His phone lit up on the table. For the briefest instant Evan saw a message preview asking whether the external files had been cleared, followed by the name Colin. Victor snatched the phone and began typing. Helen asked him to preserve any communications relating to the investigation and reminded him of the written preservation notice already issued. Victor ignored her and made for the door.
Evan stepped into his path before thinking, then caught himself. He had no authority to detain the chairman, and the last thing he wanted was for a case built on evidence to become an argument about a mechanic threatening an executive. He moved aside and said, "Don't erase another man's work to save yourself. That's how this started."
Victor stopped. His expression changed in a way Charlotte would remember for a long time, not because it proved a crime but because he seemed genuinely startled to hear the past described as something still alive. Then he looked toward the board's security officer waiting outside with counsel. The officer informed him that access to sensitive systems had been suspended under the committee's direction and asked him to cooperate with the preservation process. Victor refused to surrender his personal telephone without counsel, but he remained long enough for Helen to record that refusal and schedule an independent interview.
After he left, the room seemed exhausted. The independent directors voted to place Victor on temporary leave from the chairmanship, appoint Judith as acting chair, and prohibit conflicted participants from accessing the affected technical systems pending investigation. Charlotte submitted her own decisions for review, including the hiring of Evan and the authorization of an independent inquiry into Daniel's dismissal. She knew the process might expose mistakes she had made, and she preferred that to another investigation whose conclusions were chosen before the evidence.
Evan returned to the garage without waiting to hear every corporate motion. He had already answered the questions he was qualified to answer, and the smell of real machinery felt reassuring after the polished room where every sentence seemed to carry a hidden bargain. Nadia met him with an uncertain expression. News of the meeting was already spreading, though she knew better than to believe the first version she heard.
"Did they really suspend the chairman?" she asked.
"They put him on leave pending an investigation. That's different from proving he's guilty."
"You sound like Priya."
"She usually knows what she's talking about."
Nadia smiled, then held out a service ticket. Evan accepted it with a gratitude that would have embarrassed him to explain. The world had not stopped needing cooling pumps repaired just because his father's past was beginning to make sense. He checked the ticket, selected the appropriate tools, and got back to work.
In the days that followed, the investigation produced more concrete findings. Colin Pike, accompanied by his attorney, acknowledged that he had copied the prototype files after receiving instructions framed as preparation for a confidential valuation. He had not understood the full technical significance of the export, but the destination had been a secure account used by Horizon Mobility Capital rather than an authorized internal review team. Investigators later obtained records indicating Victor had approved the transfer and had discussed the delayed launch as an opportunity to acquire the subsidiary on favorable terms.