After the call he went through the old photographs once more. His father appeared in an image taken at the downtown garage during a summer open house. A banner hung above the doors. Several men stood around the Ferrari, which was partly disassembled, and beside Edward was a dark-skinned mechanic with a slender face and a remarkably easy smile.
Victor examined the picture long enough for recognition to stir, but the man had turned slightly away from the camera. The service sheet bearing the name M. Carter lay beside it. Victor wondered whether he had met him, then returned the picture to the folder.
He had an urge to ask the house manager for Angela's personnel file, but the impulse troubled him. Learning about her through records would be another way of avoiding an actual conversation. He knew when she started work, how much she earned, and the dates of her approved leave. Those details could tell him almost nothing about the person who had spent seven years making his life easier. He decided to speak to her directly when she returned, if she was willing. The decision felt strangely difficult for a man who negotiated mergers without hesitation.
The damaged part was examined by a local independent specialist that afternoon. His preliminary assessment confirmed that it had previously been refurbished, that the bond showed deterioration, and that the identification area had been modified. He would not speculate about fraud until he reviewed its chain of custody. Greg's own examination found that the part had passed through two vendors after leaving a restoration warehouse, and that the final invoice's description was much more confident than the documentation supporting it. Victor listened to the report and asked Greg what safeguards they lacked. It was the first time he had asked that question without treating it as proof that somebody should be fired.
"We trusted the certificate," Greg said. "We were in a hurry, and it came from a name we've used before. I signed the intake record because I believed we had enough." Victor nodded. "What would you do differently?"
Greg answered after considering it. "Have somebody besides the lead mechanic verify critical components. Keep photographed measurements at installation. And when a replacement doesn't solve the fault, go back to the assumptions rather than ordering the next part." Victor wrote the suggestions down on the back of a service sheet. For years he had paid consultants to tell him how to improve the efficiency of organizations; today a mechanic was describing the value of slowing down.
At three thirty, Angela's small sedan arrived at the service entrance. Noah climbed out carrying his backpack with both straps on, his shoes damp from a puddle in the school parking lot. Before going into the garage, Angela stopped him beneath the awning. She straightened his hoodie and reminded him that he was there to learn, not to perform for an audience. Noah nodded. Then, with the solemnity of a child repeating a rule he genuinely intended to obey, he said, "I'll stay behind the line."