The moment this became about Camilla’s earrings or weekend hotels, it would become gossip, and gossip is survivable; people live down affairs every day.

Numbers are not survivable in the same way.

A column of dated figures has no sympathetic reading, and it was the figures I wanted on those screens, and nothing else.

Malcolm took the microphone again.

“The purchase agreement that closed this afternoon,” he said, “grants Keystone immediate governance control and full authority to protect this company’s assets.

The board reviewed the findings you see behind me and voted, unanimously, this afternoon, to act on them.”

Damian lunged for the stairs.