Ames warned us not to leap from suspicious entries to criminal accusations.

Business records sometimes have legitimate explanations, and a full review was necessary.

But his old emails showed that he had asked for those explanations repeatedly and never received them.

When Nathaniel saw the ledger, he leaned back and whispered, “My father spent my whole life telling me that loyalty is everything.”

“Sometimes people use loyalty as a word for obedience,” I said.

I recognized the confusion on his face.