Mara called shortly after noon.
They had found two cabinets labeled with old Saint Alden case numbers and one carton marked miscellaneous donations.
The cedar box was not there because it remained with Naomi.
An inventory of photographic negatives, mailing lists, and correspondence was being prepared.
Most items were not sensational.
They were copies of newspaper stories, settlement notices, and donor letters.
Then Mara said an audio cassette had been discovered in a small plastic sleeve inside Richard’s personal document folder.
“Is it Peter’s?”
Daniel asked.
“We don’t know.
There is no label identifying a speaker.
The attorneys have agreed to preserve it until an examiner can make a lawful copy.”
Daniel wanted to drive to the warehouse and demand to hear it immediately.
Instead he listened as Mara explained that physical tapes could be damaged by old players and that a proper transfer would establish what was present without altering the original.
She had already arranged for an independent audio specialist.
The difference between waiting and doing nothing began to matter to him.
Waiting could be a deliberate way to protect evidence from people desperate for answers.
That afternoon Richard called Daniel from his own number.
Daniel let the call go to voicemail.
The message began with an apology that sounded polished enough to have been rehearsed.
Richard said private matters had become unnecessarily entangled with historic grievances and offered to discuss a confidential resolution before either family suffered further embarrassment.
He added that Jessica’s employment could be reconsidered if Daniel showed restraint.
Daniel forwarded the recording to Mara and went for a long walk along the river.
He had once admired Richard’s confidence from a distance.
When Jessica received her promotion, Daniel had attended a company party and listened to Richard praise ambitious employees who took initiative.
Now the same confidence looked like an inability to distinguish people from obstacles.
Daniel recognized the temptation to answer with a threat of his own.
He also recognized how satisfying and dangerous that would be.
Jessica received a similar offer from an executive she barely knew.
If she signed an agreement describing her relationship with Richard as entirely consensual and unrelated to company business, Hale Meridian would provide three months of severance and a positive reference.
Priya advised her not to sign without reviewing the language and the documents underlying the investigation.
Jessica said she would rather lose the money than publish a false account.
Priya reminded her that the truth could include both her consent to an affair and Richard’s improper use of supervisory authority.
