Helen smiled without humor.
“A trust.”
“Whose trust?”
“That's where things get complicated.”
She opened the records.
“The trust owns property.”
“What property?”
“Two commercial buildings.”
“Where?”
“One in Chicago.”
“And the other?”
“Dayton.”
Ethan frowned.
“Where in Dayton?”
Helen gave him the address.
Ethan recognized it.
His eyes widened.
“That building is leased by Briar Ridge.”
Helen nodded.
“So the company is paying rent.”
“Yes.”
“And the landlord is the same trust receiving consulting payments.”
“Yes.”
Ethan leaned back.
“That's a conflict.”
“It may be.”
“May be?”
“I need to prove who controls the trust.”
Helen opened another document.
“I'm working on that.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
The structure was complicated.
Money moved from Briar Ridge to a consulting company.
The consulting company paid another company.
That company transferred money to a trust.
The trust owned a building leased back to Briar Ridge.
It was a maze designed to make the original source difficult to see.
“Can you trace all of it?”
“With enough time.”
“How much?”
Helen looked at him.
“More than thirty days.”
Ethan's heart sank.
“We don't have that.”
“I know.”
She closed the laptop.
“But I don't think we need to trace everything.”
“Why?”
“Because someone made a mistake.”
She opened another file.
An invoice.
The amount was large.
The description read:
Strategic Operational Optimization.
Helen pointed at the approval signature.
“Look.”
Ethan recognized the name.
Patricia.
But beneath it was another signature.
Martin.
Ethan frowned.
“Martin approved it.”
“Yes.”
“Then he knew.”
“Maybe.”
Ethan immediately called Martin.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
Helen showed him the invoice.
Martin stared at it.
“I remember this.”
“Why did you approve it?”
“I didn't.”
“Your signature is here.”
Martin leaned closer.
Then his face changed.
“That isn't my signature.”
Helen looked at him.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
He opened his wallet.
He pulled out a pen.
Then signed a piece of paper.
Helen compared the two.
“They're different.”
Martin nodded.
“Someone forged my signature.”
Ethan felt a chill.
“Who had access?”
Martin shook his head.
“Several people.”
“Who?”
“Finance. Corporate administration. Patricia's office.”
Helen closed the file.
“We need the original documents.”
Martin nodded.
“I can get them.”
He left.
Three hours later, he returned with a box.
Helen examined the papers.
Then she found something.
A handwritten note.
It was attached to an invoice.
Approved verbally.
P.S.
Helen looked at Ethan.
“P.S.”
“Patricia Sloan.”
“Yes.”
Ethan took a photograph of the note.
Then another.
They were building a case.
But Ethan knew that having evidence and proving wrongdoing were different things.
At 9:15 p.m., the committee received an unexpected email.
From the client.
They wanted an emergency meeting.
The next morning.
Ethan barely slept.
At 8:00 a.m., the committee met with the client's representatives.
The client sent three people.
A legal adviser.
An engineering director.
And the executive responsible for supplier contracts.
The executive looked at Ethan.
“We need to clarify something.”
“What?”
“We've heard there are internal disagreements at Briar Ridge.”
“There are.”
“We don't want those disagreements to affect our contract.”
“They won't.”
The executive nodded.
“We want to purchase from a stable supplier.”
Ethan looked at him.
“What does stable mean to you?”
The executive answered:
“Transparent.”
Ethan understood.
The client wasn't only evaluating machines.
They were evaluating the company.
“If we show you the financial records,” Ethan asked, “will you reconsider the contract terms?”
The executive paused.
“Depends on what we see.”
Ethan nodded.
He gave them the revised safety plan.
The maintenance commitments.
The employee safeguards.
Then Helen presented the financial findings.
The client's legal adviser became increasingly serious.
When she finished, the executive asked:
“Are these allegations proven?”
Helen answered carefully.
“We have documented transactions. We are still determining responsibility.”
The executive nodded.
Then he looked at Ethan.
“Would you personally certify the maintenance program?”
Ethan thought for a moment.
“Yes.”
“Would you certify the financial projections?”
“No.”
The executive almost smiled.
“That is the answer I wanted.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“If you had said yes to everything, I would have been concerned.”
The executive explained.
“We don't need a perfect company.”
He pointed toward the reports.
“We need an honest one.”
The client offered a revised agreement.
The contract value would remain.
The safety standards would remain.
But the client added one condition.
An independent compliance committee would oversee the first year.
Ethan agreed.
The committee returned to Briar Ridge.
For the first time, they had something resembling a real path forward.
But Patricia was waiting.
She entered the conference room without knocking.
“You went behind my back.”
Ethan looked at her.
“We went directly to the client.”
“You had no authority.”
“They invited us.”
Patricia looked at Helen.
“You've been investigating my department.”
Helen answered calmly.
“I've been examining company transactions.”
Patricia turned to Martin.
“You're finished.”
Martin stood.
“No.”
Patricia stared at him.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I said no.”
For the first time, Ethan saw Martin's fear disappear.
“You're not going to intimidate me anymore.”
Patricia's expression hardened.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
Martin looked at her.
“I know exactly what I'm doing.”
He placed a folder on the table.
“I'm resigning.”
Patricia laughed.
“You think that changes anything?”
Martin looked at Ethan.
“No.”
Then he looked back at Patricia.
“But the documents remain.”
He walked out.
Patricia followed him.
Before leaving, she turned toward Ethan.
“This isn't over.”
Ethan answered quietly.
“I know.”
Chapter 9
The Last Condition
The final week before the contract deadline began with chaos.
News of the internal investigation spread through the company.
The board ordered an emergency audit.
Patricia was suspended pending review.
Several senior executives were questioned.
And the employees were terrified.
Some feared layoffs.