Altha recognized the surname. Evelyn's husband had once carried bags at Monroe House, and when he died, the community fund paid for temporary housing while Evelyn found her footing. Altha closed her eyes for a moment, remembering a broad smile and a man who played gospel records in the kitchen after the dinner rush. The same system that had helped his family was now being dismantled to increase a payout for investors who would never meet them.
Miriam handed Elias a second folder marked executive consulting. The bank statements came from records she had been allowed to access during routine financial reviews, although she was careful not to claim they represented a complete audit. They showed regular payments to entities with no obvious connection to hotel operations. A recurring transfer of approximately $47,000 a month to an offshore account had been characterized alternately as strategic consulting, executive compensation, and a development advisory retainer.
"I started seeing those entries after the finance department changed its reporting system in 2018," she explained. "When I asked whether the costs affected staffing, I was told they were above my pay grade. Last month, another large payment appeared just before Preston announced the sale." Elias wrote down the dates without interrupting. Altha studied the documents with the practiced attention of someone who had spent her earliest years counting every dollar twice.
There was a handwritten note on one payment authorization that disturbed her more than the numbers. It referred to distributions from a community reserve account and included Preston Vale's initials. For years, that reserve had paid emergency lodging charges and assisted former staff who could no longer afford their rent. The money had been restricted to specific purposes, and transferring it for a private executive benefit would raise serious questions regardless of who held the controlling shares.
"We need records that can be authenticated independently," Elias said. "Your copies tell us where to look, Miriam, but we're not going to ask you to risk your life grabbing documents you aren't entitled to take." Miriam appreciated that he did not expect heroics from someone whose job was already threatened. She agreed to preserve materials she had obtained lawfully, identify people with relevant knowledge, and help counsel seek official records through proper channels.
Altha watched her grandson with approval. Elias had been overseas in places where confidence could get people hurt faster than ignorance, and he had returned with a dislike of unnecessary risk. His instinct was to protect the person giving information before chasing the next revelation. Altha recognized the same instinct in Thomas, who had always reminded her that saving a building was pointless if the people inside it were forgotten.
They spent the next hour building a list of priorities. They needed the complete trust charter, evidence of the ownership transfers following the fire, bank records tracing the housing money, and witnesses who remembered the original obligations. They also needed immediate legal help for the tenants facing displacement, regardless of whether Altha could prove her ownership before Saturday. As Miriam packed her folders, she admitted she had been afraid all night that nobody would believe her.