“The raccoons are getting worse,” she said.
Mason stared at the bucket. “You poured that water onto my steps,” he said. When Sylvia claimed she found the trash like that, Mason pointed out she was literally holding the container. She insisted she was just cleaning because she woke early. “You overturned the bin,” Mason said. “The lid was already loose,” she replied. When he reminded her it was his recycling bin, she shot back, “Then you should secure it”.
But she didn't know about the hidden camera. After someone painted over his first doorbell camera and stole his second one, Mason had installed a hidden lens beneath the porch railing three weeks earlier. It looked through a decorative opening between two wooden spindles. It had recorded Sylvia carrying the trash from her yard at 6:31, scattering it across the porch, pouring the brown water, and checking the street before dragging the bin onto his property. Her face, her gloves, and the printed number on the bucket were perfectly clear.