PART 12:

Any idea who? No, but it had to be someone with access to that meeting. An assistant maybe or a junior executive. We’ll follow up on that. Warren pulled up something on his laptop. I’ve reviewed all the documentation you provided. 10 years of repair orders, warranty claims, shipping manifests. It’s thorough, but Nathan heard the word coming.

but without direct evidence connecting specific executives to knowingly concealing defects. We have a corporate negligence case, which is significant, but it’s not criminal conspiracy. Those photos show them looking at my engineering report. Nathan said, “The report that warned them the engines were deadly and then they approved production anyway.

The photos show them in a meeting with a document. A good defense attorney will argue they were reviewing hundreds of engineering reports, and this one got lost in the shuffle. What about the whiteboard calculations? They literally chose to pay off victims instead of fixing the problem. Costbenefit analysis is standard corporate practice.

Distasteful, but not illegal. Warren looked genuinely sympathetic. I’m not saying they’re not guilty. I’m saying proving it beyond reasonable doubt is going to be difficult. Viven spoke up for the first time. What about Daniel Mercer’s handwritten note? the one ordering employees to remove defective engines from warranty records.

We’d need the original. Is that something you can provide? Nathan and Vivien exchanged a glance. It was stolen, Nathan said. Someone broke into my garage 3 days ago and took it. Warren closed his laptop slowly. Mr. Keller, I need you to understand something. What you’ve documented is extraordinary. the most comprehensive evidence of corporate malfeasants I’ve seen in 15 years of prosecution, but without physical evidence directly linking executives to criminal intent.

They killed 73 people, Nathan said. His voice was shaking. They knew the engines were defective. They knew people would die, and they built them anyway because it was cheaper than doing the right thing. I believe you, but belief isn’t evidence, and evidence isn’t proof. Warren leaned back. I can go after Crossline Motors as a corporation.

I can levy fines, force recalls, impose oversight, but putting individual executives in prison requires an evidentiary standard we don’t currently meet. The room went silent. Nathan felt 10 years of work crumbling, 10 years of documentation and sacrifice and believing that truth eventually mattered. All of it reduced to not quite enough.

Deputy Director Mitchell finally spoke. She’d been quiet through the entire meeting, just watching and listening. There’s one more option, she said. Everyone turned. We flip someone. Find an executive who’s willing to testify against the others in exchange for immunity. She looked at Nathan. You said you think someone inside took these photos. Someone with a conscience.

We find that person and convince them to cooperate. How? Nathan asked. The same way we always do. pressure, fear, self-preservation. Mitchell’s smile was cold. We start publicly naming everyone who was in that conference room. Let them know we’re investigating them individually for criminal conspiracy.

And then we wait to see who breaks first. Warren shook his head. That’s a gamble. If if none of them flip, we’ve shown our hand for nothing. And if one of them does flip, we have everything we need. Mitchell turned to Viven. You worked with these men. You know them. Who’s the weak link? Vivien thought about it. About five men in expensive suits making calculations about acceptable deaths.

About which one of them might actually have a soul left. David Huang, she said finally. VP of engineering. He was the youngest person in that room, only 28 when this started. I remember, she stopped. I remember him arguing against some of Mercer’s cost cutting measures. Quietly. He always backed down when Mercer pushed back, but he tried. That’s not much, Warren said.

It’s more than the others gave us. Mitchell stood. I’ll have FBI agents at his house by tonight. We make it clear he’s facing 20 years for conspiracy to commit negligent homicide, and then we offer him immunity if he testifies. What if he doesn’t break? Nathan asked. Mitchell looked at him with something that might have been respect.

Then you spent 10 years documenting the truth for nothing, but at least you’ll know you tried. It wasn’t the answer Nathan wanted, but it was the only answer they had. They drove back to Ashton Ridge in silence. The sky was turning dark, storm clouds rolling in from the west. Rain started hitting the windshield somewhere outside Columbus.

I’m sorry, Vivien said quietly. For what? For not being enough. For my press conference and my testimony and all of it still not being enough to put them away. Nathan watched rain stream down the window. It’s not your fault. Feels like it should be someone’s fault. It’s Mercer’s fault. It’s the board’s fault.

It’s a system that protects rich people and grinds up everyone else. He rubbed his face, exhausted. But it’s not your fault. They pulled into Ashton Ridge as the storm really started. Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the town in brief flashes. Nathan could see his garage ahead, the lights on in the apartment above where Margaret was probably helping Ellie with homework.

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