One belonged to Allison’s work account.
The other belonged to Preston’s assistant before Allison took over the position.
An event labeled Vendor Migration had been moved repeatedly before the first missing payment.
The older calendar showed an internal review meeting that did not appear in the final schedule.
Beth remembered the meeting because she had prepared a question about vendor addresses.
She said Preston told her the subject was postponed.
The archived invitation included an attachment listing the systems slated for transfer.
Nora compared the attachment with actual access logs.
She found that one administrative privilege remained active past the migration date.
The finding did not identify who used it, but it explained why an old authorization path could still reach a live account.
I had assumed a sophisticated theft required elaborate technology.
The vulnerability may have been partly bureaucratic.
Someone had failed to close a door in a system where too much money passed every day.
The lesson frightened me because it meant the same danger could exist anywhere people treated routine procedures as optional.
Chapter 31: The Board Meeting
Bellwether’s board arranged a meeting with representatives of the affected contractors.
The event took place in a hotel conference room that smelled of carpet cleaner and coffee.
Corporate counsel reviewed the boundaries of the discussion.
A board member named Harriet Moss said the company accepted that its controls had failed and that people had suffered real losses.
Luis asked why the contractors had needed to borrow money before Bellwether acknowledged the problem.
Harriet said the company had initially trusted incomplete reports.
I admired her willingness to say that but wanted a more specific explanation.
Grace asked when the firm would publish a plan for independent verification.
A compliance officer described several changes already underway.
He spoke in technical language.
June Mercer interrupted and asked whether a vendor could confirm that a bank account change was real before the next payment.
The officer paused, then answered yes.
June asked him to put that promise in writing.
Several people applauded quietly.
Rachel spoke about the apprenticeship fund and the importance of transparency to the trustees.
She did not accuse everyone in the room of dishonesty.
She asked them to remember the people for whom one lost payment could change a year.
Preston did not attend.
His absence made the room calmer but not easier.
At the end of the meeting Harriet approached me and asked whether I had any final concerns.
I told her the company should not measure success solely by money recovered.
