Chapter 5 - The Chairman’s Name
I watched Malcolm read the access report.
For a moment, he was as surprised as I was.
Then he asked Daniel to print the full permissions history.
“I've never used that server,” Malcolm said.
“Access credentials can be borrowed or forged,” Daniel replied.
“That's why we're collecting evidence, not assigning guilt.”
Malcolm nodded and offered his devices for independent examination.
It was the right response.
It was also the response of a man who understood how appearances worked.
The next morning he voluntarily stepped aside from the audit committee while outside directors oversaw the inquiry.
Julian seized the chance.
He called an emergency meeting of senior managers and implied the takeover had exposed a long-running conspiracy at the top.
I couldn't bar him from speaking to employees without risking further disruption.
Instead, I asked operations leadership to keep every meeting documented.
By lunchtime, department heads were receiving anonymous emails claiming that Northstar intended mass layoffs.
The claim was false.
But fear doesn't wait for fact-checking.
I held a live staff briefing, answered difficult questions, and published the financing commitments we could lawfully disclose.
One engineer asked why anyone should trust a company where the executives were attacking one another.
“Don't trust a speech,” I answered.
“Trust whether we keep our promises over the next ninety days.”
That evening, the former executive with access to the hidden server contacted Elena.
His name was Victor Hale.
He said he had resigned because Julian instructed him to falsify a vendor review.
When Victor refused, someone planted an expense violation in his personnel file.
He wanted his record corrected before speaking further.
Elena arranged for independent counsel to meet him.
We were careful not to trade outcomes for testimony.
Victor arrived at an off-site office carrying a tablet and a battered leather folder.
He described a private group that called itself the Strategy Circle.
Julian approved contracts.
Camilla handled external contacts.
Serena Price helped create vendors.
A fourth participant authorized unusual internal transfers.
Victor would not name that participant.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because the last time I named someone, they went after my family.”
He looked toward the window.
“I'm not asking you to believe me.”
He slid over a photograph of a whiteboard with a payment schedule and initials.
The fourth set of initials was M.R.
Before I could ask another question, Victor's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and ended the call.
“That's the third warning today,” he said.
Then he told us something that changed the direction of the investigation.
“The missing money wasn't all stolen.”
May you like
“Some of it was used to buy votes on your new board.”
