Chapter 6 - WHAT NATALIE KNEW
Natalie had not written WATCH about the inhaler.
At least, no one could prove that.
Helen Price believed Natalie had become suspicious of Evelyn for another reason.
Three donor families complained privately that their stories had been altered.
One mother said a presentation described her son as abandoned by his father.
The father was deployed overseas.
Another family’s medical diagnosis was exaggerated.
A third family had never approved national use of their daughter’s photograph.
Evelyn argued the foundation had broad releases.
Natalie disagreed.
She began collecting:
original consent forms,
edited fundraising decks,
staff emails,
and donor complaints.
The board had not yet opened a formal investigation.
Then Natalie died.
Afterward, Evelyn told Helen:
“Natalie was overwhelmed. Let’s not destroy what she built over misunderstandings.”
That sentence buried the issue for months.
Thomas read the email.
“You let it die?”
Helen looked ashamed.
“We had a dead colleague, frightened families, and no folder.”
“You had complaints.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you investigate?”
“We should have.”
That answer mattered.
Evelyn’s influence worked partly because other adults chose convenience.
Then Rachel found Natalie’s laptop backup.
A draft memo survived.
Title:
UNAUTHORIZED EXPANSION OF SUBJECT CONSENT — E.K.
E.K.
Evelyn Kensington.
Natalie listed seven cases.
At the bottom:
If Evelyn refuses corrective plan, refer to outside counsel and suspend her access to donor-story materials.
Career-threatening.
Not prison.
Not financial ruin.
But enough to damage Evelyn’s reputation and remove her from the foundation.
Then came the final paragraph.
I am also concerned Evelyn has been accessing my personal medical information through the emergency-contact files she manages for event staff.
Thomas stared.
Natalie believed Evelyn had looked at her asthma information.
Why?
May you like
The next sentence answered.
She keeps asking whether I still carry the blue rescue inhaler.
