She died on March 19th, 2023. She was 40. And in the last 9 weeks of her life, I sat in a chair by a bed and I promised her one thing, one, because that's all I could think of to give her. He looked at Victoria Sterling. I promised her I'd raise Lily to be somebody who does the right thing when it costs.
Mr. Carter, do you know what happens if I take your money? His voice never rose. My daughter finds out. Not tomorrow.
10 years, 20 years, she finds out because they always find out. And then everything I ever told her about her mother becomes a story a man told to make himself feel better. He picked up his backpack. You threatened me with family services. Ma'am, I've already lost the thing you can't threaten me with.
There's nothing left on the shelf. He walked to the door. At 1: 59 with his hand on the handle, Ethan Carter turned around. One more thing and then I'm gone. Say it.
You keep asking everybody in this building whether you knew, he said. I've heard it three times through three different people since yesterday. Did Victoria know? Did Victoria know? He looked at her.
Ma'am, I don't have to prove you knew. Then you don't have a case. I have to prove you didn't want to. Victoria went still. March 4th, Ethan said.
Financing call, 11 participants. Your compliance system flags every call attached to a financing matter and holds it past the 90-day window. He watched her face. Marcus Hale gave a proffer this morning at 8: 15. He described that call under penalty.
And at 9: 45, a federal preservation order went to your IT vendor for the audio. That's not possible. It's already done. Gerald Vance said in a completely different voice. Victoria, what's on the call?
She didn't answer. Victoria. I said what I always say, she said. I said I didn't want anything in the package that gave Northbridge a reason to blink. I was talking about the presentation deck.
That's not what Marcus proffered, Ethan said. Then Marcus is lying to save himself. Maybe he is. That's what the audio's for. At 2: 06.
Maya Reynolds pulled a single sheet out of her bag and set it in the middle of the table and did not slide it toward anybody. Ms. Sterling, that's a transcript excerpt. 41 seconds of a call your company recorded, retained, and produced under order this morning at 11: 15. Your outside counsel already has it.
I genuinely have expected somebody to walk it in here by now. Gerald reached for it. Victoria said, "Don't. " He read it anyway. Gerald Vance read 41 seconds of a phone call from 4 months earlier, and then he set the page down and took his glasses off and put them on the table and rubbed both eyes with the heels of his hands, and he said, "Oh, Victoria. " Gerald, "Oh, Victoria. " At 2: 08, Ethan Carter said the thing that ended it. "Marcus Hale told you there was a problem with the criticals, " he said.
"Not in writing, on that call. He said, {quote} 'We've got a count issue on the criticals, and it's going to be ugly for the package. '" Ethan's voice was very quiet. "And you said, {quote} 'Marcus, I don't want to know. Get it where it needs to be, and I don't want to know. '" The room did not make a sound. "That's the whole thing, " Ethan said.
"That's all of it. Six words. I don't want to know. " He shouldered his backpack. "Ms. Sterling, I've spent 18 years reading these files, and I'll tell you something for free because you asked me a real question earlier, and I think you deserve a real answer.
It's almost never the villain. It's almost never a person who wants people hurt. It's a person who has one bad afternoon and decides that not knowing is the same as not doing. " Victoria Sterling looked at the table. "1, 200 people, " Ethan said. "August 4th, and Ray downstairs has a boy on the list. " He opened the door.
"Mr. Carter. " He stopped. Victoria didn't look up. "Was it nine criticals? " she said. "Or was it 14 findings?
I've heard both, and I don't actually know which. " Ethan stood in the doorway for a second. "Ma'am, " he said. "That's the first question you've asked in 2 days that had a right answer to it. It's 14 findings, nine of them critical, and the worst one is number one, and it's not the hydrogen line. He let the door swing.
It's the roof loading over bay three. If that goes, it goes on a shift change. Then he left at 2: 41. Claire Donovan called an emergency meeting of the audit committee and released the complete internal audit file to all 11 board members unredacted, including the metadata report showing that the author field on the April summary memo had been stripped on the 10th of April at 6: 52 p. m. from a workstation registered to the Marion County site office. At 3: 10, Renata Osai was called to the 12th floor and told to bring her laptop, and she rode the elevator up with her whole career in her hands.
And Claire Donovan met her at the door and said, "Ms. Osai, I'm going to ask you to say out loud what you did, and then I'm going to ask you to say it again to 11 people in the room. And I want you to know before you decide that I will not let anything happen to you. " Renata said, "I sent it to a reporter. " "I know you did. " "Am I fired? " "You're promoted, " Claire said, "effective when I can get somebody to sign it. Come on. " At 3: 32, Ethan Carter got a phone call in a parking garage. "Mr.