Now it involved financial records, a secret business relationship, and a possible motive for silencing Claire.
But the most important evidence was still missing.
Ethan's recording.
And the question of what Vanessa had been so desperate to erase.
The first person to break was Graham.
Not because investigators confronted him immediately.
They didn't.
They began by examining documents, tracing transactions, and comparing the accounts Claire had preserved against records obtained from the foundation and the businesses involved.
What emerged was a pattern of payments that couldn't be explained by ordinary consulting work.
Alder Point Advisory had received substantial sums for services described as environmental assessments, site preparation, and project coordination.
But the supporting evidence was inconsistent.
Some reports appeared to have been copied from unrelated projects.
Several invoices referred to work performed at properties where the necessary permits had not yet been issued.
And certain payments had been approved through a chain of transactions involving Graham's department at Whitmore Development.
The total amount under review grew beyond two million dollars.
I felt sick when the accountants explained the preliminary findings.
Not simply because of the money.
Because it was charitable funding.
The Harbor House Initiative existed to help families who needed stable housing.
That money represented donations made in good faith.
People had trusted Claire to ensure those resources were used responsibly.
And now the records suggested that people within our professional circle had diverted portions of those funds toward private interests.
One afternoon, Daniel sat across from me with a stack of documents.
He pointed toward several authorization records.
โJames, your name appears on some of these approvals.โ
My stomach tightened.
โI didn't approve those transfers.โ
He nodded.
โThat may be true. But we need to establish how your credentials or signature were used.โ
I studied the pages.
Some carried electronic approvals associated with my company account.
Others contained scanned signatures resembling mine.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I remembered a conversation with Graham several years earlier.
We'd been expanding into multiple states.
He complained that I was slowing down routine administrative work because I insisted on reviewing too many documents personally.
Eventually, we'd established delegated approval procedures for certain categories of expenditure.
There were limits.
Audit trails.
And internal controls.
At least, that's what I believed.
Now the investigators were examining whether those procedures had been misused.