And Maya Chen was wondering whether she would be blamed for allowing the wrong guest to reach the general manager's desk.
Elias remained in the hotel's executive conference room with Renee Price, who had arrived after completing the closing arrangements.
She wore a charcoal suit, carried two laptops, and had the expression of someone who had just discovered that an already complicated week was about to become substantially worse.
Elias showed her the preliminary findings.
She read the original reservation.
The room reassignment.
The Mariner Guest Services reference.
Then Owen Rivera's escalation history.
For nearly twenty minutes, she said nothing beyond asking for specific dates and document identifiers.
Finally, she leaned back.
“This is serious.”
Elias nodded.
“Yes.”
“We need to be careful about what we're looking at. A legitimate booking-partner arrangement can create differences between front-desk systems and payment records. But that doesn't explain everything here.”
“Agreed.”
She looked toward the report.
“The account discrepancies warrant independent reconciliation. The allegations about guest treatment and complaint suppression warrant separate review.”
Elias nodded.
“And the card incident?”
Renee looked toward him.
“Preserve the original video and witness accounts. Then have someone independent evaluate the manager's conduct under the applicable policies.”
He smiled faintly.
“You sound exactly like yourself.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Meaning?”
“You're refusing to let me fire everybody before dinner.”
Renee didn't smile.
“That's because buying a hotel chain doesn't make employment law disappear.”
Elias laughed softly.
Then became serious.
“I don't want a public spectacle.”
“Good.”
“I want the facts.”
“Better.”
She opened a new document.
Then looked directly at him.
“And I want you to remember that we haven't yet confirmed whether the former ownership group disclosed all of these issues during diligence.”
Elias frowned.
“You think the sellers knew?”
“I think we need to examine what was represented, what was discovered, and who had access to the information.”
She paused.
“The purchase agreement contains warranties and procedures for handling certain undisclosed liabilities. Those provisions may become important.”
Elias nodded.
He had spent eighteen months examining Crown Meridian.
The acquisition team reviewed financial statements, material contracts, litigation, and property conditions. But transaction diligence depended upon the quality of the information provided and the scope of the review.
If senior managers deliberately concealed transactions or misclassified revenue, some problems might not become visible until someone examined the underlying records more closely.
That didn't automatically excuse the buyer's oversight.
But it raised questions about responsibility.
Renee looked toward him.