Chapter 10 - What Graham Had Ignored
Graham was alone in the hallway outside the Ash Room. He looked older than he had twenty minutes earlier.
"Vanessa planned the kick," I told him. "And her security chief planned the photograph. We have the burst shots."
He rubbed a hand down his face. "Why would she do that?"
"Because June and I were asking questions. If I looked dangerous, nobody would listen when I talked about the housing deal."
"You think she'd risk all this to distract people?"
"I think she believed everybody would applaud while she did it."
He looked through the glass at the charity board gathering around a table. "I got a letter last month. An anonymous warning about the budget. I forwarded it to Vanessa. She said it came from a disgruntled contractor. I asked Evelyn to keep you on tonight, hoping your old instincts would see what I refused to check."
"Did you check?"
"No." His voice cracked on the single word. "I was getting married. I wanted one part of my life to be easy."
I could have called him a coward. I thought about all the people living behind forty-four apartment doors, waiting for grown-ups with money to make the right decision.
"Easy for you can be expensive for them," I said.
He nodded, accepting it.
"The original loan agreement is in my office safe," he said. "It funds repairs only. No sale clause. If the board has another version, it's been altered."
"Will you say that publicly?"
"Yes."
"Even if it makes you look negligent?"
He met my eyes. "Especially then."
That was the first useful thing he'd said.
From inside the Ash Room came Vanessa's bright laugh. Graham pushed the door open, and conversation stopped. He walked to the table and asked for the final transaction packet.
May you like
Colin Marsh handed it over. Graham flipped three pages, then froze.
The page was a resident approval, not his loan authorization. Its first signature belonged to a woman who'd been dead for five months.
