At half past eleven, the hearing officer waved Nathaniel and Brenda over to join Arthur’s legal team at the central conference table.

Nathaniel took a folded yellow payroll receipt out of his inside jacket pocket and laid it beside the carbon book.

“This is the Project Four discrepancy from the December ledger,” Nathaniel said, touching his right wrist where his gold watch sat loose against his shirt cuff.

“A four-hundred-dollar security deposit deduction marked as worker housing fees.”

The hearing officer studied the yellow paper under his desk lamp, reading the small rubber stamp impression along the bottom edge.

“Mr.