Page 41 of Hurricane Irene

Alton opened the green binder.

“All seven payroll records ended on the same date. All seven personnel files were altered after that date. One was hidden under another employee’s name. You did not lose track of them. You removed them.”

“Administrative cleanup,” Lenora said.

“During a disaster?” Jackson asked. “While your largest client region was underwater?”

Cam smiled without humor. Hex looked toward the door behind the Pelican representatives, then back to Jackson. Luke remained still. Eric rested one hand on the evidence case.

Clint lifted a photograph of the folded Louisiana map.

“This was found in a Pelican field bag bearing Mara Guillory’s name. Why was her file stored under another employee?”

“A filing error,” Lenora said.

“The relocation note carries your initials,” Alton said.

“I initial hundreds of changes,” Lenora said.

“You initial what Calder tells you,” Voss said.

Every face turned toward him.

“What did Calder tell her to do?” Jackson asked.

“That sounded less like a filing error and more like an instruction,” Jackson said.

“I was describing office procedure,” Voss said.

Calder turned on him.

“You do not know enough about office procedure to describe it,” he said.

“But he knew the agents were removed from payroll,” Clint said. “He knew Ms. Vale responded to your instructions. He knew there were hypothetical bodies. Mr. Voss knows a surprising amount when he is angry.”

Voss pushed his chair back an inch. Luke’s gaze dropped to the movement. The chair stopped.

“Are we under arrest?” Calder asked.

“Not at this moment,” Jackson said.

“Then this conversation is over,” Calder said. “You have contracts signed by adults and complaints from people who want money after a disaster.”

Alton closed the binders one at a time.

“We have claims denied before inspection, identical deceptive language reported across three parishes, bonuses tied to abandoned appeals, reserve transfers to shell companies, altered personnel files, and a recording in which you discuss bodies. You have signatures. We have everything surrounding them.”

Lenora gathered the edge of her coat. Her hand shook once before she controlled it.

“Circumstance is not conspiracy,” she said.

Cam unfolded his arms. Hex moved one step away from the wall. Eric closed the evidence case. Luke remained beside the door, calm as stone.

Jackson opened a thin folder that had not been included with the others.

“Mr. Calder, you said every denial followed the written policy. Why did you email claims staff to use the surge exclusion even when adjusters reported wind damage first?”

“That instruction applied only to properties inside the surge zone,” Calder said.