The attorney recommended notifying law enforcement only after establishing what crime, if any, could still be investigated.
The founder’s death was twenty-two years old.
Records might be gone.
Witnesses dead.
Statutes varied.
But fraud, ongoing concealment, false corporate filings, and current attempted destruction of evidence could be modern issues.
The CEO asked:
“Can I suspend demolition?”
The attorney stared.
“You are CEO.”
“I mean without alerting whoever ordered it.”
“Do you have a neutral operational reason?”
The father answered:
“Structural void.”
The attorney smiled.
“There.”
The CEO called the property officer.
She put the phone on speaker.
“I’m at the garage.”
The man sounded surprised.
“You went personally?”
“Yes.”
“We discussed that.”
“You said this tenant might become difficult.”
The father raised an eyebrow.
The CEO ignored him.
“We found an undocumented subsurface structure.”
Silence.
“How large?”
“Unknown.”
“You need to leave.”
That came too quickly.
The CEO’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Safety.”
“I’m fine.”
“Madam CEO, if there’s a void beneath slab—”
“Demolition is suspended.”
Silence.
Then:
“The crews are already mobilized.”
“Demobilize.”
“That will cost—”
“I don’t care.”
Another silence.
“Has anyone else been inside?”
The CEO looked at the attorney.
Interesting question.
She replied:
“Why?”
“No reason.”
“Standard liability.”
“Send me every survey performed on this property in the last eighteen months.”
“I’ll have staff—”
“You.”
“When?”
“Within thirty minutes.”
The property officer’s voice tightened.
“Yes.”
She hung up.
The attorney said:
“He knows.”
The CEO replied:
“He knows something.”
The father nodded.
“Different.”
She looked at him.
“You really enjoy correcting me.”
“No.”
The boy answered for him.
“Yes.”
The father sighed.
The CEO smiled despite herself.
Thirty minutes passed.
No survey.
Forty.
Then fifty.
The CEO called again.
No answer.
At sixty-three minutes, her attorney received a message from an independent contact inside the company.
The chief property officer had left headquarters.
His office assistant said he had been called into an emergency meeting with the chairman.
The CEO went quiet.
The attorney asked: