Chương 3
“Do not access the archive again,” she said. “Do not download, forward, photograph, print, or alter anything. We are calling a lawyer.”
“Your lawyer?”
“No. Someone who understands employment, corporate investigations, and family law well enough to know which person we call next.”
“It’s not even six.”
“She has children. She has been awake since five since 1997.”
Evelyn went to the counter for her phone.
Claire watched her mother search for a contact. “Who?”
“Marian Cho.”
“The woman from your retirement dinner?”
“The woman who told the managing partner he could either disclose a conflict or explain it under oath.”
“She sounds restful.”
“She owns soft furniture.”
“That’s your qualification?”
“It’s one of them.”
Evelyn called. The first attempt went to voicemail. She did not leave a message. The second went to a different number, and a sleepy voice answered after four rings.
“Evelyn?”
“I need your help.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is Claire hurt?”
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
“Not physically.”
Marian’s voice sharpened. “Tell me only what I need to know before I’m dressed.”
By six-fifteen, the sky beyond the kitchen had turned the color of unpolished steel. Marian arrived wearing a long wool coat over black slacks and a cream sweater. Her hair was damp at the ends. She carried a leather bag, a paper cup of coffee, and an expression that made Claire feel both safer and more exposed.
She did not hug anyone. She introduced herself to Claire as though they had never met, explained that she was not yet acting as counsel until conflicts were checked, and asked whether Ryan or Silverline had ever consulted her firm.
“They haven’t,” Evelyn said.
Marian held up one finger. “Claire answers.”
“No,” Claire said.
“Any other Calloway family member?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Good. I am going to make calls before you tell me details. Do not repeat anything from the archive yet.”
She stepped into the hallway and spoke quietly for ten minutes. When she returned, she took the chair opposite Claire and turned off her phone.
“I can advise you provisionally this morning,” she said. “If the conflict check changes, I stop and help you find someone else. Understood?”
Claire nodded.
“First question. Are you in immediate danger from your husband?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is an acceptable answer. Has he threatened you?”
“Not directly.”
“Has he blocked you from leaving, destroyed property, monitored your location, controlled money, or used the baby to force a decision?”
Claire looked at Evelyn, then back at Marian.
“He packed our son’s birth certificate and told me to leave before sunrise.”
Marian’s face remained neutral. “Did he give you access to money?”
“We have joint accounts.”
“Do you know whether they are still open?”
Claire checked her banking app. The password worked. Their checking balance was lower than she expected by twenty-five thousand dollars.
She stared at the number.
“What?” Evelyn asked.
“Money was moved yesterday.”
“How much?” Marian said.
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“From where to where?”
“It says transfer to Calloway household reserve. I don’t recognize that account.”
Marian wrote the information in a small notebook. “Take screenshots of the joint account balances and transaction history. That is your personal financial information. Do not move money unless you need immediate living expenses. Do you have a credit card in your own name?”
“Yes.”
“Available limit?”
“Enough.”
“Good. Second question. What company property do you possess?”
“None.”
Marian’s gaze went to the laptop.
“That is mine,” Evelyn said.
“I asked Claire.”
“Nothing,” Claire said. “The archive is accessible through a browser session on my mother’s computer.”
“Who logged in?”
“I did, months ago. The session remained active.”
“When did either of you first access it this morning?”
Evelyn answered before Claire could. “I opened the laptop to search for a recipe. The browser restored the prior tabs. The vendor archive was one of them.”
Marian looked at her. “You searched for a recipe at four-thirty in the morning?”
Evelyn’s mouth tightened.
“I could not sleep.”
“What recipe?”
“Corn chowder.”
Claire laughed unexpectedly. It came out wet and breathless.
Marian looked between them. “Is that true?”
“Yes,” Evelyn said. “I make terrible corn chowder.”
“No one asked for a quality assessment.”
“I am trying to be precise.”
“Then be precise about this. Did you click anything inside the archive?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A vendor report that was already visible, then three linked company profiles.”
“Did you change anything?”
“No. It is read-only.”
“Did you copy anything?”
“I wrote a company name on paper.”
Marian looked at the yellow pad. “Do not destroy that. Do not add guesses to it. Write only what you observed and what happened, with times when you know them. Separate what Ryan said from what you inferred.”
Evelyn nodded.
Marian turned to Claire. “Do not use the archive again. We will preserve the laptop as it is. I am calling a digital-forensics professional who can document the existing session without rummaging through company data. We will also notify Silverline through counsel that an active session was discovered and that you are preserving it pending instructions. That protects you better than quietly exploring.”
“What if they delete everything?” Claire asked.
“If they do, deletion may leave evidence. Your job is not to become an investigator before breakfast.”
“They already think I stole documents.”
“Ryan said that. We do not yet know what Silverline thinks.”
“He is Silverline.”
“No,” Evelyn said. “He is an executive whose surname is on the building.”
Claire looked at her mother. “That distinction has never mattered to him.”
Marian’s eyes rested on Claire for a moment. “It may matter now.”
At six-forty-two, Ryan sent a text.
May you like
You need to return the archive materials and sign the interim agreement before noon. I can still protect you.
Attached was a document titled TEMPORARY DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENT. Claire opened only the first page after Marian told her she could. The agreement would place her and Noah in a furnished apartment owned by a Calloway family entity. Silverline would continue paying her salary for three months. Claire would agree not to enter company property, access systems, contact directors, or disclose confidential information. Ryan would receive “reasonable and liberal parenting time” beginning immediately. Both parties would refrain from “disparaging statements” about each other or the Calloway family.
