“Could it just be a clerical error or a missing file?” I pressed.

“It’s possible, but very unlikely, given how strict the county is about liability,” she said.

I stared at the screen, trying to connect the dots.

“Is there any other paperwork attached to this location?” I asked.

She clicked through several archived subfolders and eventually pulled up an official complaint letter filed by a former county road surveyor named Samuel Vance.

The document said the north bend had suffered from chronic drainage failures that caused dangerous water buildup, and it specifically noted that someone had deliberately removed a temporary hazard warning sign before the necessary road repairs were ever carried out.