"Who gave him that information?"
"I don't know."
"Did he see the original contracts?"
"I believe Daniel Brooks sent him a preliminary report."
Richard's expression changed.
"Daniel Brooks?"
"His executive assistant."
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"Listen carefully. I want every document concerning Northbridge collected immediately. Every contract, every invoice, every email. I want them ready before Bennett asks again."
David hesitated.
"Richard, should we notify legal?"
"Not yet."
"But if there's an issue—"
"I said not yet."
Richard ended the call.
He stood up and walked toward the window.
From the second floor, he could see Arthur moving through the service department.
The old man was speaking with Samuel.
Richard clenched his jaw.
He had expected Arthur Bennett to arrive with an entourage, sit through a presentation, examine the financial projections, and negotiate a favorable purchase price.
He had not expected him to spend the morning talking to mechanics and cleaning staff.
And he certainly had not expected him to postpone the deal.
Richard picked up his phone again.
He searched through his contacts until he found a name.
MARK ELLISON — NORTHBRIDGE STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS.
He called.
The line rang three times.
"Richard," a man answered. "What a surprise."
"We have a problem."
Mark laughed.
"That sounds dramatic."
"Arthur Bennett is investigating the restructuring agreement."
The laughter stopped.
"What?"
"He found the connection between your company and Sterling Motors."
There was a long silence.
Then Mark spoke carefully.
"How much does he know?"
"Enough to postpone the acquisition meeting."
"Did he see the invoices?"
"I don't know."
"Richard, you need to find out."
Richard looked toward the service department.
"That's what I'm trying to do."
Mark lowered his voice.
"Listen. The agreement was approved by your executive committee. Everything was documented."
"Some of the payments exceeded the original projections."
"Because the scope of work changed."
"Three times the original amount, Mark."
"You signed the approvals."
Richard closed his eyes.
"Don't remind me."
Mark sighed.
"Then what exactly are you worried about?"
Richard turned away from the window.
"Arthur Bennett doesn't ask questions casually. If he believes something is wrong, he'll investigate until he finds an answer."
Mark was silent.
Then he said something that made Richard's stomach tighten.
"Did you tell him about the employee complaints?"
"No."
"Did he ask?"
"Yes."
"And what did you say?"
Richard hesitated.
"That we were handling them."
Mark exhaled sharply.
"Richard, if he starts interviewing former employees, this could become much bigger than a consulting agreement."
Richard ended the call without saying goodbye.
He returned to his desk.
For several minutes, he stared at the computer screen.
Then he opened a folder labeled:
RESTRUCTURING — CONFIDENTIAL.
Inside were dozens of documents.
He opened the original contract with Northbridge Strategic Solutions.
The agreement had initially been valued at $180,000.
The final amount was $540,000.
Richard knew exactly how the difference had happened.
He also knew that the additional work described in the later invoices had not been fully completed.
Some of the services had been real.
Others had existed primarily on paper.
He had convinced himself that the arrangement was harmless.
Northbridge was a legitimate consulting company.
Mark Ellison was experienced.
And Sterling Motors had needed help reducing costs.
Richard had told himself that the additional payments were simply part of doing business.
But now, with Arthur Bennett asking questions, the explanations he had repeated to himself for months suddenly sounded much less convincing.
His phone rang again.
This time, it was his wife.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said.
Richard tried to sound normal.
"Hi. What's up?"
"Are you still coming home for dinner?"
"I might be late."
"Again?"
"I have a difficult situation at work."
His wife paused.
"Is everything all right?"
Richard looked at the folder.
"Everything will be fine."
He ended the call.
But for the first time in years, he wasn't certain that was true.
Downstairs, Arthur Bennett had finished speaking with Samuel.
He was now standing near the service department entrance with Thomas Reed.
Daniel Brooks had arrived twenty minutes earlier.
Daniel was forty-two, tall, neatly dressed, and known for being extremely organized. He had worked with Arthur for twelve years and understood that his employer preferred facts over assumptions.
"Mr. Bennett," Daniel said, handing him a tablet. "I've reviewed the initial financial records."
Arthur accepted it.
"What did you find?"
Daniel opened a spreadsheet.
"The payments to Northbridge were distributed across three separate categories."
He pointed to the first column.
"Management consulting."
Then the second.
"Employee restructuring support."
Finally, the third.
"Operational efficiency assessment."
Arthur studied the figures.
"Who received the payments?"
"Northbridge Strategic Solutions."
"Who owns it?"
"Mark Ellison owns sixty percent. The remaining shares are held by a private investment company registered in Delaware."
Arthur looked up.
"Can we identify the beneficial owner of that investment company?"
"We're working on it."
"Do that."
Daniel continued.
"The consulting company submitted monthly invoices for services including management training, workflow redesign, employee assessment, and operational audits."
"Did they perform all those services?"
"That's what we're trying to establish."
Arthur scrolled through the documents.
"Here. This invoice claims that Northbridge conducted a full employee satisfaction survey."
"Yes, sir."
"How many employees participated?"
"The report says thirty-eight."
Arthur looked toward the service department.
"Have you spoken with anyone who remembers completing it?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Not yet."
Arthur turned toward Thomas.
"Do you remember an employee satisfaction survey?"
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
"Not a formal one."
"Nothing?"
"We received an email asking us to complete a questionnaire. But I don't remember any follow-up."
"Did you complete it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Thomas hesitated.
"Because the questions were mostly about productivity targets and cost reduction. It didn't seem like anyone was interested in what employees actually needed."
Daniel made a note.
Arthur continued reading.
The next document was a report describing the results of the employee restructuring program.
It claimed that the company had reduced labor costs by twenty-two percent while maintaining productivity.
Arthur frowned.
"Daniel, compare these figures with the payroll records."
Daniel looked at the tablet.
"Already done."
"And?"
"The report appears to exclude several categories of expenses."
Arthur looked at him.
"Which ones?"
"Temporary staffing, overtime adjustments, and payments to external contractors."
Arthur shook his head.
"So the company reduced labor costs by moving some of the expenses into different categories."
"That's what it looks like."
Thomas looked down.
Arthur closed the report.
"That isn't efficiency. That's rearranging numbers."
Daniel nodded.
"There's another issue."
"What?"
"The Northbridge contract was approved by Richard Collins."
"I know."
"But the final payments were authorized by someone else."
Arthur looked up.
"Who?"
"David Harrison."
Arthur considered that.
"Did David have authority to approve payments of that size?"
"According to the financial policy, anything exceeding $250,000 required approval from the corporate executive committee."
"Was that approval obtained?"
Daniel paused.
"We haven't found the complete authorization record."
Arthur looked at Thomas.
"Did the executive committee approve the additional $360,000?"
Thomas shook his head.
"I don't know."
Arthur looked back at Daniel.
"Find out."
Daniel nodded.
Meanwhile, Richard was walking quickly toward the finance department.
He found David Harrison reviewing documents at his desk.
"David, I need to speak with you."
David looked up.
"What's happened?"
"Have you found the Northbridge files?"
"Yes."
"Good. I need the approval records for the additional payments."
David hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because Bennett is asking questions."
David closed his laptop.
"Richard, we need to be careful."
Richard stared at him.
"Careful about what?"
"About changing anything."
Richard's expression hardened.
"I didn't say anything about changing documents."
David looked directly at him.
"You didn't have to."
For a moment, neither man spoke.
Richard lowered his voice.
"Listen to me. We need to understand what we're dealing with before this becomes a bigger problem."
David shook his head.
"We already know what we're dealing with."
Richard stepped closer.