Sarah Whitcomb returned to the farm with permission from the state and Leah's approval. This time she spent hours there. She watched Kora change protective clothing, reviewed the health documents through authorized summaries, photographed the living flock, and spoke with Delia and Curtis independently. Her next article did not call Genevieve a criminal or declare Kora a hero. It laid out a timeline that ordinary readers could follow, beginning with the failed scanner report and ending with a documented flock that the company still insisted was worthless or dangerous depending on which claim served its purpose.
The article reached Harrington employees who had never heard of Copper Crest beyond a line in a quarterly research update. A retired quality manager contacted the university and explained that the program had been debated for years because it challenged the company's reliance on closely controlled breeding lines. Another worker described pressure to meet production targets even after technicians raised concerns. Neither person claimed to know why V-17 had been specifically discarded, but their accounts gave investigators reasons to look beyond the single maintenance ticket.
At Harrington headquarters, Victor Sloan requested a private conversation with Genevieve. He placed an updated risk assessment on her desk and said the company needed to withdraw the exaggerated claim of exclusive genetic ownership. The university agreement was clear enough on that point, and an adversarial hearing would make the weakness public. He also recommended an independent investigation of the disposal decision and the research reports.
"You want us to reward a woman who picked up our discarded stock?" Genevieve asked.
"I want us to stop making claims we cannot prove."
"Harrington invested millions in that program."
"So did taxpayers and the university. We signed an agreement reflecting that."
Genevieve stood. "You're supposed to protect the company."
Victor kept his seat. "That's what I'm trying to do. Protecting a company isn't the same as defending every decision the president made."
He left the meeting with his position uncertain. The following day he submitted a preservation request covering the scanner logs, program audits, disposal records, and internal communications. He also notified the company's board that the dispute posed material governance and contractual risks. When Genevieve learned of the notification, she described it to a colleague as an act of disloyalty. Victor wrote the remark down and continued his work.
In Cedar Hollow, rumors moved between farm gates and checkout counters. Some residents insisted Kora had been lucky and should accept any settlement rather than risk the land. Others were increasingly angry that a company with enormous resources was using lawyers to pursue a struggling widow who had paid to keep discarded animals alive. Kora tried not to measure her chances by what the town said. She had seen public sympathy shift too often to trust it with the fate of her farm.