Chapter 35 - Blair’s Forwarded Email
The email showed that Blair had forwarded Lang’s attachment to Victor’s private address at 7:18 on October sixteenth. The subject line read: Use this version for the board file.
Grace checked the calendar. Blair had already been reassigned to Rotterdam by then, but she had still been communicating with the executive office.
The attachment was missing from the email archive, though the file name appeared in the server log.
Charles called Blair’s attorney. Her lawyer said she would respond after reviewing the record.
“Why would she forward a report from Lang?” I asked.
“We don’t know whether she knew what was in it,” Grace replied. “The file name alone doesn’t tell us.”
The audit committee requested the attachment from Lang. His lawyer said he would provide it if he could locate it.
That afternoon, Blair called Charles directly. He put the call on speaker in the boardroom. Grace and Miriam were present, and the attorney recorded the conversation.
“I saw the file name and assumed it belonged with the board materials,” Blair said. “I forwarded it to Victor because he was handling the final packet.”
“Did you open the attachment?” Charles asked.
“I don’t remember.”
“Why did you write, ‘Use this version for the board file’?”
“Because I thought it was the cleaned-up report.”
“Did you know it contained preliminary air results?”
“No.”
“Did you know Victor had received the lab report?”
“I was told he had.”
A silence followed.
“Who told you?” Grace asked.
“Victor.”
“When?”
“After the first article came out.”
“Why didn’t you tell the audit committee then?”
“I thought the company already knew. I wasn’t in the building. I didn’t have access to the full records.”
“You did have access to email,” Miriam said.
Blair’s voice sharpened. “I was reassigned and told not to interfere with operations.”
Charles leaned toward the speaker. “That doesn’t answer why you didn’t disclose the email.”
“I didn’t think it mattered. I was wrong.”
The call ended with Blair agreeing to provide her device through her attorney, subject to a review that protected private family information.
Afterward, Charles sat in silence.
“She might be telling the truth,” he said.
“She might,” Grace replied. “We still need the attachment.”
The company’s attorneys began reviewing the email records. They found messages between Blair and Victor discussing the upcoming board packet. One message from Victor said: Do not include open environmental items until we understand whether they are actionable.
Another, from Blair, replied: Understood. I’ll keep the summary focused on completed milestones.
It did not mention the lab result directly. It did show that both executives had chosen not to include unresolved items in the packet.
The board asked legal counsel whether the company needed to revise its prior disclosures. Counsel said that depended on what the full records showed and what the original statements had represented.
That evening, the union representative called an employee meeting. Workers wanted to know whether their health consultations would continue if the company changed ownership or lost clients.
Charles promised the program would continue regardless of business conditions.
“Put that in writing,” Earl said.
Charles did.
The statement was added to the employee portal and posted by the time clock. It included the length of the program, the independent provider’s number, and a guarantee that medical information would not be shared with management.
The practical clarity helped. Several workers scheduled appointments that week.
On Thursday, I walked past the old boardroom and heard voices inside. Victor’s attorney was on a call with the company’s counsel. I did not stop to listen. I kept walking, remembering that the investigation depended on verifiable records, not hallway impressions.
At the dispatch cage, Marcus was waiting with a folded sheet.
“Someone left this at my locker again,” he said.
The page showed a photocopy of the old board packet. A sentence had been underlined in red:
No employee exposure concerns identified.
Beneath it, someone had written:
That was not the conclusion of the final report.
Marcus looked at me. “Do you know who sent it?”
“No.”
“Do we give it to Grace?”
“Yes.”
He handed it over.
Grace examined the page. It appeared to be from the missing report, but without the rest of the document we could not confirm whether it was authentic.
May you like
Then, at the bottom of the page, we saw a handwritten initial.
T.
