Later he told me, “He doesn’t seem to understand what he did.”

“Understanding and accountability are different things,” I said.

“We can insist on one even when he refuses the other.”

That autumn, the Whitcomb board removed Malcolm from several management roles pending completion of the review.

His portrait did not literally disappear from the hall, but the authority it had represented no longer governed every meeting.

Meanwhile our studio settled its design-rights dispute through counsel.

The agreement acknowledged my authorship of identified work, provided compensation for certain past uses, and prohibited further use without authorization.