The independent review took three weeks.
During that time, I worked from the bakery apartment and answered questions from the foundation's attorney. My access badge was suspended, and my contract was not renewed when it expired. The decision came in a short letter that thanked me for my service and said the foundation was restructuring its archive program.
I read it twice, then put it in the folder with the complaint.
Losing the job hurt more than I expected. I had thought the work was mine, even if the office belonged to the Vales. I had built the archive into something useful, recovered files no one had known existed, and made a life around preserving the truth in other people's paper.
The foundation's independent reviewer found that I had not mishandled restricted materials. The rev
