Everett called my office and asked whether I could explain certain payments because I had prepared early budgets.

I referred him to the company’s current accountants and our attorneys.

I would not hand over private records casually or involve myself in a business I no longer managed.

But his question sent me back to the year everything began unraveling.

I remembered Mark celebrating a contract with a municipal developer, ordering champagne, and telling everyone the business would double in size.

I remembered him ignoring my warning that the project’s payment schedule didn’t cover labor costs month by month.