Instead, he received a message from a neighbor named Gloria Chen.
Did they recommend ClearCurrent to you?
Evan typed back: Yes. Why?
Three dots appeared.
Because they did the same thing to us last year.
Evan stared at the screen.
What do you mean, the same thing?
Gloria called him immediately.
Her problem had not involved a pool.
It had involved a flooded side yard.
The HOA had blamed her irrigation system for standing water near a common wall. Marissa declared it an emergency, sent Vale Civic Services to dig a trench, then recommended Derek's restoration company when the trench "accidentally" flooded Gloria's storage room.
Gloria had paid nearly six thousand dollars.
"I thought it was just incompetence," she said. "But Derek showed up before I even knew the room was wet."
Evan leaned back in his chair.
"Do you still have the invoice?"
"Every page."
"Keep it. Don't send it to anyone yet."
"Why?"
Evan looked through the glass doors at the dark pool.
"Because I don't think this started with me."
The next morning, Evan woke to forty-three unread messages.
Some were from neighbors. Some were from the HOA management company. Three were from people he barely knew who had heard that something had happened to his pool and wanted to know if the association had really entered his property without permission.
One message stood out.
It came from Thomas Bell, the HOA treasurer.
Call me before you speak to anyone else.
Evan called.
Thomas answered on the first ring.
"I watched the footage," he said.
"The management company sent it to you?"
"Only after I demanded it. Marissa told the board there was a drainage emergency and that you were obstructing corrective work. She did not tell us Derek was there. She did not tell us what the contractor was pumping. She definitely did not tell us she had directed the discharge into your pool."
Evan walked toward the kitchen window.
The water had not improved overnight. His pool company had shut down circulation to keep contaminated water from moving through every part of the system. Yellow caution tape now stretched between two patio chairs because Rina had told him not to let anyone near the water until lab results came back.
"Did the board authorize anything?" Evan asked.
"No."
"Any emergency vote?"
"No."
"Any written finding that my property was causing a drainage problem?"
Thomas exhaled. "Not that I can find."
"Then what exactly did Marissa use to get the contractor here?"
"That's what I'm trying to determine."
Evan heard papers moving.
Thomas continued. "I found a work order in the management portal. It was entered at 7:48 yesterday morning under emergency drainage maintenance. The location listed is East Utility Corridor B. The notes say remove standing water from service access and transfer to approved containment."
"Nothing about my property."
"Nothing."
"Who modified it?"
"Someone added a handwritten note after printing."
Evan waited.
"What does it say?"
"Discharge destination approved by president, Lot 47 pool."
Evan closed his eyes.
"Who signed it?"
"Marissa."
"And the board never saw it."
"Correct."
"Does the HOA president have authority to redirect contaminated utility water onto private property?"
Thomas gave a humorless laugh. "No one has authority to do that."
By noon, more pieces started arriving.
The HOA covered $1,000 from a maintenance allowance and told Gloria she was responsible for the rest because her irrigation had contributed to the issue.
"Did anyone ever prove that?" Evan asked.
Gloria shook her head. "I was exhausted. There were boxes floating in dirty water. Marissa stood in my garage telling me I could appeal if I wanted to wait three months while mold grew."
Another neighbor, Jonah Price, joined them an hour later.
His story involved a retaining wall.
The HOA had accused him of allowing runoff to undermine a common slope. Vale Civic Services installed a temporary drain. The temporary drain failed during the first storm and flooded his lower patio. ClearCurrent restored the patio furniture and replaced part of the flooring inside his sunroom.
The invoice: $7,240.
"Derek was there before the rain stopped," Jonah said.
Evan looked at Gloria.
Gloria looked at Jonah.
No one said anything for a moment.
Then Evan asked, "How many people do you think this happened to?"
Jonah leaned back in the patio chair. "Depends how many of us thought we were just unlucky."
That afternoon, Thomas sent a spreadsheet.
He had exported vendor payments from the previous thirty-six months.
Vale Civic Services had received $312,400 from the association.
ClearCurrent Pool Recovery had received $86,770.
Some payments were ordinary enough: clubhouse plumbing, irrigation repairs, cleanup after monsoon damage.
Others were harder to explain.
Emergency remediation - Lot 19.
Emergency drainage support - Lot 63.
Water intrusion coordination - Lot 88.
Pool sanitation advisory - Lot 104.
The pattern was not proof by itself.
But nearly every homeowner associated with those entries had received a violation notice within thirty days before the vendor appeared.
Evan created a list.
He did not contact everyone immediately. He wanted facts before rumors turned the neighborhood into chaos.
The city lab called first.
Rina's voice was more formal than it had been at the house.
"Mr. Brooks, the preliminary results are consistent with sewage-contaminated wastewater. We found elevated fecal bacteria and indicators that should not be present in recreational water. Do not enter the pool. Do not run the circulation system until your pool professional and our office clear the cleanup plan."
Evan stared at the dark water outside.
"Can you determine where it came from?"
"The sample from your pool is consistent with the sample from the utility access pit. We are still investigating how wastewater entered that pit and why it was transferred to your property."
"You saw the footage."
"I did."
"So you know why it was transferred."
Rina paused.
"I know what the video appears to show. Our office documents environmental facts. Other agencies will address authorization and intent."
That distinction mattered.
By the end of the day, the city had issued a written notice requiring the HOA and its contractor to preserve records relating to the utility access work.
The management company suspended all new assignments to Vale Civic Services pending review.
And Marissa called an emergency board meeting for six that evening.
Evan was not invited.
Thomas told him anyway.
At 5:47, residents began gathering outside the clubhouse.
By six, more than sixty people stood in the parking lot.
Marissa arrived through the side entrance.
Derek arrived separately and parked behind the building.