The independent review took more than a month.

Ruth and outside accountants traced a series of personal expenses charged against funds earmarked for investment administration.

Some were minor and ambiguous; others were supported by invoices that named Constance’s personal staff and private renovations.

Preston had imagined discovering a dramatic criminal conspiracy.

The reality was duller and, in some ways, more disturbing: a culture in which executives rarely questioned the family matriarch, and assistants learned that certain instructions were not to be discussed.

The investigators did not claim every questionable payment was theft.