The pool in my backyard was the last big project my husband, Daniel, finished before he passed away.
It wasn’t especially large. It had pale blue tiles, three shallow steps, and a wooden bench beneath the maple tree. Daniel built the bench himself and used to sit there every evening with a cup of coffee while I put my feet in the water.
“You know most people drink something cold beside a pool,” I once told him.
He lifted his mug.
“Most people don’t make coffee as good as mine.”
“It tastes like burnt wood.”
“That’s why you never steal it.”
There was still a faint ring from his coffee mug on one of the armrests. I could probably have sanded it away, but I never did.
Before Daniel became ill, he also installed the side gate and a security camera beneath the roof. The camera covered the gate, patio, and pool. It recorded sound too, although I hardly ever checked the footage.
When Daniel finished putting in the latch, he tested it several times.
“It opens easily for people we invite,” he said. “Everyone else can knock.”
After he was gone, I took care of the pool exactly as he had shown me. I checked the chemicals twice a week, cleaned the filter, and covered it before storms.
I worked a postal route six days a week. On hot afternoons, I would come home exhausted, sit on the edge of the pool, and let the water cool my feet.
It was quiet there, and I could still imagine Daniel sitting on the bench beside me.
My next-door neighbor, Vanessa Cole, knew how much that pool meant to me.
Vanessa lived with her three sons, Mason, Theo, and Benji. Her husband traveled often for work, so she usually handled the children on her own.
Over the years, I helped whenever she needed something.
I picked the boys up from school when Vanessa had appointments. I watched them while she went shopping. I fed their dog when the family traveled and collected packages when they weren’t home.
Once, when her refrigerator stopped working, I stored several bags of frozen food in my garage freezer.
Another time, I drove her to the airport before sunrise.
Most of her requests came at the last minute.
“Claire, something came up,” she would say.
Then she would explain why she needed me to change my plans.
I didn’t always like it, but I cared about the boys.
Mason was the oldest and usually the most careful. Theo turned everything into a competition. Benji was seven and still checked my kitchen drawers whenever he visited because I sometimes kept candy in one of them.
They were good children, and I had known them for years.
Near the end of June, I noticed that something was wrong with the pool.
The water had started to smell strange.
At first, I blamed the heat. The temperature had been high all week, and a storm had blown leaves and dirt into the water.
I cleaned the filter, tested the chemicals, and shocked the pool.
The smell went away for a day.
Then it came back.
This time, the water also looked cloudy near the shallow steps.
I checked the filter again and added more chemicals, but two days later, the smell returned.
One afternoon, I stood beside the pool with a test strip in my hand.
The numbers weren’t perfect, but they weren’t bad enough to explain what was happening.
“What am I missing, Daniel?” I murmured.
“Claire?”
Vanessa’s voice came from the other side of the fence.
She leaned over it with an empty glass in her hand.
“Did my package arrive today?”
“It’s on your porch.”
“Great. Can you watch the boys for a couple of hours?”
I had just finished a long route in the heat.
“I can’t today, Vanessa. I’m tired.”
“I know, but something came up.”
“I need some time to myself.”
“It’ll only be two hours.”
“I’m also trying to figure out what’s wrong with the pool.”
Vanessa looked toward the water.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“It smells terrible. I’ve already treated it twice.”
“Oh.”
She answered so quickly that I looked up at her.
Vanessa smiled.
“It’s probably the heat.”
“The filter is working.”
“You’re probably using too many chemicals. Leave it alone for a few days.”
“I’m calling someone to inspect it tomorrow.”
Her smile became less relaxed.
“Well, let me know when it’s clean again.”
Then she disappeared behind the fence.
At the time, I thought her reaction was a little odd. But I was tired, and I had no reason to suspect anything.
The pool technician arrived the next morning.
He checked the pump, filter, pipes, and chemical levels.
After nearly an hour, he stood and wiped his hands on a towel.
“The equipment is working properly.”
“Then why does the smell keep coming back?”
He crouched near the shallow steps and took another sample.
“Has anyone been swimming recently?”
“No.”
“Not even relatives or friends?”
“I live alone.”
“What about the neighbors?”
“No one has permission to use the pool while I’m at work.”
He looked at the side gate and then noticed the security camera.
“You might want to check your recordings.”
I frowned.
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