Chapter 9
Aaron Mills had worked at Westbridge for twelve years.
He was not a senior executive.
He inspected vehicles.
Recorded diagnostic warnings.
And occasionally argued with managers who wanted cars released too quickly.
He remembered Evelyn because she was the only client representative who demanded the original electronic records instead of accepting summaries.
“She asked the right questions,” he told Rebecca.
“What happened?”
“We had a backlog. Too many vehicles. Not enough technicians. Management started closing work orders before final checks.”
“Who approved that?”
“Service director, mostly.”
“Was Nathan Vale involved?”
“He was brought in when the complaints started.”
“What did he do?”
“He told management how to document corrective action.”
“Did the action happen?”
“Some of it.”
“And the rest?”
Aaron looked down.
“Paperwork.”
He produced copies of diagnostic logs showing that several vehicles had been marked cleared without complete verification.
Evelyn's SUV appeared in the records.
Six days before the crash, its stability-control warning had been recorded.
A technician recommended further testing.
The final service report stated the warning had been resolved.
But Aaron's copy showed no completed road-test confirmation.
Rebecca asked:
“Could that have caused the crash?”
Aaron shook his head.
“I'm not an accident reconstruction expert.”
“Did anyone deliberately damage her vehicle?”
“Not that I ever saw.”
“Did you hear anyone threaten her?”
“People were angry. She was going to expose the false sign-offs.”
“Who?”
“Management. Nathan. A few people at the transportation company.”
Alistair's face changed.
“Our company?”
Aaron nodded.
“Your operations director knew.”
The director was Peter Gannon.
A man Alistair had trusted for twenty years.
Peter had signed several fleet compliance reports.
He had also received warnings from Evelyn.
And failed to act.
Rebecca requested his communications.
The records showed he had urged Evelyn to postpone the outside review until after a major transportation contract renewal.
Evelyn refused.
Then, three days before her death, Peter wrote to Nathan:
If she makes this public now, both companies lose the contract.
Nathan replied:
I'm handling it.
Alistair stared at the message.
“What did he mean?”
Rebecca answered:
“We don't know yet.”
Then another recovered email appeared.
Nathan had written to Corinne:
Evelyn won't stop. Peter is losing control.
Corinne replied:
Then stop treating her like someone you can intimidate. She keeps records of everything.
Alistair looked at the screen.
That was not the response he expected from someone supposedly involved in a murder plot.
Corinne sounded as though she was warning Nathan against intimidation.
But she had later threatened Daphne with disappearing like Evelyn.
The contradiction demanded an explanation.
Rebecca continued reading.
One final message appeared, sent the day after Evelyn's death.
Nathan:
It's over.
May you like
Corinne:
No. Now it can get much worse.
