The Ledger

Fiona replied the following evening. She could meet for twenty minutes in a café near the river. Emma could not record the conversation or use Fiona's name in an article without permission. Her final sentence was short: Bring dates, not theories.

Emma arrived early. She ordered tea and put her notebook away until Fiona appeared. Outside, people crossed the bridge with their coats pulled tightly around them.

Fiona arrived on time, carrying a canvas bag.

“I remember your article about Claire Morrison,” she said.

“So do I,” Emma replied. “I published something I couldn't prove. I'm trying to do better.”

Fiona looked at her for a moment. “Then listen. I worked on some entries for the trust. I wasn't the only person who could change the accounts, and I didn't approve every payment.”

Emma asked how scholarships were recorded. Fiona explained that there were three separate stages. First, the trust approved an award. Next, someone instructed the bank to send money. Finally, the bank confirmed the transfer.

“A brochure can show the first stage,” Fiona said. “An annual report may show the last. The figures can be different without anyone doing anything wrong. But there should be documents to explain the difference.”

She drew three boxes on a paper napkin and joined them with lines.

“My daughter says I turn everything into a diagram,” Fiona said. “Even boiling an egg.”

Emma smiled. It was the first personal thing Fiona had said.

Emma showed her the date on Calum's email, covering his private details. The trust had written on 19 November 2010 that his payment was being processed.

“Find the payment instruction from that week,” Fiona said. “Then see whether the bank confirmed it.”

“Do you remember that payment?”

“I remember how the system worked. I won't claim to remember a document I haven't seen.”

“Did you keep copies?”

“I didn't say that.”

Emma did not press her. Instead, she asked how to check whether a later summary had been changed.

“You'd need the original entry and the history of changes,” Fiona said. “Who changed it, when, and why. A correction isn't necessarily dishonest. But there should be a record.”

At the door, Fiona gave Emma one last piece of advice: check the original entry for 19 November 2010 before publishing anything.

“Why that date?” Emma asked.

“Because it's one you can test.”