"Because I'm the complainant," Diana said.
"Because you're the complainant, the founder, and the person who can make Patricia feel there is no point in presenting her account. The decision needs to be fair enough to withstand scrutiny from people who don't know you."
Diana rested her free hand on the crooked showcase. Her immediate impulse was to reject any process that slowed an obvious decision. But she had once vowed to build a company where power did not determine truth, and that vow had to apply even when she held the power. "All right," she said. "You chair the review with HR. I will give my statement like any other witness."
Naomi paused. "That is the most useful thing you could have said."
A company investigator arrived an hour later, accompanied by a regional operations director who had never looked more uncomfortable. They arranged interviews in a room normally used for private jewelry consultations. Patricia gave her account first with HR present, Kevin and Ashley were interviewed separately, and Marcus supplied a written incident timeline. Diana spent forty minutes with Naomi and the investigator answering questions without looking at notes until asked for details she had already recorded on her phone.
"Did you tell Patricia you were the CEO when you entered?" the investigator asked.
"No. I came as a customer."
"Did you deliberately conceal your identity to provoke a reaction?"
"I didn't volunteer my title," Diana said. "That isn't the same as provoking someone. I asked to see merchandise displayed for sale, and I remained polite until I needed to challenge what was happening."
The investigator made a note. "Had you received concerns about this location before today?"
Diana hesitated. She thought of the customer-service dashboard, the decreasing walk-in conversions, and the complaints marked resolved with vague explanations. "Yes," she said. "Not enough to establish misconduct, but enough to make me concerned. I should have acted on the trend sooner."
That acknowledgment felt important. A founder could not reasonably know every conversation in forty-seven stores, yet the company had been designed around its values and Diana had approved the structure that supposedly protected them. She had delegated hiring, performance assessment, and complaint review to teams she trusted. Trust was necessary, but it could not be the entire control system.
Kevin supplied his notebook when the investigator asked whether he had noticed previous incidents. It contained dates, brief descriptions, and the wording he remembered from conversations with visitors. He explained that he had not wanted to accuse a manager unfairly and that several incidents could have been interpreted in more than one way when considered separately. The investigator thanked him for recording observations without writing conclusions as facts.
One note concerned a Black couple who had asked to see diamond bands for a renewal ceremony. They had been directed to a less expensive display after stating a budget comfortably within the higher collection's range. The couple later purchased elsewhere and sent a complaint describing the experience. Patricia had closed the complaint as a misunderstanding, writing that the customers appeared resistant to her recommendations.