words like "community protection," "property values," and "preventative enforcement."
Most homeowners had accepted it.
Nobody wanted crime.
Nobody wanted strangers entering the neighborhood.
Nobody questioned why the security company was photographing license plates.
Nobody asked how long those records were kept.
Nobody asked who had access.
I hadn't thought about it either.
Until the sheriff opened the company's report.
My Rolls-Royce incident wasn't listed as a random parking violation.
It had been photographed three times.
Once in my driveway.
Once at the curb.
Once near my daughter's school pickup.
That last entry bothered me.
I stared at the page.
"My daughter wasn't driving."
"I know," the sheriff said.
"Then why was the vehicle recorded?"
He looked at me.
"That's what we're trying to determine."
Celeste stepped toward the door.
"This is absurd."
The sheriff stopped her.
"Please remain outside."
"I have a right to know what you're discussing."