Chapter 12 - The School FilesAdrian ordered an internal search of Mercer Development's archives.
Three hours later, his chief compliance officer called.
“There are no environmental reports from 2001.”
“All six schools?”
“Nothing.”
“Impossible.”
The records had been removed.
But Emma remembered Miriam's backpack.
One photograph showed Julianne standing beside a highway sign.
Behind her was an abandoned gas station.
A handwritten number appeared on the edge.
Emma and Adrian drove there.
The gas station no longer existed.
A storage facility stood in its place.
Unit 46 had been prepaid under the name J. Shaw.
Miriam.
Inside were twelve document boxes.
The first contained laboratory reports.
Lead.
Asbestos.
Industrial solvents.
The contamination levels were severe.
The reports had been signed by independent inspectors months before the schools opened.
The second box contained copies of checks.
Payments from shell companies connected to Mercer Development.
The recipients included inspectors, city contractors, and a state official.
Emma looked at Adrian.
“Your father's company knew.”
“My father's company was my company too.”
“You were twenty-five.”
“My name was on the buildings.”
They opened another box.
Inside was Julianne's handwritten notebook.
One sentence had been underlined twice.
Leonard said families need buildings more than they need perfection.
Adrian sat on the concrete floor.
For decades his father had taught him that the Mercer name stood for responsibility.
Now Adrian realized Julianne had discovered the opposite.
Emma sat beside him.
“There are hundreds of documents.”
“This could destroy the company.”
“Does that matter?”
Adrian looked at her.
Twenty-four hours earlier, perhaps it would have.
Now he looked at Julianne's handwriting.
Then at Emma.
“No.”
May you like
He closed the box.
“If the company deserves to survive, it survives the truth.”
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