He had entered salons in ordinary clothes, asked questions, and watched what happened.
At some locations, he had been welcomed.
At others, he had been ignored.
At one, a stylist had offered to repair a broken zipper on his coat while he waited.
At another, a receptionist had told him that the salon was "not designed for people like him."
Lumina had not become a cruel company overnight.
The change had happened gradually.
A sales target here.
An appointment restriction there.
A manager rewarded for revenue growth.
An employee criticized for spending too much time with a customer who could not afford an expensive treatment.
Each decision had seemed small enough to justify.
Together, they had created a culture Arthur barely recognized.
The incident at the flagship location had been the clearest example yet.
He had not expected the receptionist to recognize him.
He had not expected special treatment.
He had wanted to know whether the values written into the company's founding principles still existed in practice.
The answer had disturbed him.
But there was another reason he had chosen to visit Lumina that week.
He had received a report about irregularities in the company's financial records.
At first, the issue had appeared unrelated to customer service. A small number of transactions had been marked as promotional discounts, even though no corresponding promotions existed. Several refunds had been processed without the required approval. Some retail products appeared to have been sold at prices different from those recorded in the inventory system.
The amounts were not enormous individually.
But the pattern was unusual.
Arthur had asked the finance department to investigate.
Two days later, the finance director had reported that several records were missing.
Not misplaced.
Missing.
The files had been removed from the shared system, and the paper copies were no longer in the archive.
The director suspected poor recordkeeping.
Arthur suspected something else.
Now, sitting in his office, he opened the brown notebook and turned to a page dated six weeks earlier.
Beside a list of transactions, he had written:
Ask Martin about discount approvals. Confirm who has access to archived records.
Below that, another note:
Possible overlap between scheduling manipulation and retail reporting.
He tapped the page with his pen.
The problem might be larger than one receptionist.
He called Martin.
"Can you come to headquarters this afternoon?"
"Of course."
"And bring the complete financial report concerning Lumina's irregular transactions."
There was a brief pause.
"All of it?"
"Every page."
"Understood."
Arthur ended the call.
He looked through the glass wall of his office toward the city.
For years, he had believed that the best way to protect Lumina was to trust good people and give them room to work.
He still believed in trust.
But he was beginning to understand that trust without accountability could become a comfortable hiding place for people who wanted authority without responsibility.
At three-thirty, Martin arrived carrying two thick folders.
He sat across from Arthur.
"The initial review is complete," he said.
"Tell me."
Martin opened the first folder.
"We found evidence that appointment availability was being misrepresented at three locations, including the flagship salon. At Lumina, Vanessa Reed had authority to mark time slots as unavailable, but she was not required to provide a reason."
"Who approved that system?"
"The previous operations director."
"Did anyone review it?"
"Not adequately."
Arthur nodded.
"Continue."
"Several employees received performance warnings after failing to meet retail sales targets. In some cases, the warnings were issued despite strong customer satisfaction scores."
"Who authorized those warnings?"
"Local managers, using a standard template."
"Were they reviewed by human resources?"
"Not consistently."
Arthur leaned back.
"That is a management failure."
"Yes."
Martin turned a page.
"There is also a financial issue."
He placed a report on the table.
"Over the past eight months, the flagship location recorded a series of promotional discounts and refunds that do not match the approved promotional calendar."
Arthur studied the figures.
"What is the total?"
"Approximately thirty-eight thousand dollars in disputed transactions across this location."
Arthur looked up.
"Disputed?"
"We cannot yet determine whether the transactions were fraudulent, improperly authorized, or simply misclassified."
"Who had access to the records?"
"Vanessa, the salon director, the regional finance team, and two members of the corporate accounting department."
"Did Vanessa benefit personally?"
"We have no evidence of that."
"Good. We will not speculate."
Martin nodded.
Arthur examined the report again.
One column listed the transaction dates. Another showed the amount of each discount or refund. A third contained the employee ID associated with the entry.
Several transactions had been approved under the same administrative account.
Arthur recognized the account name.
PLAWSON-ADMIN
He looked up.
"Peter Lawson."
Martin nodded.
"The salon director."
"Why was his account used for these transactions?"
"We don't know yet."
Arthur turned another page.
"Where is he now?"
"At headquarters. I asked him to attend a meeting tomorrow morning."
"Did you tell him why?"
"Only that we were reviewing the flagship location's operations."
Arthur closed the folder.
"Then we will speak to him tomorrow."
Martin hesitated.
"There is another concern."
Arthur waited.
"Peter Lawson has a strong relationship with Vanessa. He appointed her to her current role and has supported her performance reviews."
"Is that unusual?"