Chapter 13 - The Name on the Lie
"She wouldn't do that," June said, staring at Maren's name.
"You don't know what she would do," Vanessa replied.
The officer examined the statement, then handed it back to the attorney. "This is an allegation, not a finding. We need to contact the signer."
"She's unavailable," said the attorney.
"How convenient," Talia said from behind him.
Talia held out her phone. Maren had sent a live video of herself sitting in a parked car with the seat belt across her chest. Her hands were unsteady, but her words were clear.
"I did not sign that accusation against June," Maren said. "I resigned because Mr. Marsh told me to backdate meeting minutes. I kept copies of the originals. I'm willing to talk to investigators."
Vanessa reached for Talia's phone. I shifted beside the reporter, and Vanessa stopped short. She remembered her ankle.
"You're destroying innocent people," Vanessa said to me, almost quietly.
"People who live in those apartments are innocent too."
The officer asked Talia to save the video and contact information. It wasn't magic evidence. Maren would have to give a formal account, and the documents would need to be checked. But Vanessa could no longer claim nobody would stand by June.
Graham returned from his hotel office with a battered accordion file. "This is the loan agreement I signed. I keep paper copies for a reason."
He laid it beside Colin's board packet. The first six pages matched. The seventh didn't.
My stomach tightened as I saw a paragraph labeled APPROVED DISPOSITION. It was absent from Graham's file and present in the packet the trustees had been asked to sign.
Frances reached for a pen and marked the difference.
"Somebody inserted a sale authority into a repair loan," she said.
Vanessa crossed her arms. "Or Graham brought an outdated version."
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"Then explain the version history," Graham said. "My assistant saved every revision."
He turned his phone toward the table. The final revision had been made from Vanessa's personal account.
