Later that day, Maya received a call from the bank's legal department. The institution would not reveal private internal deliberations merely because Ashworth Capital requested them, but it confirmed that no government fraud charge or enforcement notice formed the basis of the temporary hold. It also acknowledged concerns about the source and accuracy of the allegation that had triggered additional review.
That was a major difference from Preston's presentation to the board. He had implied that regulators were formally investigating Malik. The bank was actually checking a claim provided through a private reporting channel.
Malik sat back when he heard the clarification.
"So he lied again."
Maya looked at him. "We can say the memo materially mischaracterized the bank's position. We still need evidence linking Preston to the original allegation before we say he caused the hold."
Odell nodded. "Then that's what we find."
The bank moved quickly once it received the complete records. Its senior compliance officer, Helen Ward, had twenty years of experience investigating unusual transactions. She was not interested in Yarrow Industries' press controversy. She wanted to know whether the capital being transferred was lawful, properly documented, and coming from the identified investors. The fund's audited records answered those questions.
What worried her was the alert's origin. Its supporting description had been submitted through a professional contact who claimed to have reason for concern but supplied no meaningful corroboration. The wording included phrases that appeared in Preston Yarrow's later board memorandum. That overlap alone wasn't conclusive, but it justified further examination.
Helen referred the matter to the bank's legal and internal investigations staff. They confirmed that the contact who initiated the concern had been Charles Morrow, an external consultant without direct involvement in the investment. Charles had sent the tip after speaking with a Yarrow Industries executive. When asked to support the allegation, he could not provide the documentary basis he'd implied existed.
Bank investigators preserved the relevant messages and contact records. The information was shared with the appropriate parties through counsel and formal requests. Nobody at Ashworth Capital was invited to poke through the bank's confidential systems. They received the confirmations they were entitled to, while the bank handled the conduct of its own personnel and outside contacts.
Meanwhile, Diane Kesler reached a decision she'd been avoiding for days. She asked for a private meeting with independent board counsel, not Preston's personal attorneys. Susan Bellamy attended as audit committee chair. Diane arrived carrying a notebook and a folder of work records.
"I wrote the first press statement," she began. "I knew it omitted material facts. Preston dictated the language."
Susan studied her. "Are you willing to say that in a signed account?"
Diane swallowed. "Yes."
She explained the instructions she'd received: call Malik unidentified, describe the detention as routine, omit Preston's role, and discourage reporters from treating the encounter as a serious incident. She described his later demand that she seed unsupported doubts about Ashworth Capital. She had resisted issuing a false allegation herself, but she had delayed reporting his instructions.