Chapter 36 - The Initial
The photocopy was scanned and sent to the forensic document examiner. Grace asked the employees not to pass it around or speculate about who had left it.
The single initial could have belonged to anyone. It might have been a reviewer’s mark, a clerk’s shorthand, or something added later.
Still, it was the first possible page from the missing report to surface.
Daniel compared the print style with the board packet. The sentence appeared to have been copied from a summary page, not the technical appendix. The red underline had been added after printing.
“Could the sentence be real?” I asked.
“Possibly,” he said. “But we need the original file or a complete copy to know what came before and after it.”
The examiner found that the paper came from an office printer used at Whitmore headquarters, though the exact printer could not be identified. The toner was consistent with a batch used two years earlier.
“Someone printed it here,” Grace said. “That doesn’t tell us when.”
The board received a report from the university lab later that afternoon. The readings around the maintenance shed had decreased after temporary ventilation was installed. The researchers recommended continued monitoring and additional soil testing near the drainage channel.
They did not make a determination about past exposure. The report said the available data could not reconstruct conditions from the previous year.
Charles released the findings to employees the same day.
At the town hall, Darlene asked what “cannot reconstruct” meant.
“It means the current tests can tell us what the levels are now,” Dr. Patel explained by video. “They cannot tell us exactly what was in the air on every day in the past.”
“So we may never know?”
“We may find more records. We can also review work practices and available samples. But some uncertainty may remain.”
That answer was difficult, and people did not hide their frustration. One worker left the room before the meeting ended. Another asked whether the company would pay for independent medical advice beyond the initial appointment.
Charles said the board would consider it, but he did not promise a decision that had not been made.
Afterward, Earl told me the meeting had been necessary.
“People would rather hear a hard answer than a comforting lie,” he said.
The forensic examiner called Grace that evening. The red ink had been added after the photocopy was made, which meant the person who left the page had marked it. The initial at the bottom was not part of the original document.
It could be a clue from the person who sent it.
Grace asked IT to search access records from the employee locker area. The hallway camera had been out for repairs that night. The front entrance cameras showed several employees arriving and leaving, but none carrying a visible sheet of paper.
“Someone knew the camera schedule,” I said.
“Or they used a coat pocket,” Grace replied.
Earl was not amused. “If someone wants us to find something, why not come forward?”
“Maybe they’re afraid,” Maria said.
“Then they should speak to Grace.”
“Maybe they don’t trust the process yet,” she answered.
That landed heavily. The workers had not forgotten how their complaints had been handled before the walkout.
I asked Grace to create a confidential way for employees to submit evidence without leaving it in lockers. She arranged a secure drop box in the audit office and assigned one member of outside counsel to open it.
The next morning, a sealed envelope appeared inside.
There was no name. Inside sat a photocopy of an email sent from Blair to Victor. The subject line read: Re: Board file version.
The message said:
The sentence about no employee exposure concerns should not appear unless the follow-up tests support it. The current draft says more testing is needed.
That sentence changed the meaning of the earlier record.
It did not prove Blair had acted properly. But it suggested she had warned Victor against using a conclusion the report did not support.
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The email ended with a reply from Victor:
We need a clean statement for the renewal meeting. I’ll handle it.
