The number associated with traced and potentially relevant financial activity was now above $70,000.
Roger leaned back.
"Seventy thousand? All to K&W?"
"No."
That mattered.
Amanda enlarged the notes. "Some amounts are clearly associated with the project. Some require legal classification. Some may remain ordinary marital spending."
"Natalie is not saying Kimberly owes you $70,000."
Roger nodded. "I understand. But the total pool we need to analyze is substantially larger than we thought."
Roger looked at the elevators. The doors opened. Nobody got out.
They closed again.
For months, he had been watching individual transactions.
$4,850.
$7,600.
$11,400.
Small enough to discuss separately. Together, they had become something else.
Amanda's phone rang.
"Natalie," she answered. "I'm with Roger."
Amanda listened. Roger watched her take notes.
"Yes."
Pause.
"Understood."
Another pause.
"Send the supporting schedule."
Amanda's pen stopped. "Are you certain about that?"
Roger looked at her.
Amanda listened for another 20 seconds. Then, "Okay. We'll review it tonight."
She ended the call.
"What?"
Amanda turned toward him. "Natalie completed the source tracing on the largest group of transfers, and she believes she can document the route with a much higher level of confidence than before."
Roger looked down at the report. "From where?"
"Your home equity line, savings, joint funds to K&W in substantial part."
Roger said nothing.
Amanda closed the file. "Go home."
Roger almost corrected her. He did not have a home right now. Not in the way she meant.
Amanda saw it in his face. "To your apartment. Sleep. We'll meet tomorrow morning."
Roger stood. He walked alone into the elevator.
On the ground floor, he passed through the lobby and stepped into the evening air. Columbus traffic moved along High Street.
People left restaurants. A cyclist waited at the light. Somewhere across town, Kimberly was probably leaving mediation too.
Roger wondered whether Eric had told her they were close.
They weren't.
The first mediation had failed. The lender had not finished. The house remained unresolved.
Now Natalie's report had put a number on something Roger had spent months trying to understand.
More than $70,000.
He reached his Explorer. Before opening the door, his phone vibrated.
An email from Natalie.
Final Tracing Analysis.
Roger downloaded it. The document contained 43 pages. He went directly to the last page.
At the bottom was a table.
Source.
Destination.
Supporting record.