Chapter 9 - Edward’s Father Had Known Enough to Be Guilty
Edward wanted his father remembered as careless.
That would have been easier.
The records showed something worse.
Charles Caswell had not designed Nolan’s scheme.
But Elena had sent him one email directly before she was fired.
Subject:
VENDOR IRREGULARITIES / URGENT
Charles forwarded it to Nolan.
Message:
Please handle this before it becomes noise.
Then he never followed up.
Elena was dismissed four days later.
Charles continued receiving financial summaries showing vendor costs rising.
He accepted Nolan’s explanations.
Why?
Because the company was expanding.
Profits were strong.
The numbers still looked good.
Digging deeper offered inconvenience.
Trusting Nolan offered comfort.
Charles chose comfort.
Edward read the email in silence.
“My father could have stopped this.”
Mom said:
“He could have asked one more question.”
Sometimes that is all institutional failure requires.
One powerful person deciding curiosity is too expensive.
Edward did not defend him.
But I watched something change in him.
Until then, he thought the conspiracy entered his family through Benji.
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Now he understood his family had stepped over the first warning years before I was born.
That mattered for what came next.
