The committee refused to announce conclusions before outside forensic examiners could authenticate the records.

The process was slower than Vincent expected.

He had spent decades solving problems by ordering people to move faster.

Evidence resisted that approach.

Dates had to be checked, witnesses interviewed separately, documents recovered from backups, and competing explanations considered fairly.

One evening, Elena put a familiar document in front of him: a board resolution from nine years earlier, initialed by Vincent and signed by the company’s then-chief operating officer.

“It approved deferring the Harbor Point roof replacement,” she said.