The Preserved Computer Files Explained How My Name Kept Appearing

The folder contained four images of my signature.

One came from that old supply authorization. The gray pencil mark sat below my name, exactly where I remembered it.

There were draft repair entries beside it and a working copy of the lease assignment.

Noah was careful about what the computer could prove.

"A file date alone doesn't tell us who used a keyboard," he said. "We compare it with the other records."

Those other records included emails sent from Foster's account to the pilots, with the disputed entries attached. One message said I had finished my inspections early before leaving for Denver.

I had been teaching myself to hate him less loudly. That email made it difficult.

"I sent him my open-job list before I left," I told June.

We found his reply in the preserved mailbox.

Got it. Nothing leaves until you're back.

There was no need to guess what he understood.

The bank records arrived through the case a few weeks later. They confirmed that the $12,600 had entered Foster's separate business account. Some of it had paid for his truck. None had reached our company.

Elsie finished her account review. She matched invoices, customer receipts, and the receiving statements. Each line had a source beside it.

I liked her work. It reminded me of laying a long panel flat until every seam could be seen.

Meanwhile, Owen finished the three disputed jobs. Imogen's twisted seam was corrected. Reid's repair was checked against the proper material records and redone where Owen could not verify the cloth. Beth's repair required no new stitching.

The owners kept their false entries as evidence. Their records received clear corrective entries and fresh approvals based on the work and inspections Owen actually performed. Nobody pretended the missing inspections had happened weeks before.

The total documented expense for checks, necessary work, and transport came to $6,200.

Each owner received a copy of the bill breakdown. We made that claim against the company and Foster through counsel.

All three balloons were cleared for use only after Owen finished.

Beth called when her new entry arrived.

"Do I throw the old one away?"

"Keep both, with Owen's explanation. The record needs to show what happened."

She was quiet for a moment.

"I hate that my logbook has this in it."

"I know."

I pictured the neat pages she had trusted. We could correct them. We couldn't give her back the days before she knew.

I watched Imogen load hers.

"Will you fly tomorrow?"

"If the wind behaves. It rarely reads my plans."

Then her face grew serious again.

"You understand why I wanted Owen to sign this time?"

"Yes."

"Good. I trust you. Trust still deserves a second set of eyes after a mess like this."

I helped lift her bag into the truck.

Foster's sworn deposition took place in a conference room above a dental office. I remember the faint smell of mint whenever the door opened.

June asked whether he had permission to place my signature on maintenance approvals.

"We used shared paperwork," he said.

She showed him his email about holding open jobs until I returned.

"Did that instruction change?"

"Camila had completed the sewing."

"Did she inspect these completed repairs and approve them?"

He shifted in his chair.

"She would have."

June let the answer sit.

"Who put the signature image into these documents?"

Alan reminded him to answer the question.

"I did," Foster said. "I was keeping deliveries on time."

The court reporter kept typing.

There was no loud moment. No one stood up. My name simply came out of his mouth attached to what he had done.

He admitted assembling the lease assignment too. He said he believed it reflected our understanding.

"Did Camila authorize you to sign it for her?"

"Not in those words."

"In any words?"

"No."

I placed both hands flat beneath the table.

For weeks, I had worried that seeing my name on those pages made me somehow part of his choice. Hearing him answer helped loosen that knot.

It did not give me my savings back.

To cover rent at home, I took approved cutting work from another repair shop. Their mechanic handled their inspections. I kept those jobs separate from the frozen company work and used equipment they provided.

For a while, I went home smelling of someone else's machine oil.

June calculated our claim under the hire agreement's expense clause and Foster's guarantee. We kept every invoice. We also kept the claim for the $1,800 in unpaid machine hire.

I wanted all this finished by summer.

It wasn't.

The peaches came and went at the roadside stands. The cottonwoods along the river turned yellow. I kept making copies.

Then June called on a cold October afternoon.

"Our final civil hearing is set," she said. "And a detective has asked to speak with you about the signatures."