Owen Keats had spent eight months telling himself that someone must have verified Nadia's approval before the Bellwether acquisition closed.
On Thursday morning, he finally admitted that he had no evidence anyone had.
He sat alone in his office at Whitlock Industries, examining two documents displayed on separate monitors.
The first was Nadia's original financial assessment. Its conclusions were clear, and he remembered receiving them.
The second was the acquisition risk certification that had eventually appeared in the financing package.
It carried her apparent signature beneath a substantially more favourable conclusion.
Owen had seen both documents before. What he hadn't done was ask how one had become the other.
His telephone rang.
"Mr. Keats, Ms. Warren from legal is here."
"
