There are administrative costs.”
“Uniform deductions?” Daniel asked.
“Standard.”
“Maria bought her own uniform.”
“Training fees.”
“She was never trained.”
“Transportation.”
“She takes two buses and pays the fare herself.”
Victor’s smile tightened.
“Crownstone employs hundreds of people.
Mistakes happen.”
Priya opened a second folder.
“Seventeen cleaners assigned to Mercer buildings have identical deductions,” she said.
“The amounts change, but the pattern does not.
During the last eight months, at least $186,420 paid for worker wages was redirected into three consulting accounts.”
The room became silent except for the soft sound of Noah drinking from his bottle.
Victor looked at the officers.
“This is a contract dispute.
It has nothing to do with the police.”
“The planted jewelry does,” one officer replied.
Victor’s eyes moved toward Brenda with sudden fury.
Brenda stepped backward.
“You told me to handle her,” she said.
Victor’s face hardened.
“I told you to address an employee problem.
I did not tell you to commit a crime.”
“You were standing beside me.”
“Be careful.”
The threat was quiet, but everyone heard it.
Daniel looked at Maria.
“Do you have your previous pay stubs?”
Maria nodded slowly.
She crossed the kitchen and opened a drawer beneath the counter.
From behind a stack of school papers, she removed a rubber-banded bundle of envelopes.
“I kept everything,” she said.
“I thought maybe I was adding it wrong.”
She placed the bundle on the table.
Emily had watched her mother study those slips late at night, moving numbers across the back of grocery receipts and pressing both hands against her forehead.
Maria had blamed herself for never making the money stretch far enough.
Daniel’s anger finally showed.
“You weren’t adding it wrong.”
Maria turned toward Victor.
“You told me the deductions were legal.”
Victor shrugged.
“You signed the employment agreement.”
“You never let me read it.
Brenda covered the pages and showed me where to sign.”
“You could have walked away.”
“With a baby at home?” Maria asked.
“With rent due? You knew I couldn’t.”
Victor did not answer.
He did not need to.
His expression said that her desperation had been the point.
Priya began photographing the pay stubs.
Several included charges for damaged equipment that Maria had never used.
Others listed health-insurance premiums even though every clinic had told Maria she had no active coverage.
That discovery struck harder than the missing wages.
Noah’s pneumonia had left Maria with thousands of dollars in hospital bills.
She had skipped meals, borrowed from Lisa, and worked overnight shifts because she believed part of each paycheck was paying for insurance.
It had not purchased a single day of coverage.
Maria lowered herself into a chair.
“You took money for insurance?” she asked.
Victor looked toward the door.
One officer blocked his path.
“We need you to remain here while we clarify the theft report.”
Victor reached into his coat slowly and produced his phone.
“I’m calling my attorney.”
Daniel nodded.
“You should.”
Victor dialed, but the person he called did not answer.
He tried again.
Priya’s phone buzzed at the same moment.
She read the message and passed it to Daniel.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
A Mercer Residential procurement executive named Leonard Shaw had approved every Crownstone invoice.
He had also ignored three anonymous complaints about wage theft.
Minutes earlier, after Priya
