The Promise

Emma made two lists: things she knew and things she did not know. She did not know who had sent the letter. She could read the trust's old reports, but she needed to understand them.

The Glenarraidh Education Trust promised money to help young people study. Malcolm Vale was its chair. There were photographs of him with students at special events.

Emma found an old page about twelve scholarships. But another report said that fewer payments were made. She read the pages again. A scholarship offer was a promise. A payment meant that a student had received the money. These were not the same thing. There could be a simple reason for the difference. Emma needed more information.

She looked at her notes from an interview with Claire in September 2011. Some students had said that their money was late. Claire wanted Emma to find out who decided when the money was paid. Emma had not asked those questions at the time.

Now she wrote down the people she wanted to speak to. The students were important because they could say what they had really received.

On the trust's old website, Emma found a name: Fiona Kerr. Fiona was an accountant who had worked with the trust. Emma had seen the name before. She opened more old files to find out why.