Maya visited Thomas at Bellhaven General Hospital the following morning. He lay beneath clean white blankets, looking smaller than he had beside the dumpster. His hair had been washed, and a nurse had trimmed his beard, but exhaustion remained in his eyes.
When he saw Maya, he tried to sit upright.
"You shouldn't have come."
She pulled a chair beside the bed.
"You left me a letter about my mother. What did you expect?"
Thomas looked ashamed.
"I expected you to hate me."
"Why?"
"Because she asked for help, and I didn't do enough."
Maya waited.
Thomas explained that he'd inherited his father's textile business and spent decades believing honest work could protect the people depending on it. When profits declined, he welcomed outside investment from Harlan Properties. Its president, Richard Harlan, promised modern equipment, expanded production, and secure employment.
Instead, the company began accumulating debts while valuable machinery disappeared.
"Your mother understood the numbers before I did," Thomas said.
"She was a seamstress."
"She was also the smartest person in that building."
Evelyn kept copies of wage statements and noticed that certain deductions appeared in payroll records without corresponding payments to employee benefit accounts. She brought the discrepancies to Thomas.
He initially assumed the errors were administrative.
Then Samuel found shipping records showing expensive machines leaving the factory at night.
Nora discovered documents suggesting workers' retirement contributions had been mishandled.
Together, they began preserving evidence.
"Why didn't you contact investigators immediately?" Maya asked.
Thomas lowered his eyes.
"I thought I could settle it privately. I was afraid public allegations would destroy the company."
"And the workers lost their jobs anyway."
He nodded.
"Yes."
Maya looked toward the window.
Her mother spent the final months of her life worrying about bills. Evelyn skipped appointments when she couldn't afford transportation and continued sewing clothes for neighbors even as her health declined.
"She needed that job," Maya whispered.
"I know."
Thomas began crying.
"I failed her."
Maya didn't offer forgiveness. She wasn't ready, and she believed Thomas needed to understand the damage caused by his hesitation.
Instead, she asked about the hidden records.
"Can they help the workers now?"
"Possibly. They could explain missing funds and ownership transactions. But we need someone qualified to examine them."
Maya nodded.
"Then help us get them."
Thomas looked surprised.
"You'd work with me?"
"I'm working for my mother."
The old man studied her face.
For a moment, something like hope returned to his expression.
Then he reached beneath his pillow.
"I have one more thing Evelyn wanted you to know."
He handed Maya a faded photograph showing a young boy standing beside her mother.
Maya stared at it.
The boy was Jordan.
But standing behind them was Richard Harlan.