Chapter 17 - The Evidence That Had a Cost
Severin's email contained forty-three screenshots and a written timeline.
One message, sent three days before graduation, said: She has my ID picture. What if the lender calls Dahlia?
Tatum replied: They won't. The finance email comes to my office. Stop panicking.
Another message, sent an hour before the party, was shorter.
Film Dorinda when I make the scene. She'll do the rest.
There it was.
My temper had not created Tatum's fraud, but she'd counted on it to bury the evidence.
Melanie made secure copies and told Severin to give the originals to investigators through his own attorney.
He did.
He also admitted that he'd falsely signed as a witness and submitted the vendor support letter.
He wasn't guaranteed immunity for telling the truth.
Dahlia read his timeline without speaking.
“Is he asking me to forgive him?” she finally asked.
“No,” I said.
“He's finally telling you what happened.”
The lender's fraud team responded that afternoon.
Its application audit showed a guarantor email created from an office computer associated with Tatum's company.
The phone number used for verification was a catering business line.
The signature on the application matched the one copied from Dahlia's volunteer release.
The lender suspended collection against Dahlia while it completed its investigation.
Melanie warned us not to call that a final release.
Dahlia nodded.
For the first time all week, she looked as if she could breathe.
Nina also contacted Melanie again.
After receiving advice from her own lawyer, she agreed to authenticate the work emails she had personally sent and received.
She wasn't going to give a television interview.
She was going to tell the truth in a room where it mattered.
That night Dahlia asked Harper to prepare a short version of the full graduation video.
It showed Tatum pushing the fountain and ended before my punch.
“People need to know what started this,” I said.
Dahlia looked at me.
May you like
“And they need to know what happened after.”
She told Harper not to cut the final part.
