“That process will take time.”
“Then you didn’t call to tell me anything useful.”
Imani laughed.
Ruth continued:
“Did they think I was stupid?”
Imani became quiet.
“Yes.”
Ruth did not respond immediately.
Then:
“That part I knew.”
The criminal investigation widened.
Charles Whittaker was placed on leave.
Samuel Keene surrendered.
Graham continued cooperating.
Rebecca did too.
Crown Performance Partners turned out to be partly owned by a trust benefiting three Sterling Crown executives.
Northbridge was controlled through layers of nominees.
Money from legacy accounts funded private-credit investments.
When returns were good, funds were quietly restored before clients noticed.
When returns failed, new client transfers covered older shortfalls.
Not exactly a traditional Ponzi scheme.
Close enough to feel familiar.
The stolen principal had become working capital for executives gambling with money they did not own.
Total affected assets:
Initially $38 million.
Then $74 million.
Then $121 million.
Eventually investigators identified $186 million in unauthorized or improperly documented transfers across ninety-three accounts.
Not all lost.
Much recoverable.
Some gone.
Sterling Crown faced survival questions.
A bank did not need to be insolvent for trust to collapse.
Customers began moving money.
Board members argued about a sale.
Regulators arrived.
Rating agencies called.
Employees worried about jobs.
Imani hated watching innocent people carry consequences created far above them.
Tellers.
Assistants.
Analysts.
Janitors.
Branch managers.
People who had never heard of Northbridge.
One afternoon she found Margaret Lee sitting alone inside the employee cafeteria.
No food.
Just coffee.
“You okay?”
Margaret laughed.
“Do you want the truthful answer?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Imani sat.
Margaret looked toward her.
“People downstairs think we’re closing.”
“Are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then say that.”
“They want reassurance.”
“False reassurance becomes betrayal later.”
Margaret rubbed her forehead.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No.”
“I make language simple.”
“Problems stay difficult.”
Margaret smiled weakly.
Then:
“I hate them.”
“Who?”
“Charles.”
“Graham.”
“Rebecca sometimes.”
“Everyone who made thousands of people afraid for their jobs.”
Imani looked toward her.
“Rebecca is not equivalent to Charles.”
Margaret frowned.
“She helped.”
“Yes.”
“She humiliated you.”
“Yes.”
“You defend her?”
“No.”
“I categorize accurately.”
Margaret stared.
Imani continued:
“Rebecca approved transfers she should have questioned.”
“She altered records.”
“She accepted suspicious bonuses.”
“She also did not design the system.”
“Charles and Graham had more authority.”
“More knowledge.”
“More gain.”
“If we flatten everyone into villain, the people with the most power disappear into the crowd.”
Margaret became quiet.
“Doesn’t anger you?”
“Constantly.”
“How do you not let it decide?”
Imani looked down at her hands.
“Practice.”