Chapter 14 - The Deal Behind the Deal
Charles Crane called me on Tuesday morning.
"I hear you're trying to rescue the company."
"I'm trying to find out what it can become."
He sounded tired.
"Emma, we need to talk."
We met with our attorneys present.
This time, Charles didn't call me little sparrow.
He didn't mention my mother's affection for him.
He simply placed the company's financial projections on the table.
"The sale was supposed to solve several problems."
"Whose problems?"
"Ours. The company's. Nathan's."
Maya leaned forward.
"Let's discuss Nathan's financial position."
Charles hesitated.
Then his attorney produced a summary.
Nathan had borrowed heavily against assets connected to his retail business.
A portion of his Vale Atelier interest had been pledged as additional security.
He'd expected the acquisition proceeds to help resolve those obligations.
If the sale failed, lenders could pursue their contractual remedies.
I stared at the papers.
"How long has he been in trouble?"
"Over a year," Charles admitted.
"Did he tell me?"
"I don't know."
"He didn't."
Maya asked whether Charles had any personal financial interest in Sable & Finch's purchase beyond receiving proceeds from his shares.
Charles's attorney acknowledged a proposed advisory payment.
It hadn't been included in the summary Nathan showed the workshop staff.
"Four hundred thousand dollars," Charles said quietly.
I looked at him.
"You were going to receive a separate fee?"
"For consulting services connected to the transaction."
"Services that included convincing my mother's employees they should accept being fired?"
He didn't answer.
For the first time, I saw how much of his certainty had depended on the deal closing before anyone examined it too closely.
Maya requested the full transaction disclosures.
Charles agreed to produce them through counsel.
Then I asked him one more question.
"Why did you pay my father?"
Charles looked toward his attorney.
"That matter concerns historical business records."
"It concerns my family."
His jaw tightened.
"Martin participated in transactions that created serious financial irregularities. I wanted the records reviewed privately."
"You knew he was alive."
"Yes."
"And you let me believe he was dead."
Charles stared at the conference table.
"I thought it was a family matter."
I stood.
"It was."
I was halfway to the door when he spoke again.
"Emma, your mother knew."
I stopped.
"About the payments?"
"She learned some of it."
"Did she know you were using the old accounts to keep my father quiet?"
Charles didn't answer.
I turned back.
"You used everyone's fear to get what you wanted."
His face hardened.
"I kept that company alive when your father abandoned it."
"Maybe you did."
I looked him in the eye.
"But keeping something alive doesn't give you permission to own everyone connected to it."
That night, Natalie found a possible path forward.
Two long-standing customers were willing to discuss advance payments for custom orders.
A supplier offered extended terms if we made a partial payment immediately.
And the bank agreed to review a detailed ninety-day cash-flow plan rather than making an immediate decision based only on the failed sale.
None of it was guaranteed.
But for the first time, we had options beyond surrendering to Nathan.
Then Maya received the forensic examiner's full report.
Claire Bennett had compared the disputed proxy against the original design certificate, which Nathan's attorneys had agreed to make available under the document-review process.
Her findings were significant.
The questioned signature contained highly unusual matching features and alignment patterns consistent with reproduction from the certificate.
It was not merely similar handwriting.
May you like
It appeared to have been transferred from an earlier signature.
And the evidence pointed directly toward Nathan's office.
