Chapter 57 - The First Folder
Rather than forcing the cabinet immediately, investigators examined a narrow gap behind one damaged drawer.
A single sheet of paper had slipped through years earlier.
Using delicate retrieval tools, the forensic team carefully removed it without disturbing the lock.
It was only one page.
Yet everyone gathered around the table.
Across the top appeared a title.
Leadership Evaluation Index
Below it were five grading categories.
Competence.
Integrity.
Influence.
Adaptability.
Succession Risk.
Margaret stopped reading.
"Succession risk?"
Arthur frowned.
"Employees were evaluated as risks?"
The final column contained handwritten symbols instead of scores.
Most entries showed circles.
A few displayed triangles.
Only a handful carried a red square.
Samuel Pierce stared at the page.
"I've seen that symbol."
"When?"
"Harold mentioned it once."
"What did he say?"
Samuel closed his eyes, searching an old memory.
"He told me..."
"...there were people inside the company who weren't judged by how capable they were."
Margaret waited.
"They were judged by how difficult they would be to control."
Silence settled over the forgotten office.
If Harold had been right, then the hidden evaluation system had never been designed simply to identify future leaders.
It had also been designed to eliminate independent thinkers before they reached positions of influence.
Margaret carefully placed the recovered page into an evidence sleeve.
One page had already changed the investigation.
May you like
She could only imagine what remained inside the cabinet.
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