“You look like Edmund.”
I smiled faintly.
“People used to say that.”
He gestured toward a chair.
For a while, we discussed my father.
Malcolm remembered how difficult the company had been to finance.
He remembered the uncertainty of those early years.
And he remembered Edmund’s insistence that ownership should come with responsibility.
Then he asked why I’d joined the firm without announcing my family connection.
“My father wanted me to understand how the business treated people when nobody important was watching.”
Malcolm looked uncomfortable.
“And what did you find?”
I placed a summary on his desk.
It contained documented observations from six years of work.
Unresolved compliance issues.
Errors concealed through internal explanations.
Employees whose concerns had been dismissed.
Improper access granted without sufficient review.
And a recurring pattern of managers being rewarded for results they hadn’t actually produced.
Some problems were ordinary operational weaknesses.
Others were serious.
Several involved Richard’s decisions.
I explained that Leela’s appointment had created additional concerns.
She’d received responsibilities for which she lacked experience.
When mistakes occurred, junior analysts were blamed or expected to repair them without acknowledgment.
Meanwhile, management repeatedly described the company as well controlled.
Malcolm examined the records.
He didn’t interrupt.
Finally, he looked up.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I reported these matters through the appropriate channels.”
He glanced at the documents.
“And nobody acted?”
“Not adequately.”
He looked toward the photograph behind his desk.
Five young men stood together in the early days of the company.
They appeared hopeful.
Ambitious.
Proud of what they’d begun.
Malcolm was quiet for a long time.
Then he opened his desk drawer.
Inside was a letter from Elias Rurk.
Elias’s investment organization was withdrawing approximately $9 billion in accounts and managed assets.
The decision would create major financial consequences for the firm.
Malcolm placed the letter beside my report.
“His team has lost confidence in our leadership.”
I didn’t say anything.
He continued.
“Compliance has identified ten significant breaches involving Richard’s approvals. Several are connected to his daughter’s credentials.”
I looked at the report.
The $240,000 discrepancy I’d documented was among them.
Malcolm pressed the intercom.
He asked for Richard Lang.