Later, he suggested that someone had placed it near his seat.
Each explanation was documented.
The investigators didn't assume that inconsistency alone proved every allegation.
But the shifting accounts increased the importance of preserving the physical evidence.
The CFO remained unusually quiet.
He described himself as a witness who hadn't seen any tampering.
He said the waitress appeared suddenly aggressive.
And he emphasized how traumatic the incident was for the chairman.
But Daniel noticed something.
When the vial first appeared, the CFO didn't look surprised.
He looked alarmed.
As though an unexpected event had disrupted a plan he believed was already settled.
Daniel didn't treat an expression as proof.
He had spent too many years watching witnesses behave unpredictably under stress.
But he recorded the observation in his private notes.
And he began paying closer attention to the CFO's efforts to influence how the incident was described.
At midnight, Naomi returned to the staff changing room.
Most employees had already left.
The restaurant's upper floors were quiet.
She sat on the wooden bench beside her locker and stared at the red-and-white uniform she was still wearing.
For the first time, she began crying.
She wasn't sure whether she felt frightened, angry, or simply exhausted.
Perhaps all three.
She thought of the billionaire's face when he ordered her arrested.
The nephew insisting she was lying.
And the shattered antique bowl that had been part of someone's family history long before she was born.
She knew why she'd acted.
But she also knew how easily powerful people could frame the incident differently.
A Black waitress became angry after being humiliated.
She struck an expensive object out of a wealthy guest's hand.
Then accused his relative of something she couldn't immediately prove.
The story could be made to sound terrible.
And she couldn't stop imagining how it might affect her future.
Mei entered quietly.
For a moment, she stood in the doorway.
Then sat beside her.
Naomi wiped her face.
"I'm sorry."
Mei shook her head.
"Don't apologize yet."
Naomi looked up.
The older woman continued.
"We need to know what happened before deciding what anyone should apologize for."
For several seconds, Naomi was quiet.
Then whispered.
"What if they say I made it up?"
Mei looked directly at her.
"Then we establish the facts."
Naomi gave a shaky laugh.
"Everybody keeps saying that."
Mei smiled.
"Because the facts are the part we can work with."
She placed one hand over Naomi's.
"And you don't have to do it alone."
Naomi called her mother after leaving the restaurant.
It was late, but her mother was awake.
She had been watching television in the Atlanta apartment where she'd lived since returning from Japan.