The Audit Followed Four False Refunds Into His Private Account

Teresa called the next morning while I was washing a cup.

"None of those refunds cleared," she said. "They're ledger entries with no bank payments behind them."

I set the cup down before I dropped it.

"All four?"

"All four. We have written answers from the owners now."

The heron belonged to the Freeport library foundation. The red fox belonged to a small ride company near Ottawa. Mateo owned the bay colt. June spoke for Mabel's park trust.

Every owner had sent a repair order. None had signed a sale release.

Nora requested the supporting records through Gavin's lawyer. By then, Martin had seen enough to ask his client hard questions. Gavin agreed to provide statements for Roake Ride Supply rather than fight over them at the next hearing.

The money trail was short.

Pearl had paid $6,200 for Mabel. A collector named Lyle Kent had paid $4,800 for the heron. Bracken Bay Amusements had paid $5,100 for the fox.

Total receipts: $16,100.

The colt had been offered for $3,900 but had not sold.

Gavin had moved $12,000 from the supply account to a deposit on a computer-guided carving machine. The remaining $4,100 had paid his personal credit card.

"He planned another shop?" I asked.

"The machine contract names his supply company," Teresa said. "Delivery to a rented unit in Loves Park."

I had spent months teaching him how to follow old grain without tearing it. He had spent those same months planning to leave with my customers and a faster cutter.

The machine itself was no crime. We could have used one for rough work. He had wanted the purchase to prove that every hour I spent with a gouge was waste.

Pearl leaned over the statement.

"A machine doesn't make stealing modern," she said.

That afternoon, we held the members' meeting in Nora's office. Gavin attended with Martin. The proper notice had gone out. Nora kept the time and minutes.

I read my motion to remove Gavin as manager and name myself in his place.

He voted no.

I voted yes with my sixty percent.

Nora recorded the result under our agreement. She explained that his forty percent ownership remained for the moment. Removing his management powers did not erase his interest or settle the debt.

He pushed his chair back.

"You don't even know the passwords."

"Then delivering them will be your first useful task today."

Martin asked him to sit down.

With the resolution and the court papers, I began changing the company's authorized contacts. The bank reviewed them before restoring my access. Teresa checked the balances with me when the account opened on the screen.

There was $2,347.18 in operating cash.

Two suppliers were owed a total of $3,860. Both debts were real. We called the suppliers, agreed on dates, and kept their invoices separate from Gavin's personal debt.

"I can't fix this by calling every bill his fault," I told Teresa.

"That's why this review will hold up," she said.

She made me read the supplier names aloud. One had sold me glue since Ellis was alive. The other had rushed brass screws to us after a shipment went missing in a snowstorm. I wrote their promised payment dates in my pocket calendar. I wanted them to hear from me before another invoice fell due.

"Send me copies of those letters," Teresa said.

"You can count on that."

I also called every customer myself.

The fox's owner, Sela Dean, was furious.

"My opening is in April. I sent you that animal because people said you were careful."

"They had reason to say it. You also have reason to be angry. I'm locating him, and I'll send you a written plan by tomorrow."

I did not ask her to feel sorry for me.

Lyle Kent had bought the heron for his enclosed porch. When Nora explained the dispute, he said he wanted a refund before releasing it. Bracken Bay's owner wanted the same for the fox.

Nora did not promise we could simply snatch the figures back. Buyers had rights and their own accounts of what they had been told. She worked toward written returns with refunds held in her trust account.

Pearl had already signed Mabel back to June's trust. She sent me a photograph of June fastening a blanket around the green saddle.

"One home," the message said.

I printed it and set it beside my unfinished list.

Late that day, Gavin's new machine contract arrived. Teresa read its cancellation terms twice.

The full $12,000 deposit could still be returned before delivery, but written cancellation had to arrive by noon the following day.

Gavin was the only authorized signer for that business.

Nora phoned Martin. He said his client would discuss a settlement in the morning.

Then Gavin sent a message directly to my phone.

If you want my signature, bring the original note.