I frowned and finally turned to leave. As I stepped through the gate, I saw a figure walking down the sidewalk toward me from the direction of the building I’d just been examining.

Sure enough, it was Reg, the man I’d met the first time I’d come to the park. He was walking toward me with the flashlight in one hand and something else in the other.

A flowerpot?

“Hello,” I said as he walked up to me, but when he got close, I could see that his face was covered in a scowl, much like it had been the other time I met him.

“What are you doing out here so late?” he demanded.

“How is that any of your business?” I asked. “And what’s with you pointing flashlights in people’s eyes?”

“It’s my business because I’m a resident of this neighborhood, and this is our park. Someone has been letting their dog leave a lot of mess out here every night, and I think it’s you!”

“It’s not,” I said. “I wouldn’t do that. Besides, do you see a dog?” I waved a hand around me.

He frowned, but the scowl didn’t go away. “Where did you say you live again anyway?” he asked.

I folded my arms across my chest. “I live around the corner,” I said.

“Where, exactly?” He peered at me suspiciously.

I swallowed. “It’s none of your business,” I said.

“Yeah, right,” he said. “I know my neighborhood, and I know the people in it. I also know the people who couldn’t afford to live around here if they sold everything they had.”

I balled my fists up at my side but turned to walk away. I didn’t have time for this.

“Maybe you didn’t leave dog crap tonight, but I know you have been,” he said. “And I have proof.”

I stopped. “What?” I asked, turning back. “What are you talking about? You can’t have proof, because it didn’t happen.”

“I’ve seen you driving around here,” he said. “If you live around the corner, why do you always drive? It makes no sense. You should stop lying. Since I have it all on video.”

I froze and watched the smug expression on his face as his words sunk in.

“What do you mean?”

He held up the flowerpot and spun it around so I could see a small, black square embedded in the side. It took me a moment to realize that it was a camera.

“This sits on my windowsill all day and night and feeds the stream to my laptop,” he said. “I haven’t gone through it, but I know I’m going to find you on it, walking your dog and leaving crap everywhere. You might as well just admit it.”

I stared at the flowerpot, and an idea crossed my mind.