A separate elevator carried executives to the offices through a lobby with polished stone walls.
Luis had once been sent upstairs to deliver coffee during an inspection.
He remembered a storeroom labeled Historical Files near the conference rooms.
After Samuel’s appearance, someone ordered the storeroom emptied before the weekend.
A night cleaner named Amara Price told Luis that boxed papers were being moved to a private storage facility.
He did not ask her to interfere with the work.
He asked whether she would describe what she had seen to an attorney.
Amara agreed on the condition that her immigration status and personal details remain private.
Naomi arranged a confidential meeting in a borrowed conference room at a community center.
Amara explained that the boxes carried old restaurant logos and date labels stretching back several decades.
Some boxes had been opened and resealed with fresh packing tape.
She recognized the initials E.P. on a few index cards because a supervisor had warned the cleaning team not to discard anything marked that way.
Naomi asked whether she could identify the moving company.
Amara produced a work order she had been instructed to place in the office manager’s tray.
The order listed a warehouse in an industrial district west of the river.
Naomi thanked her and explained that only a proper legal request could secure the boxes without endangering the evidence.
I appreciated that she did not invite anyone to sneak into the building.
The temptation would have been strong for people who felt the company had already taken enough.
Robert’s lawyers filed a preservation demand later that afternoon.
The landlord’s representatives answered that the move was routine record consolidation unrelated to the ownership dispute.
Naomi pointed out that records had remained in the same room for years until Samuel appeared publicly.
The timing did not prove destruction, but it justified questions about custody.
A judge soon ordered relevant historical documents preserved while a hearing was scheduled.
The order did not decide who owned the building.
It required all parties to maintain records and report where they were stored.
Robert showed me the order when we met at Naomi’s office.
He looked relieved that someone else would take responsibility for deciding what must be preserved.
I asked why he still employed Leon Farrow after learning about the questionable transfer.
Robert said an internal review had been started and that changing counsel would not repair the acquisition overnight.
I wanted to tell him that employees did not get months to investigate before being removed from a shift.
