He slid the photograph toward me.
“Meridian managed settlement accounts and inherited assets belonging to minors.
Many of those children were in foster care.”
Something cold moved through my stomach.
Thomas continued.
“If a child lost a parent in an industrial accident, insurance settlement, wrongful-death case, or similar situation, money could be placed in a restricted custodial account until that child became an adult.”
“And?”
“And Meridian controlled thousands of those accounts.”
I already knew what was coming.
“No.”
“Anna—”
“No.”
“Your mother was an accountant there.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“She discovered money was being removed from accounts belonging to children who had little or no family capable of monitoring the funds.”
My fingers tightened around the paper.
“How much?”
“Eventually?”
Thomas took a breath.
“More than eighty million dollars in principal.
Much more after decades of growth.”
I felt sick.
“Richard did that?”
“No.”
“His company did.”
“His father controlled the company.
Richard’s older brother, Malcolm, ran the custodial division.”
“Did Richard know?”
Thomas hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
I stood.
“Did he know?”
“Not at first.
