Chapter 14 — Turning On the Lights

His hands shook so badly the pages rattled into the microphone.

“Madam Chair,” he managed, gray-faced, “the western region’s numbers are —” “The numbers are in my file,” I said, evenly.

“We’re here about the preliminary findings of your compliance review.”

For twenty minutes the chief compliance officer laid it out without theatrics, which was somehow worse for him than any shouting would have been.

Eight quarters of unauthorized spending.