"A better solution to what?" she asked during the emergency call. "To the risk or to the fact that somebody might discover it?"
Graham rubbed his temple. "You know what I mean."
"Then say it clearly. Are you asking me to keep clients uninformed about a risk in an agreement they signed with us?"
No one answered. She took the silence as a decision not to press that suggestion again.
Callan reviewed the emerging findings from his own desk at home, where a purple drawing of a horse was taped beside the computer monitor. He was relieved that the clients had been told. He was also frightened by the scale of what the company's leadership had allowed to happen. He had designed the original model as a way to make complicated financial promises more honest, not as a tool for executives to hide the conditions beneath them. Seeing his work used as decoration around risky decisions made him question whether returning even as a consultant was a mistake.
He called Dana and said he wanted to end his engagement at the agreed date rather than extend it automatically. She did not argue. When Vivian learned of the decision, she requested one final conversation to understand whether the company had missed any important handover needs. Callan agreed on the condition that it would be a conversation, not a recruitment meeting.
They met after lunch in a quiet room overlooking the river. Vivian wore a dark green blouse beneath a cream jacket and carried no folder. For the first few minutes they discussed the remaining technical questions, the team taking ownership of the rules, and the timetable for validating the corrected controls. Callan was satisfied that Samir and Nadia had the necessary knowledge and authority. They did not need him as a permanent emergency line.
"I'm glad," Vivian said. "Though I suspect part of me would feel safer keeping you on the phone forever."
"That would be a failure of the process."
"I know."
She looked at him across the table. "I want to ask why you never came directly to me. Not as a defense of what happened. I genuinely want to understand."
Callan considered. "I tried once, two years ago. I sent a note through the executive feedback channel about authorship and risk reporting. It was redirected to Blaine's office for resolution. He called me in the next day and asked why I was going over his head. After that, I knew the channel wasn't going where it claimed to go."
Vivian stared at him. "I never saw it."
"I assumed you wouldn't."
She looked down, then back at him. "I can change the channel."
"You can. But the real test is what happens to the next employee who uses it and says something your senior team doesn't want to hear."
"You're right."