Chapter 8 — The Room Was Very Quiet. I Let It Stay That Way.
Seven board members. The company's chief legal counsel. Two independent observers Margaret had requested be present for transparency. Derek and his retained lawyer at the far end of the table.
Ray sat at the head.
He had not planned a speech. He did not believe in speeches for occasions like this. He believed in precision.
He opened the notebook to page twelve and pushed a single piece of paper across the table toward Derek.
"This is the valuation figure mentioned in the conversation on the fourteenth of last month," he said. "The conversation took place between your representative and an outside investment entity. It was not disclosed to the board." He paused. "Where did that number come from?"
Derek's lawyer leaned in and spoke quietly to his client.
Derek looked at the paper.
He said: "That conversation was exploratory. It was preliminary market research."
"Was it authorized by the board?" Ray asked.
A pause.
"It was within my operational discretion as CEO," Derek said.
"The articles of association define operational discretion," Ray said. "External discussions regarding ownership structure fall outside it. You know this. You reviewed those articles when you were appointed."
Derek's lawyer began to speak. He said the documentation had been obtained through unconventional means and that there were questions of process.
Ray waited for him to finish.
Then he said: "This notebook contains my own observations, made in my own building, which I own a controlling interest in. Every entry in it is a firsthand account. There are no process questions."
He turned to the board.
"I'd like to go through the financial reporting concerns next," he said. "Then we'll address the proposed governance amendment."
The room was very quiet.
One of the independent observers was taking notes. The company's legal counsel was reading a document Ray had submitted the previous evening.
Margaret sat at the midpoint of the table with her hands folded and said nothing. She had said nothing since the meeting began. She didn't need to. She had spent the previous three days making sure the right people had read the right documents at the right time.
Derek attempted two more responses during the session.
Both were addressed. Both were documented.
At eleven fifteen, the board chair asked if Derek wished to make a closing statement.
He said he stood by his leadership of the company and believed the concerns being raised were capable of alternative explanation.
The chair thanked him.
Then she asked everyone except the board members and legal counsel to step outside.
Ray gathered his notebook, nodded to the room, and walked into the corridor.
Bryce was waiting on a chair near the elevator. He had been told to be available at noon. He had arrived early, which meant he had been sitting there for over an hour.
He looked up when Ray came out.
He didn't recognize him at first.
Then he did.
Ray watched it happen. The confusion, the slow recognition, and then the specific expression of a man understanding something he very much wished he didn't.
Ray said nothing.
He walked to the window at the end of the corridor and waited.