Rebecca did.
At 6:20, investigators found the first script.
LEGACY LIQUIDITY QUESTIONS — CLIENT RESPONSE GUIDE.
Suggested phrases:
temporary balance normalization
historic mandate alignment
multigenerational tax optimization
deferred reconciliation
no permanent impairment of beneficiary value
Imani read it twice.
Beautiful language.
Meaning almost nothing.
One line disturbed her most:
Avoid providing line-item destination detail unless escalated through regional wealth leadership.
In other words:
Keep clients from seeing where their own money went.
The next morning, Sterling Crown’s chief executive flew in from New York.
Charles Whittaker entered the branch through a private elevator.
No lobby.
No cameras.
Sixty-three.
White.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Thirty-eight years in banking.
Known publicly for lectures about fiduciary responsibility.
He asked for Imani.
They met in a boardroom overlooking Chicago.
Charles sat at the head of the table.
Imani refused to sit opposite him.
She chose the side.
That forced him to turn when speaking to her.
Small choices mattered.
He said:
“I understand yesterday became unnecessarily confrontational.”
Imani looked toward him.
“A banker threw court papers onto the floor.”
“I’ve seen the report.”
“Have you watched the camera footage?”
“No.”
“You should.”
Charles folded his hands.
“We are cooperating fully.”
“Good.”
“However.”
There it was.
“We need proportionality.”
Imani smiled faintly.
“Money always discovers that word after it gets caught.”
Charles ignored the remark.
“Sterling Crown manages thirty-one billion in client assets.”
“A broad freeze or public suggestion of instability could harm innocent customers.”
“I agree.”
He seemed surprised.
Imani continued:
“That is why the order is narrow.”
Charles nodded.
“Good.”
“We have no interest in destabilizing the institution.”
“Good.”
“Then we should discuss a controlled review.”
Imani looked at him.
“What does controlled mean?”
“Confidential.”
“It already is.”
“Limited.”
“To what?”
“The nineteen accounts.”
Imani smiled.
“No.”
His face changed.
“Why?”
“Because one of your senior bankers just identified three executive names attached to internal approvals.”
Charles remained perfectly still.
“Who?”
Imani watched.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“You asked who.”
“Not what approvals.”
Charles’s eyes narrowed.
She continued:
“People who don’t know anything usually ask what happened.”
“People who know something ask who talked.”
Charles leaned back.
“You’re implying a great deal.”
“No.”
“I’m observing.”
He smiled.
Cold.
“You enjoy this.”
Imani’s expression hardened.
“What?”
“Making powerful people uncomfortable.”
Silence.
He continued:
“I’ve met investigators like you.”
“You arrive already convinced wealth is evidence.”
Imani looked toward him.
“My father lost a business because a bank made an error.”
Charles smiled slightly.