Lane's relationship with Arthur had begun in a room without any glamour. She introduced herself, asked him to describe the first letter he had received, and explained that she was not there to advance his company's reputation. If the investigation found failures in the board's oversight, or misconduct by executives Arthur liked, she would follow those facts as firmly as the ones concerning Kevin and Ryan. Arthur respected her more for that warning than he would have respected any promise of swift arrests.
"I built this airline," Arthur told her at that first meeting. "If people stole from its passengers while I stood outside smiling for photographs, I should be part of the questions you ask." Lane said she intended to remember that, and Vivian nodded approval. The company agreed to cooperate under formal instructions and preserve relevant records regardless of where the findings led. Arthur left the meeting feeling less powerful than he had when he entered, and strangely more hopeful.
By late afternoon, Lane's team had obtained sufficient support for additional judicial requests concerning certain financial records and suspected false documents. The timing of any enforcement action would depend on those authorizations and operational safety, not Arthur's preference. Vivian informed Arthur only that the formal investigation was advancing and that he should not speak publicly about its contents. She asked him to remain somewhere secure and let the investigators decide what happened next.
Arthur sat alone in an airport lounge open to ordinary travelers who paid a day fee. He had bought his own access, chosen a corner chair, and spent nearly an hour watching departures scroll across a screen while passengers hurried toward family and work. He was not certain where Lisa was, whether Anna was safe from retaliation, or whether Margaret would ever hear an honest answer. The uncertainty was difficult, but he had learned during Helen's illness that being unable to control an outcome did not mean one had nothing useful to do.
He called his daughter Caroline, a pediatrician in Richmond, and told her that he might be late getting home. She heard enough fatigue in his voice to ask whether the airline was giving him trouble. Arthur hesitated, then told her there was an internal matter he could not yet discuss and that he was safe. Caroline knew her father well enough not to press for confidential information, but she told him he sounded like he had spent all day trying to save a company that had forgotten to save him a seat.
"Your mother could have done this better than I am," Arthur admitted. Caroline was quiet for a moment, then said, "Mom would have gone looking for the person nobody listened to. Have you found that person yet?" Arthur thought of Lisa, Anna, Margaret, and the long list of names in the complaints file. "Yes," he said.
"More than one."