"And you waited until I fired you?"
Daniel shook his head. "No. I filed reports, asked for reviews, and spoke to you six months ago; I tried before that, too. Your audit channel received warnings that should have prompted questions whether they came from me, from a warehouse technician, or from somebody who had never bought a share in anything."
He paused and looked around the table. "I also waited too long to insist that the board intervene. My reasons seemed sound at the time, but some people may have suffered while I tried to prove a theory about leadership. That is a mistake I intend to correct, not explain away."
His willingness to acknowledge responsibility changed the room. Victoria was accustomed to executives defending themselves by producing more impressive titles, more selective documents, or more detailed explanations of why a problem belonged somewhere else. Daniel had just told a room full of directors that his own judgment deserved scrutiny. Angela leaned forward, suddenly more interested in the man than in the value of his shares.
Evelyn activated the screen at the end of the table. A timeline appeared, beginning with the acquisition of two industrial software companies and continuing through a series of consulting agreements, supplier renegotiations, and unusual transfers of intellectual-property rights. Each entry carried a date, an approving office, and a reference to supporting records held by independent counsel. Daniel did not ask the directors to accept his interpretation. He asked them to look at the sequence.
"Hale Meridian purchased a company called Meridian Vector for a price supported by its patents and service contracts," he began. "Within eight months, a subsidiary transferred exclusive licensing rights to a consulting vehicle with no employees. The stated justification was a regional distribution strategy. We could not identify the underlying services that would explain the fee."
He moved to the next entry. "A second company, Solace Systems, experienced repeated budget cuts and supplier-payment delays shortly after acquisition. Internal forecasts predicted the problems, yet those forecasts were excluded from presentations to the board. While the valuation fell, companies linked through intermediaries began buying pieces of its debt."
Marcus frowned at the screen. "Those purchases were legal. I reviewed them."
"Some individual purchases may have been legal," Daniel agreed. "The question is whether the overall structure was arranged to create distress for the benefit of someone able to profit from it. We are not asking this board to conclude that a crime occurred merely because transactions look unusual. We are asking for an independent investigation with complete access to the records."
Victoria examined the names and dates. Several approvals bore her signature, though the summaries attached to them had omitted material information. Others had been made under delegated authority by Marcus or the chief legal officer. She felt a mounting anger, but the target kept shifting. She was angry at the people who might have deceived her, angry at herself for relying on them, and angry that she could not tell how much of the damage had already become irreversible.