And other hotels had submitted similar exceptions through regional management channels.
Elias stared.
For a moment, the situation felt larger than he'd expected.
He'd planned to spend eighteen months improving the company's operating culture.
Now he might spend the first year simply discovering how some of its most important transactions had been recorded.
Then Renee asked.
“Do you want to call Lydia?”
Elias shook his head.
“Not before the investigation team secures the records and determines the appropriate interview process.”
Renee nodded approvingly.
He looked toward her.
“What?”
She smiled faintly.
“Nothing.”
Elias raised an eyebrow.
Then Renee answered.
“Most new owners would have called her screaming ten minutes ago.”
He looked toward the financial schedule.
For a moment, he seemed tired.
Then he said.
“Screaming won't reconcile the accounts.”
Lydia Pryce received the investigation notice on a Tuesday morning.
She was fifty-four, impeccably dressed, and known throughout Crown Meridian for her ability to improve hotel performance without appearing to spend more money.
Her regional portfolio had consistently reported strong margins.
She was admired by investors.
Respected by some general managers.
And feared by many department heads.
Lydia understood how to make executives feel confident.
She delivered concise presentations.
Rarely appeared uncertain.
And knew how to describe complicated operational problems using language that sounded reassuring.
But the Mariner Guest Services program had become a vulnerability.
She told herself it was an innovative distribution arrangement.
Hotels needed revenue.
Premium suites sometimes sat empty.
External luxury advisers could find guests willing to pay high package prices.
And conventional accounting systems didn't always capture complex commissions neatly.
Those explanations contained elements of truth.
But they didn't explain why the program was routed through entities connected to her family.
They didn't explain the absence of certain approvals.
And they didn't explain why ordinary guests were being displaced through unsupported payment-review exceptions.
Lydia knew the questions were coming.
She also knew Graham Voss had been careless.
He allowed the new owner to examine the original booking audit trail.
He permitted the night auditor to explain years of concerns.
And he failed to control the reception incident before the video circulated online.
In Lydia's mind, those were management failures.
She rarely stopped to consider whether the underlying conduct was wrong.
Then she received the preservation notice.
It instructed relevant personnel not to alter or destroy records concerning the Mariner program, executive allocations, payment-review exceptions, and related transactions.
The notice also explained that an independent investigation would examine the matters.