When the video ended, Ivy spoke before anyone else could.
“This is a private criminal matter involving a contractor.
It does not change the fact that Andrew concealed his history with Mary Fitzgerald while she was under investigation for embezzlement.”
Nathan Cole looked toward Mary.
“Ms.
Fitzgerald, are you able to speak?”
Mary’s voice was weak but precise.
“Yes.”
“Were you responsible for the transfer of company funds identified in the internal investigation five years ago?”
“No.
I discovered the transfers.
Ivy reversed the account labels and placed my authorization code on transactions processed while I was in Boston.”
Ivy folded her arms.
“She has claimed this for years without producing the original records.”
“That is why Mr.
Pike came for the ledger,” Mary replied.
Ivy glanced at the detective.
“The ledger he supposedly took is not here.”
“No,” Mary said.
“It isn’t.”
For the first time, a hint of fear passed across Ivy’s face.
Mary looked at Lauren.
“Sweetheart, may I have your Bible?”
Lauren hurried to the bed and placed the little blue book in her mother’s hands.
Mary opened the back cover.
The cloth binding had separated slightly from the cardboard.
She slid one fingernail beneath the edge and removed a paper-thin memory card sealed in clear tape.
“Owen took the original ledger,” she said.
“He did not take the scans.”
Daniel accepted the card and inserted it into his computer.
Folders appeared on the board’s shared screen.
There were bank statements, invoice records, internal approvals, courier receipts, and photographs of the original handwritten ledger.
Each transfer led through consulting companies controlled by Ivy’s brother, her former driver, or trusts registered to an address owned by Lancaster Strategic Holdings.
The total was not the $800,000 Mary had been accused of stealing.
It was $18.6 million.
Several directors began speaking at once.
Ivy raised her voice over them.
“Digital records can be altered.
Mary had access to our systems.
Andrew has every reason to support her now that she has presented him with a child.”
Nathan Cole’s expression hardened.
“Ms.
Lancaster, are you suggesting Mr.
Hale fabricated an assault, historical banking records, courier signatures, and a five-year-old child during the last hour?”
“I am saying emotions are clouding his judgment.”
Andrew leaned toward the camera.
“My judgment was clouded five years ago.
I believed the person who threatened the company instead of the woman who tried to protect it.
I will answer for that failure.
But this board will not use my past cowardice to excuse present evidence.”
Mary looked at him, surprised by the word he had chosen.
Cowardice.
He did not soften it.
Five years earlier, Ivy had shown him selected transaction records and warned that defending Mary would trigger a lender revolt.
The company had employed four thousand people.
