Roger did none of those things. He picked up a blue pen. On the transaction timeline, he found the date of the email.
Then he marked it. One small line.
Amanda called again. "You okay?"
"Yes."
"You don't sound angry."
"I am."
"Good."
Roger almost laughed. Amanda continued.
"Being angry isn't the problem. What you do with it is."
Roger looked at Jason's sentence.
Roger never checks anything.
He folded the page once. Not crumpled. Not torn.
Folded.
Then he placed it in the appropriate folder.
Two days later, Natalie requested a meeting. This time, she had a preliminary flowchart. The numbers were larger.
The routes were clearer.
HELOC.
Savings.
Joint checking.
K&W Residential Partners.
Contractors.
Credit card.
Carrying costs.
Roger followed each arrow.
"This isn't complete," Natalie said.
"I know."
"There are still transactions I can't classify."
"I know."
"And some expenditures may ultimately be treated differently than you expect."
Roger nodded.
Natalie looked at him. "You keep saying you know."
"Because I do."
She turned one final page. "There is another document we haven't analyzed yet."
Roger looked down. It was not a bank statement. Not an invoice. Not an email.
At the top was a notary seal. Below it was his full legal name.
Roger Michael Barry.
Beneath that was a signature.
His signature.
Except Roger could not remember signing it.
He looked at the signature from across the conference table. It resembled his. The capital R had the same long first stroke. The B in Barry leaned slightly forward.
Even the final Y dropped below the line in roughly the right place.
Amanda Collins noticed his expression.
"Recognize the document?"
"No."
"Recognize the signature?"
"It looks like mine."
Natalie Brooks closed her laptop. "That isn't the same question."
Roger nodded. He read the heading. The document appeared connected to authorization for financial activity involving the credit line.
The notary block was near the bottom. Roger read the date. Then he looked at Amanda.
"I don't remember signing this."
Amanda pulled the page closer. "Don't decide what that means yet."
"I know."