Thomas rubbed his forehead. “Put it in writing. We’ll ask counsel to review it before the notices go out.”
The pause took effect on December twelfth. It did not prohibit the academy from operating its ordinary classes, but it stopped Summit Ridge from presenting publicly sponsored advanced demonstrations until a corrective plan was approved. The city also requested a reconciliation of grant-supported attendance and equipment charges. Grant hired an accountant to help reconstruct the records. He resented the expense, but his wife insisted they could no longer manage uncertainty with promises.
Clara spread receipts across their dining table on Saturday morning. Some were in labeled folders, while others were tucked into envelopes that had once held utility bills. Grant had never been careless about teaching technique. He had been careless about records, assuming that a good intention behind a transaction excused the absence of a clear trail.
They found several invoices for protective equipment charged to families and listed in a reimbursement request to the youth-access fund. Some credits had later been issued. Others were ambiguous. The total in question was a little under two thousand dollars. That amount could not save or destroy the academy by itself, but for the families who paid it, forty or sixty dollars mattered.
“We can’t submit this as clean,” Clara said.
“I know.”
“Do you? Because you’ve spent three days saying the city is hunting for reasons to hurt us.”
Grant sat opposite her. “I thought I could keep everything going until enrollment improved.”
“You can want to help children and still charge their parents the wrong amount.”
He studied the handwriting on a reimbursement form. It was his own. He could not remember the conversation that had led him to sign it. For the first time he understood that not remembering was itself a problem.
At school, Maya continued investigating the public contract without publishing names. Her teacher asked her to distinguish reporting from campaigning, and she began maintaining a log of who had said what, when, and with what supporting document. She learned that facts arrived in awkward shapes. A mother who was angry about a forty-dollar charge also praised the academy for helping her son through a difficult year. A father who defended Grant fiercely admitted that the training room sometimes felt intimidating to younger children.
Maya invited Noah to listen while she interviewed Mrs. Patel at the public library. Noah declined because he did not want families to think they were being questioned on his behalf. Maya was disappointed for a moment, then realized he was right. She conducted the conversation alone and recorded it only after obtaining permission.
When she told him about the interview afterward, he asked whether the evidence changed her mind.
“About what?”
“Whether Grant is a bad person.”
Maya thought for a while. “I think I’ve been asking the wrong question. If a bridge is missing bolts, I don’t need to decide whether the engineer is kind. I need to know whether people are safe crossing it.”
Noah looked at her. “You ever think about becoming a reporter?”
“Every morning. Then I remember reporters have to call people who don’t want to talk to them.”
“You already do that.”
“You are an especially difficult source.”
