Samuel stared at the man's face.
"Richard Cole."
Hawk nodded.
"Before he became an attorney, Cole worked as a financial manager for the company that owned the warehouse. He was also involved in the administration of the relief fund."
Samuel frowned.
"I thought he represented the bank."
"He does now. Back then, he was working for the company that agreed to match our donations and help us establish the fund."
Samuel leaned forward.
"Why was Daniel transferring money?"
Hawk rested his hands on the table.
"Because somebody had discovered that money was disappearing."
The room became silent.
Hawk explained that the Iron Hollow relief fund had been established to provide emergency assistance to families in Millhaven and the surrounding counties. Its money was kept in a separate account, with withdrawals requiring authorization from two designated officers.
For the first year, everything had worked as intended.
The fund paid for medical equipment for a retired firefighter, repaired the roof of a family whose home had been damaged by a fallen tree, and covered temporary housing for a mother and two children escaping an abusive household.
Then the records began to show irregularities.
Small withdrawals appeared on monthly statements.
Some were labeled as administrative expenses.
Others were described as emergency advances.
The amounts were not large enough to attract immediate attention, but Daniel noticed that several receipts did not match the dates of the transactions.
He brought his concerns to Hawk.
Hawk asked Richard Cole to review the accounts.
Cole said there had been clerical errors.
Daniel was not satisfied.
He began checking the paperwork himself, comparing receipts, deposit slips, and handwritten authorizations.
Within weeks, he found evidence that money had been transferred into accounts belonging to companies that had never provided services to the fund.
The total exceeded six thousand dollars.
Daniel believed someone was stealing from the people the club had promised to help.
He wanted to notify the authorities.
But before he could do so, the warehouse caught fire.
The blaze began shortly after midnight.
By the time the fire department arrived, flames had spread across the roof, and smoke was pouring from the loading doors.
Inside the building were boxes of donated clothing, medical supplies, old furniture, and several filing cabinets containing the fund's records.
Daniel had been at the warehouse that evening, working with Marcus and Frank to prepare a shipment of supplies for a family in the next county.
When the fire broke out, most of the men escaped through a side entrance.
Daniel returned to the building after hearing that a night watchman was trapped near the storage area.
He found the man unconscious beneath a fallen beam.
Daniel dragged him toward the exit, suffering burns to his arms and smoke inhalation in the process.
The roof collapsed moments after they reached the loading bay.
The watchman survived.
Daniel spent three days in the hospital.
By the time he was released, the warehouse had been reduced to a blackened shell.
The relief fund's remaining supplies were destroyed.
Several financial records were missing.
And the bank account was nearly empty.
The authorities began investigating the fire and the missing money.
Richard Cole told them that Daniel had been the last person seen handling the fund's records.
He produced copies of transfer documents bearing Daniel's initials.
He also claimed that Daniel had argued with the fund's officers about how the money should be used.
Within days, rumors spread through Millhaven.
Some people said Daniel had taken the money.
Others said the club had been operating a fraudulent charity.
A local newspaper published an article suggesting that the Iron Hollow Brotherhood had been using donations to support its members rather than helping the community.
The story was devastating.
Businesses withdrew their support.
Families who had received assistance worried that they would be forced to return the money.
The club's reputation collapsed almost overnight.
And Daniel, who had risked his life to save the night watchman, became the man everyone suspected of stealing from the poor.
Samuel sat motionless as Hawk spoke.
He remembered the newspaper article.
He remembered Daniel arriving home late one evening, throwing his jacket onto a chair, and saying that people were spreading lies.
He remembered his own response.
Then stop giving them reasons to talk.
He remembered Daniel staring at him with an expression of disbelief.
You think I took that money?
Samuel had said nothing.
And in that silence, his son had found the answer he feared most.
Hawk continued.
"We tried to defend Daniel. We told the investigators that he had been trying to uncover the missing money. But the documents looked bad, and nobody could explain why forty-two thousand dollars had been moved out of the relief fund's account on the night of the fire."
Samuel lifted the bank statement.
"Into my account."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Hawk looked at him.
"That was what we wanted to know."
Samuel's mouth went dry.
He had spent thirty years avoiding that question.
Now he had to answer it.
"I never saw forty-two thousand dollars."
Nobody spoke.