Chapter 9
The Phase II investigation took seven weeks.
It found contamination.
But not everywhere.
Four principal zones contained elevated arsenic and lead consistent with historic orchard-pesticide use.
One shallow drainage area showed limited petroleum contamination from an old maintenance tank.
Groundwater results were mostly below regulatory concern.
That mattered.
Bellwether was not poisoned beyond use.
It required a real remediation plan.
Estimated cost:
$4.1 million to $6.3 million depending on final residential grading.
Calder Row lowered its offer.
Not catastrophically.
New proposed purchase price:
$20.9 million with seller-funded remediation before certain phases.
The family could still sell.
Just not at the price Fenella had protected through silence.
Then forensic review of Weston’s “clean” sampling uncovered the operational scheme.
Fenella’s property manager, Curtis Dean, admitted she supplied the replacement locations.
He said he believed she wanted to “confirm the bad result wasn’t representative.”
That by itself could have been legitimate supplemental testing.
The deception occurred later.
When Weston drafted its report, the initial map correctly showed the alternative sample points.
Fenella sent revisions.
Her email:
Use parcel grid labels rather than field points. Buyer needs comparability.
Weston’s project manager objected.
Grid labels may imply repeat sampling of Larkin positions.
Fenella replied:
They are within the same investigation zones. Make it readable.
The final map became ambiguous enough that someone comparing only summary tables could believe the same areas had been retested.
Then Fenella copied selected Weston pages into the Bellwether disclosure binder.
Not the page showing field-point deviation.
Auberon had seen the binder.
So had the buyer.
That was the environmental fraud theory regulators began examining.
Then investigators searched Fenella’s office under appropriate process connected to the imprisonment and suspected evidence manipulation.
They found a checklist.
JUNE 10 — C handled.
JUNE 11 — AUB environmental call.
JUNE 12 — bring-down draft.
JUNE 13 — funds verification.
JUNE 14 — close.
C.
Clotilde?
Fenella’s lawyer said:
“Could mean anything.”
Then beneath it:
Keep phone active. No welfare concern before Fri.
That was more difficult.
Another note:
If A returns early, say C left after argument.
The confinement had been integrated into closing logistics.
Then came the final pre-twist clue.
Fenella had scheduled a courier for the afternoon of June 14.
Pickup:
Backyard shed.
Contents:
Archived property samples for disposal.
Destination:
May you like
Industrial laboratory waste processor.
If Auberon had arrived three hours later, the original Larkin samples would have been gone.
