Chapter 31 - the money came back
The investigation recovered the remaining funds.
Not all of them.
But enough.
We contacted every surviving beneficiary.
Some had moved.
Some had remarried.
Some had died.
Their children received the money instead.
Margaret Hale was one of the last people I visited.
I placed the check on her table.
She stared at it.
“How much?”
I told her.
She began crying.
“My husband would have been grateful.”
I nodded.
Then she pushed the check back.
I was stunned.
“What?”
“I don't want it.”
“Margaret—”
She shook her head.
“My children are grown.”
“You are entitled to it.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
She looked at me.
“Because there are younger families now.”
I understood.
She wasn't refusing the money.
She was choosing where it should go.
We created a new employee-family fund in her husband's name.
Margaret became its first honorary adviser.
Before I left, she held my hand.
“Your father would be proud.”
I smiled through tears.
May you like
“I hope so.”
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