Several items required reconciliation.
A few supporting documents appeared to have been created after the work dates they purported to summarize.
And certain invoices contained charges that couldn't be matched immediately to completed maintenance tasks.
Meridian's CEO convened her investment and technical advisers that evening.
She had changed into a simple black blouse and tailored trousers.
Her extraordinary blue dress hung in a garment bag beside the conference room.
The sunglasses rested on the table.
The acquisition remained on hold.
The buyer's funds remained in the designated transaction accounts.
No one had lost eight hundred million dollars.
But the transaction couldn't proceed in its current form.
Her investment officer looked toward the technical findings.
“We could exclude the questionable aircraft.”
The CEO considered that.
“How many?”
“Potentially several, depending on what the review establishes.”
She nodded.
“What about the maintenance provider's work on the rest of the fleet?”
The technical director leaned forward.
“That's the issue. We need to determine the scope.”
The CEO looked toward the aircraft schedule.
“Could there be legitimate records for everything?”
“Yes.”
“Could some work require repetition or additional verification?”
“Yes.”
“Could there be more serious problems?”
“Possibly.”
She leaned back.
“Then we don't know enough.”
The room became quiet.
The investment officer sighed.
“The sellers are going to hate a delay.”
The CEO looked toward him.
“I know.”
“Lenders may become nervous.”
“I know.”
“We've already spent millions on diligence.”
“I know.”
He hesitated.
“Are we prepared to walk away?”
She looked toward the technical report.
Then answered.
“If we can't establish what we're purchasing, yes.”
The investment officer nodded slowly.
The CEO continued.
“But I don't want us to confuse an unresolved problem with an unsalvageable business.”
She looked around the table.
“There are hundreds of people whose livelihoods depend on Crestline.”
The technical director nodded.
“Pilots. Mechanics. Dispatchers. Cabin crews.”
“Exactly.”
The CEO leaned forward.
“If the company has records problems, those need to be corrected. If management misrepresented information, that needs to be addressed. But I don't want us making decisions based on spectacle.”
The investment officer looked toward the red closing-status report.
The CEO continued.
“We're going to follow the evidence.”
She paused.
“Not the billionaire's ego. Not ours.”
By the next morning, photographs of the hangar confrontation were circulating online.