Chapter 11 - Nora's Questions
Ethan contacted Margaret Bell, the attorney who had handled Nora and Aaron's estate. He didn't demand her files. As executor, he asked what records he could lawfully review. Margaret checked her obligations before inviting him to her office.
Nora had delivered a folder two weeks before the crash. Inside were mismatched vendor invoices, questions for the foundation board, and a letter asking for an independent audit if she became unable to complete her review.
"She wasn't predicting her death," Margaret said. "She was planning for a meeting she expected to be difficult."
Ethan traced a number on the first page. Stillwater had billed for a youth program that never opened. Its supposed address belonged to an empty office suite.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"After Nora died, I notified the foundation's legal counsel that there were unresolved financial concerns. I was told the board had commissioned a review."
It hadn't. At least not a real one.
Ethan drove home with copies authorized by Margaret. He found me and Lily at the dining table making paper birds. Lily had folded one wing backward and was laughing at how badly it flew.
"Uncle Ethan, did you find Mom's papers?" she asked.
"Some of them. She was asking important questions."
Lily looked relieved, then anxious. "Vivienne said Mom got people in trouble."
"Your mom was trying to make sure money reached people who needed it."
She held up the crooked bird. "Then why was Vivienne mad?"
Ethan glanced at me. "That's what we're finding out."
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An email arrived from Samir while we cleared the table: Vivienne had claimed a board review was completed months earlier. The named accounting firm had no record of ever being hired.
A missing audit was turning into evidence of a deliberate lie.
