Chapter 13 - Two Days Before
Dad had visited the hotel two days before his stroke. Grant had told me he was home resting. I pulled out my calendar and found the date marked with a canceled lunch: Dad had called to say he wasn't feeling well.
"Do you think they hurt him?" Talia asked.
"I don't know," I said. "I won't accuse them without proof."
Margaret obtained the hotel visitor log through a formal records request in the civil case. It confirmed Dad's visit and showed he had requested a meeting with the internal auditor, Caleb Ross.
Caleb had resigned the following week.
I found him working at an auto-parts distributor two counties away. He refused to meet until Margaret explained that we were challenging documents filed after Dad's death.
We sat at a diner where the coffee tasted burned. Caleb kept looking at the entrance.
"I warned your father," he said. "There were invoices for contractors who didn't exist. Renovation costs were being pushed onto the housing foundation."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried. Your husband blocked my calls and said your father needed quiet while he recovered. Then I got an attorney's letter accusing me of stealing confidential records."
"Do you still have anything?"
"Only records I was legally allowed to retain, and notes I made while working. The originals should still be on the company's systems."
He showed Margaret a timeline of suspicious invoices, vendor names, and approval dates. Several involved Adrian. Others had Grant's authorization. Vivian chaired the committee that had reviewed them and found no problem.
"Dad asked you for proof?" I said.
Caleb shook his head. "He asked me how to protect the staff if the company went under. That's what he cared about."
As we left, Caleb stopped at the door. "There's something else. Your father said he'd made a backup of the board correspondence before his stroke. He gave it to someone he trusted."
"Who?"
Caleb's answer made me stop breathing.
May you like
"Your mother-in-law. Vivian Whitmore."
THE NIGHT SHE TURNED THE TABLES |
