The Board Heard Its Own Records Before It Took His Keys

The meeting took place in the training room because Ruth refused another slide show.

There were no refreshments. Someone had left a box of earplugs on the table. I moved it aside to make room for the audit binder.

Corbin arrived last.

"Before we start," he said, "Linh has no standing in a management meeting."

One of the other directors held up the agenda.

"She's here to explain the equipment report. Her lawyer's here for the debt."

Merton adjusted his tie bar.

"We all want the same result. A successful closing."

"Then we need accurate closing figures," Mara said.

She started with the deposit. She did not call anyone a thief. She showed each transfer, its bank date, and the supporting record she had requested.

Beside the $88,000 payment, the page said: No evidence of services supplied.

Beside Corbin's $52,000 advance, it said: No signed loan terms located.

"Those were authorized management payments," Merton said.

"By whom?" a director asked.

He pointed toward Corbin.

Corbin pointed toward the old compensation policy.

The policy required approval from directors who would not receive the money. Mara turned to that page. No such approval had been found.

Then she showed the expired replacement quote.

I explained the grain path through the two towers. Removing both meant the plant could take only a small fraction of its promised harvest load.

"Couldn't temporary fans handle it?" Merton asked.

"Fans don't hold grain. They don't replace a tower."

I laid out the site drawing.

Corbin had called it clerical work six days earlier. Now he studied every line as if one might lead him out of the room.

Ada put both sale schedules beside it.

"My client will provide a release upon payment under a signed closing agreement," she said. "She will not certify these towers as surplus."

"That doesn't solve payroll," Corbin said.

"Neither does firing the audit staff," Ellis answered.

The three remaining directors asked everyone outside except their lawyer.

I waited near the shop door. The fans made a steady low sound through the wall.

Wes had left a new yellow tag on the table there. It recorded a loose guard, the repair, and the name of the mechanic who checked it.

A plain piece of paper. A problem found, then fixed.

I wanted the whole company to work that way.

After forty minutes, Ellis called us back.

The three directors had voted to suspend Corbin as chief executive and remove Merton as board chair. Both would lose bank signing power at once. Claims to recover their payments would be filed unless the money was returned under an acceptable agreement.

Corbin stared at Ellis.

"I hired you."

"You signed my engagement for the company," Ellis said.

A director asked for the office keys and company cards.

Corbin placed them on the table one at a time.

The sound was small. I had imagined it would be louder.

Merton asked whether his removal could stay out of the minutes.

The director writing them looked up.

"No."

Fieldspan and Prairie Reach signed the bridge loan after their lawyers finished its terms. It was not a gift. It would be paid from a completed sale or remain a company debt if the deal failed.

An independent manager took over daily spending. Payroll would go through. Equipment spending would need a written approval and receipt.

At the next court hearing, the parties agreed to keep the towers in place and continue preserving records while they tried to settle. The judge set dates for any claims that remained unresolved.

Delta Sill still wanted its deposit back. Its lawyer also listed $18,600 in freight planning, crane cancellation, and legal costs it wanted covered.

"They're not the villain for asking," I told Ada outside.

"No," she said. "They paid for a promise too."

Ruth met us at the bottom of the steps.

Fieldspan had cut its offer from $6.8 million to $6.35 million after the audit showed the true earnings and repair costs. Its price assumed an intact plant, settled equipment claims, and a clear list of what it was buying.

I felt the sale slipping.

"Will that cover everyone?" I asked.

"We need the full closing sheet," she said. "I won't guess."

That night, Ada brought a draft to my apartment. The table barely held its pages.

The line for my note carried the full principal and interest from our first demand. I had agreed to freeze interest there if the sale closed within thirty days.

There were separate lines for Delta Sill, payroll, taxes, and other debts.

Near the bottom was Corbin's requested condition.

He would settle only if the company said publicly that my dismissal had been for poor performance.