They carried a black garbage bag.
The person walked directly toward the pool.
Dropped the bag.
Turned.
Left.
Total time inside the yard: forty-three seconds.
The homeowner replayed it.
Again.
Again.
Height.
Build.
Walk.
Nothing obvious.
Then the person passed beneath a small garden light.
Something flashed at the hip.
Metal.
The homeowner paused.
Zoomed.
Badge?
Maybe.
Or key ring.
He could not tell.
He called the police.
The same Officer arrived.
The homeowner almost requested someone else.
Then decided not to.
He wanted to see the Officer's reaction.
He showed the footage.
The Officer watched once.
His expression barely changed.
"Hard to identify."
The homeowner stared.
"Somebody used my gate."
"Looks like it."
"With a key."
"Maybe picked the lock."
"It wasn't picked."
The Officer shrugged.
"Hard to know."
The homeowner pointed toward the screen.
"What is that on his belt?"
The Officer leaned closer.
"Could be anything."
"Looks metallic."
"So does a phone clip."
The homeowner watched him carefully.
"Do you recognize the walk?"
The Officer looked over.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The Officer straightened.
"I'll attach the video."
"To what?"
"The report."
"Which report number?"
The Officer hesitated.
The homeowner noticed.
"You have been filing these, right?"
"Yes."
"Give me the numbers."
The Officer looked irritated.
"I don't carry every case number in my head."
"You gave me three."
"What?"
"I have three reports."
"There have been eleven incidents."
The Officer's expression changed.
Only slightly.
"Some repeat calls may be documented under the same incident."
"Which incident?"
"I'll have dispatch provide it."
The homeowner nodded.
"Please do."
The Officer left.
The homeowner called records that afternoon.
What he learned changed everything.
Only four calls had full incident reports.
Three others were recorded as service contacts.
Four had no completed report at all.
The homeowner stared at the email.
He called the department.
Asked for a supervisor.
A Sergeant returned his call.
The homeowner explained.
The Sergeant sounded surprised.