The board had barely resumed its discussion when Benjamin's assistant returned to the doorway. He did not interrupt with the alarm of somebody carrying gossip. He approached Angela, spoke softly, and handed over a printed notice. Angela read it, looked toward Evelyn, and nodded once.
"Federal investigators are in the building," she announced. "They're accompanied by counsel and have lawful process relating to records maintained by the chief legal officer's office. Our external legal team is coordinating access, and we're being instructed to preserve the relevant materials. This board meeting will remain separate from that process."
The room erupted into overlapping questions. Two directors asked whether anyone had been arrested. Another wanted to know whether the press had arrived outside. Marcus rose so quickly that his chair rolled backward, and Victoria watched him glance toward the hallway with an expression she had never seen on him before: fear without a ready explanation.
Through the glass wall beside the conference room, Daniel could see a small group entering the executive corridor. They wore ordinary suits and carried identification wallets, laptops, and document cases rather than any of the dramatic equipment imagined in television crime shows. A company attorney accompanied them while a security officer opened the doors they were authorized to enter. There were no shouted orders, no sudden weapons, and no theatrical announcement that the entire company had been seized.
Adrian Vale appeared at the far end of the hall, speaking to a lawyer who had arrived separately. When one of the investigators approached, Adrian stopped walking and listened, his expression composed. He signed an acknowledgment of the process being served, then continued into a private room with counsel. A few employees watched from their desks before returning to their screens, unsure what they had just witnessed.
Victoria stood. "Did you know they were coming today?" she asked Daniel.
"I knew the materials had been referred for review and that authorities might seek records," he replied. "I did not direct their schedule. I deliberately avoided that. I'm an investor, not a prosecutor."
"You could have warned me."
"About the records, I tried months ago," he said. "About law enforcement activity, that wasn't information I had a right to share, and interfering with the process would have been wrong." He watched her absorb the answer. "Victoria, this is not happening because you fired me. It's happening because records raised questions that deserve examination."
She looked toward Adrian, now disappearing into the conference room across the corridor. She remembered the years he had spoken for the company during difficult negotiations and the number of times she had accepted his legal conclusions without reading the underlying documents. He had been the adviser who made complexity disappear, and she had rewarded him for that convenience. The possibility that he had exploited her trust was painful. The possibility that she had taught him he could exploit it was worse.