She answered on the second ring despite the hour.

“Tell me you’re somewhere safe,” she said.

“I’m in the house with two detectives.”

For several seconds, all I heard was her breathing.

Then I told her what the recording showed.

She listened, asked for the officers’ names, and told me not to discuss the corporate records with Preston alone.

She would seek emergency guidance on preserving records and convening the independent directors.

More importantly, she wanted me to leave the property as soon as investigators finished their immediate work.