Not huge.
Twenty-five cents here.
Fifty there.
Small enough to escape outrage.
Enough across hundreds of payroll weeks to matter.
Henrietta turned one page.
“Who authorized this?”
Beckett said:
“The board approved cost stabilization.”
“Board?”
He named three investors.
Not Emily.
Henrietta stared at her.
Emily’s jaw tightened.
“They voted while I was in Cheyenne.”
Henrietta looked back at Beckett.
“Did employees agree?”
“It’s standard deduction.”
“That was not question.”
Beckett’s patience cracked.
“Mrs. Lawson, with respect, the company is not a trail camp anymore.”
The room went silent.
Henrietta sat back.
“No.”
“Apparently not.”
Beckett continued, encouraged by his own courage.
“We employ hundreds.”
“We compete with national firms.”
“Sentiment cannot drive every operating decision.”
Henrietta almost admired him.
At least he had stopped pretending.
“Do you think feeding workers is sentiment?”
“No.”
“Then which part?”
“The insistence on above-market provisions.”
“Above-market wages.”
“Open-ledger review.”
“Those systems made sense when you knew every rider personally.”
“They limit scale.”
Henrietta looked around.
Young clerks listened without looking.
A driver at doorway had stopped.
Beckett continued.
“We need professional management.”
Caleb’s eyebrows rose.
Henrietta raised one hand before he spoke.
She looked at Beckett.
“You think I am unprofessional.”
“I did not say.”
“You did.”
“Do you know why we kept two ledgers in first wagon?”
Beckett sighed.
“Yes.”
“The Higgins fraud.”
“You read plaque.”
“I know history.”
“No.”
Henrietta’s voice remained calm.
“You know story.”
“History is what systems were built to prevent.”
Beckett said:
“Jasper Higgins was one thief.”
“So was Amos Jenkins.”
“Two.”
“The system was designed around a different era.”
Henrietta nodded.
“Greed has changed since?”
No answer.
She pointed at payroll.
“You reduced worker pay through deductions most never approved.”
“Maintenance benefits them.”
“Then explain and ask.”
“They would refuse.”
Henrietta smiled.
“That is information.”
Beckett’s face hardened.
“You cannot run a major company by asking every employee permission for every expense.”
“No.”
“But you can refrain from taking their money without telling them.”
The driver near doorway looked down.
Henrietta saw.
She asked:
“What is your name?”
He looked surprised.
“Daniel Reyes.”
“How long here?”
“Three years.”
“Did you know about maintenance deduction?”
“I saw line.”
“Did anyone explain?”
“No, ma’am.”
“How much last year?”
He hesitated.
Beckett began:
“Mrs. Lawson—”
Henrietta held hand.
Daniel answered:
“About eleven dollars.”
Eleven dollars.
Henrietta thought of her first thirty-dollar goat budget.