The combined amount exceeded six million dollars.
She had requested an explanation.
Robert's response was short.
These transactions are part of an approved restructuring initiative. Do not interfere with finance operations without authorization.
Richard read the message again.
"Was there an approved restructuring initiative?"
Susan shook her head.
"Not according to the board records."
He looked at the date.
Three months before Margaret was accused of stealing two million dollars.
A terrible possibility began to take shape.
Margaret had discovered the financial misconduct.
Then someone had accused her of the very crime she was trying to expose.
Richard continued through the documents.
He found another email.
This one was sent from a private account.
It contained a message that made him stop.
If Margaret continues asking questions, we need to remove her from the system before she creates a bigger problem.
There was no name beneath the message.
Only an account identifier.
Richard looked at Susan.
"Do you know who sent this?"
"No. The email was forwarded to Margaret anonymously."
"Did she tell you where it came from?"
"She believed someone inside the company wanted to warn her."
Richard placed the document down.
"Why didn't you give this to the investigators?"
"We did."
"What?"
Susan nodded.
"They refused to include it in the final report because the sender couldn't be authenticated."
Richard stared at her.
"Did they investigate the account identifier?"
"Not that I could determine."
He leaned back.
For years, he had believed the investigation was a professional exercise conducted to protect his company.
Now it appeared that the people responsible for protecting the company might have been protecting the person who was stealing from it.
Susan handed him one final document.
It was a handwritten statement from Margaret.
The paper was creased and faded.
Richard recognized the handwriting immediately.
If anything happens to me, please make sure Emily knows that I never stole from the company. I did my best to protect the people who worked there. I did my best to protect Richard, too. I don't know whether he will ever believe me, but I hope he remembers that I was once his friend.
Richard stopped reading.
His eyes filled.
He lowered the paper.
For several seconds, he could not speak.
Susan waited.
Finally, he whispered:
"She was trying to protect me."
Susan nodded.
"Yes."
Richard looked at the documents scattered across the table.
He had spent nine years believing Margaret had betrayed him.
Now he was beginning to understand that she might have been the only person in the company who had remained loyal.
And he had punished her for it.
At 11:20 a.m., Daniel called.
"Sir, we've found something."
Richard immediately answered.
"What?"
"The company that received the two million dollars was connected to another business entity registered in Delaware."
"Who owns it?"
"That's where things get interesting. The registered owner is a holding company called Westbridge Capital."
Richard frowned.
"Who controls Westbridge?"
"We're still tracing the ownership structure. But one of its directors is listed as Jonathan Pierce."
Richard recognized the name.
Jonathan had been Robert Collins's brother-in-law.
He had served as a financial consultant for Whitmore Industries before leaving the company in 2016.
"Can you establish the connection between Jonathan and Robert?"
"We have preliminary evidence of shared business addresses and several transfers between their companies."
Richard stood up.
"How much money?"
"Approximately eleven million dollars across the accounts we've identified."
Richard felt a cold sensation move through his body.
Eleven million.
Not two million.
Margaret had been investigating a much larger operation.
"Daniel, I want the auditors to trace every transaction."
"Already underway."
"And I want to know whether any board members received money."
There was a pause.
"We may have a problem."
"What?"
"One of the transfers appears to have reached an account associated with a former board member."
"Who?"
Daniel gave him the name.
Richard slowly sat down.
It was a man who had died four years earlier.
A man who had publicly supported Margaret's dismissal.
The investigation was becoming larger than he had imagined.
But there was something even more troubling.
If the money had been distributed among several senior executives, then Margaret's accusation might have been only the beginning.
And the person who had orchestrated her dismissal might still have allies inside the company.
Richard looked at the documents Susan had given him.