The Promise

Emma opened a new document with two columns: facts and assumptions. She could not prove who had sent the letter, so she kept it among her assumptions. The foundation's published reports were facts, although their meaning was not always clear.

The Glenarraidh Education Trust had promised to help young people from rural communities continue their education. Its chair, Malcolm Vale, often appeared in photographs with students receiving certificates. Emma remembered him as a confident speaker who disliked detailed questions.

On the archived website she found a list of scholarship recipients and an annual report. Some links no longer worked. One page announced twelve awards, but a later report described fewer payments. Emma checked the dates and headings. An offer of a scholarship was not the same as money actually paid to a student. The difference could have a normal explanation, but it deserved investigation.

Emma found her notes from a café interview with Claire in September 2011. She had written that students were complaining about delayed payments. Claire had told her to ask who approved the transfers. Emma had ignored that information while pursuing rumours about Claire's private life.

She wrote a list of people to contact: former scholarship recipients, trustees and anyone who understood the accounts. A photograph from a scholarship ceremony told her very little. Records and witnesses might tell her much more.

At the bottom of the old website, she noticed the name Fiona Kerr, described as the trust's external accountant. The name was familiar, but Emma could not remember why. She searched the drive again.