"Not a question. He already knew the answer, but he needed to say it." "No," Daniel said. "I knew Richard pushed for my removal. I knew the test failure was used to make the case, but I thought it was opportunism. I thought he saw a moment and took it.
He paused. I didn't know he made the moment. The silence lasted a beat. Then Patterson said, "We have to show this to Victoria." "We will, Daniel." Patterson waited until Daniel looked at him. "I'm sorry.
For what that's worth coming from someone who didn't know you 3 hours ago. I'm sorry this happened to you." Daniel looked at him. The corner of his mouth moved. Not quite a smile, but the shape of one. The kind of expression that carries a whole history underneath it that it doesn't have room to show.
Appreciate that, he said quietly. Now, let's finish the audit. At 1:17 in the afternoon, Daniel and Patterson walked up to the observation area together. Victoria was in the middle of a conversation with Director Han and his deputy when they came in, and she broke it off without hesitation. She read the expressions on their faces and her own expression became very still.
"What did you find?" she said. Daniel handed her the printed email chain. She read it standing up the way she read everything fast, focused, and completely still. She read it once, then went back and read two sections again. When she finished, she lowered the papers and looked at the far wall for a moment.
Just the wall, just a fixed point to focus on while she processed what she was holding. Director Han, who had remained nearby and whose silence was the very attentive kind, said, "May I ask what has been found." Victoria looked at him. She made a decision in the space of about 1 second. She handed him the email chain. He read it.
His deputy read it over his shoulder. When Han looked up, his expression hadn't changed, which was itself a kind of statement. "Your CFO was involved," Han said. Former CFO, Victoria said. Gerald Marsh retired 18 months ago.
The timing of that retirement. I'm going to find out, Victoria said. Han was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Miss Harrington, in my country, we have an expression, roughly translated, a house built on a borrowed foundation does not belong to the man who built it." He looked at Daniel. "You built this system?" Daniel said, "Yes, sir." And when they took it from you, you stayed.
I stayed. Han considered this. Why? Daniel had answered a version of this question twice already today. Each time the answer had been the same, because it was true and simple, and he didn't see any reason to make it more complicated than it was.