Chapter 12 - The Man on Level B2.
The underground garage smelled like rainwater and concrete.
Vivian walked beside Renee while Grant and the city officer stayed several paces behind.
Level B2 was nearly empty.
A black sedan stood near the far wall with its parking lights on.
A man stepped out from behind it.
Simon Bell looked ten years older than he had two hours earlier.
His tie was gone.
His expensive suit jacket was damp at the shoulders.
He held a laptop bag in one hand and both hands remained visible.
"Thank you for coming."
Renee stopped several feet away.
"Why didn't you come back inside?"
Simon looked toward the garage entrance.
"Because Marcus has spent three years convincing people that every mistake belongs to someone else."
Vivian folded her arms.
"And the deleted payroll files?"
Simon closed his eyes.
"That was me."
Renee's expression did not change.
"Why?"
"I wasn't deleting them to destroy them."
He opened the laptop bag slowly.
"I was moving them out of the live archive before Marcus's administrator account could change them again."
The city officer told him to stop reaching into the bag.
Simon froze.
Renee stepped forward and removed the laptop herself.
Simon continued.
"Every original export is backed up on a compliance server."
"Why did IT report deletion?"
"Because the files disappeared from the restaurant archive."
"Without authorization?"
Simon nodded.
"Yes."
Vivian stared at him.
"You realize how that looks."
"I know."
"Then why not call your uncle?"
Simon laughed bitterly.
"Because my uncle ignored me the first two times."
Vivian's eyes narrowed.
"Ignored what?"
Simon looked toward the ceiling as though he could see Petit Mont through two levels of concrete.
"I told him the recovery account was becoming too large."
"When?"
"Eighteen months ago."
Vivian felt anger rise again.
"What did he say?"
Simon swallowed.
"He said Marcus understood kitchen economics better than either of us and told me to keep the problem quiet until the annual audit."
"Was that the source of the email saying approved, proceed quietly?"
Simon shook his head.
"No."
He looked ashamed.
"I wrote that."
Renee held up a hand.
"You used Theodore Bell's email account?"
"Yes."
"Without permission?"
Simon hesitated.
"He had given me delegated access for finance approvals."
"That isn't the same as permission to send that message."
"I know."
Vivian stared at him.
"Why did you do it?"
"Because accounting refused to process the deductions without an executive approval."
The garage seemed suddenly colder.
"So you approved them."
Simon looked at the floor.
"At first."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Guess."
"Maybe twenty employees over two years."
Vivian almost could not speak.
"And then you settled with Nora."
Simon nodded.
"I realized Marcus had turned a limited training reimbursement policy into a debt system."
"Why didn't you report him?"
Simon looked directly at her.
"Because I had helped build the account."
There it was.
Not innocence.
Not a heroic whistleblower.
Fear mixed with guilt.
Renee asked about the anonymous messages.
Simon admitted sending them from a prepaid number.
"How did you know Vivian was in the building?"
"Theodore texted me when he arrived."
"Why warn her about the cellar?"
"Because that's where Marcus kept the paper records he thought no one knew about."
"Why warn her not to search his office?"
Simon looked at Vivian.
"Because Marcus moved Olivia's phone out of the office twenty minutes before you arrived."
Vivian froze.
"Before I arrived?"
"Yes."
"How did he know I was coming?"
Simon slowly reached into his inside pocket and removed a folded copy of an email.
Renee took it first.
The message had been sent six days earlier to the Westbridge Property Trust's public compliance address.
The sender used an anonymous account.
The subject was URGENT LEASE INSPECTION REQUEST - PETIT MONT.
The email described unpaid wages, unusual employee debt agreements, and records hidden below the restaurant.
It asked the landlord to conduct an unannounced inspection before renewing the lease.
Vivian read it twice.
"Who wrote this?"
Simon shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Then how did Marcus see it?"
"Theodore forwarded it to me and Marcus because he thought it was a disgruntled former employee."
Vivian's stomach turned.
"So Marcus knew the property trust had been warned."
"Yes."
"And he knew someone might inspect tonight."
"Yes."
Vivian thought of Olivia on the floor.
The missing phone.
The notebook.
The strange confidence Marcus had shown at the beginning.
He had not been surprised by scrutiny.
He had been preparing for it.
Renee folded the email.
"Mr. Bell, you need to come inside and give a formal statement."
Simon nodded.
Vivian stopped him before he moved.
"One question."
He looked at her.
"Did Marcus forge Olivia's signature?"
Simon hesitated.
"I don't know who created the final document."
"But?"
Simon looked exhausted.
"Our onboarding system stores employee signatures as image files."
Vivian felt sick.
May you like
Simon continued.
"Marcus had administrative access."
