“Why did Blake keep the letters?” I asked.
Victor’s hand tightened around the folder.
“He thought I would change the estate plan again.”
I stared at him. “That was twenty-six years ago.”
“At first, I think that was enough for him. He grew up watching me regret you when I thought no one could see. Lorraine says he worried you could walk back in and take everything he had spent years earning.”
“Did you ask Blake?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He said I had made my choice. He said he was protecting it.”
Victor looked directly at me.
“I haven’t asked you to forgive him. I haven’t forgiven him myself.”
“And the assemblies?”
“The investigators are working through it. Naomi warned him about the substitute material. She put it in writing. He approved it anyway and used her signature on a later document without telling her.”
I drew a slow breath.
“The first supplier scan?” I asked.
“He kept the approved parts long enough to pass that scan. Afterward, he replaced some of them with cheaper stock and reused the labels.”
This was information the investigators would establish for themselves. Still, hearing Victor say it made the accident feel close enough to touch.
“Did you know?” I asked once more.
“I knew the price had dropped. I accepted his explanation. I had questions I chose not to pursue.”
He waited while I took that in.
“I went to the investigators,” he said. “I gave them my notes from that spring. They can see where I failed.”
