Richard Ashby had not disappeared the way people disappear when they are running.
That was the first thing Daniel established, in a call that lasted six minutes and left me standing at the window of the Bennett Capital office while Adrian sat very still at the desk behind me with his phone against his ear and his expression doing the careful, controlled thing that meant the information was significant and he was deciding what to do with it before he let himself feel it.
Richard had filed a leave of absence. Through HR, at 3:47 that afternoon, citing a family matter. Signed off by his direct manager without question, because Richard Ashby had spent twelve years being the kind of man who never caused problems and was therefore never questioned. He had been at his desk at noon. He had been
