The statement about to be released by Alpha doesn't surprise Angelo. He would do the same thing if he were in Escalus' position. His duty is to uphold the corporate bylaws, the values of the company and to preserve the assets for the shareholders. The Board of Directors had no choice, and acted prudently.
Angelo's lawyers help craft the statement, assuring that the presumption of his innocence is maintained. The emails and revisions are flying back and forth between his team at the police station and Escalus' team back at the office. Really, he knows, they are the same team. They all want what is best for Alpha, because right up until the instant the statement is released, Angelo is Alpha.
With a click of a mouse, all that changes.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- APRIL 23, 2016 -- ALPHA INTERNATIONAL, Inc. (NASDAX: AII), an investment and technology company with holdings in telecommunication, internet, biotechnology and computer businesses, today announced that its Board of Directors has voted to remove Angelo Lord from his positions as the acting company's chief executive officer and chief compliance officer.
The Board appointed Director Charles Escalus to serve as chairman of the Board of Directors, interim chief executive officer, interim chief compliance officer and interim president. Mr. Escalus agreed to serve in these positions while the company seeks to consult with the company's principal shareholder and CEO, Mr. Vincent Duke.
Mr. Lord will continue to serve as president of two of the company's portfolio investments, Global Technology Growth Fund and Global Technology Infrastructure Exchange, and will remain a director of the company.
"The Board has decided that Alpha International Inc. and its shareholders would be better served with a shift in management with the Board of Directors taking a more direct role in the management of its portfolio companies," stated Mr. Escalus. "These changes are expected to be just the first in a series of moves to position AII to build value for its shareholders through additional strategic acquisitions and the growth of its subsidiary companies operating in the technology sectors."
"The Board believes very strongly in the opportunities for new strategic acquisitions for AII as well as the continued growth of its existing companies. We expect to continue targeting new acquisitions designed to bolster revenue growth in the AII portfolios as well as supporting the development of its existing portfolio holdings," said Mr. Escalus.
"Another of the Board's primary goals is to keep shareholders better informed on the company's progress as we take steps to improve the performance of our subsidiary holdings and create value for shareholders," added Mr. Escalus.
About ALPHA INTERNATIONAL Inc....
Just another day in the boardroom. Angelo admires his team. These guys can take a sex scandal, accusations of murder, a media circus, and turn it into an opportunity to create value for shareholders. Hell, the way they spin it, you would be a fool not to pick up more shares! Brilliant, because he knows it will work. All that really matters to the guys behind the money is that they don't lose it. Morals don't matter. The holy rollers won't let a scandal get in the way of making a profit; they will just dump it into some hidden portfolio of theirs. Most of the wealth is controlled by the private equity partners anyway, who will use any dip in the publicly traded stock as a buying opportunity. Alpha will do alright. He isn't sure about himself though. He needs to focus on staying out of jail.
His lawyers are still in a meeting with the guys from the DA's office. He knows their strategy: charge their client with a crime, or let him go. Seems pretty simple. But the DA wants to nail him on First Degree Murder, except they don't have a body.
It has been done before, where someone has been charged with murder without finding the victim's body, but they can't afford to get this wrong. They know that Alpha will be on them, looking for blood if they screw this up. The video is all they have to go on, and unless Isabella's body turns up, there is no real evidence that a murder even occurred. They could charge him with battery, but even with that, there is still no witness. No one has come forward. And why take the chance? The cops believe it is just a matter of time before a body turns up; the DNA will match Lord's and the samples taken in his bedroom and the test results will erase all doubt.
His team is arguing that Angelo is a victim of a fraud. A corporate enemy, they maintain, could benefit from Angelo's demise and Alpha's subsequent loss of share value. They'll produce transaction reports showing institutional traders going short on Alpha stocks, and these will be the same guys who will be first in line to snap up the bargains. There are millions to be made from this scandal.
Angelo has figured this out, but his lawyers feel that the jilted ex-lover story is too sensational. The sheer implausibility of Angelo's alibi will become a story in and of itself. It is better to go with the corporate crime defence than to give the media and the tabloids the script for the next year. This would be bigger than OJ. No, we want this to blow over quietly, they tell him.
Angelo knows that someone tampered with the video. Someone got access to the file and deleted the footage of everything that was on there after he left the room. One of the guys followed up on Angelo's orders and got someone at Alpha to dig into the cloud's security, to see if there was any way the video files stored on the cloud could be hacked. No way, they were told. They use the best encryption on the planet, powered by the most reputable security provider, Cymric Corp. No one has access to the code, except maybe for the highest levels at Cymric.
Cymric. It all makes sense.
Mr. Wiggles, of course. He never would have guessed that his beloved Mr. Wiggles might lead to his downfall. So, here is what he is up against: Isabella must have been put up to this by Mariana Fredricks, the founder and president of Cymric. He doesn't know how the two women might know each other, but they must have somehow conspired to frame him. That is the only way Isabella would have known to take Mr. Wiggles with her when she left. Mariana would have the ability to get into the cloud and retrieve the video files. She would have possession of the feeds from both the room camera and the one inside Mr. Wiggles, and could doctor them however she wanted. And she can release them to the police, or the media, whenever she saw fit to do so.
"No way. We are not going public with that story." The senior lawyer, a greying, pudgy man with a noticeable feminine inflection in his voice, is insistent and even has the nerve to tell Angelo to shut up. "You are to do what I tell you to do from now on. You don't say a word, you don't speak to anyone, and you don't make a move unless we tell you to. You are my bitch now, get it?"
Asshole. But he gets it. He knows the game. He wouldn't mind being shown a little respect though, but he has bigger things to worry about right now. Like Mariana trying to have him thrown in jail, for trying to destroy his career, for trying to bring down Alpha Incorporated, for trying to get back at him. Christ, he doesn't deserve this. He knows that their split was tough. Angelo sees it as him having made the tough choice though, doing what was reasonable and necessary given the circumstance. Sometime, you have to be mean.
He knows it wasn't easy on him, harder than he thought it would be. He tried not to think of how Mariana felt, and only hoped that she saw that he did what needed to be done, to save them both. It was a choice between the deal or him, and he chose to let the deal proceed. The separation was his atonement for him screwing up. When he negotiated that buy-out, he had been weak. He let his heart call the shots, and that will never happen again. Mariana cleared millions from it, and he still thinks that she got the better end of it. So this is why he doesn't understand that, years later, she is out to get him, and doing a good job of it. Maybe she is just nuts. Women get like that.
"So, Angelo, this is how this scene will play out." All the lawyers are back now, all together in the private conference room in the police station. There are no cameras here, nothing is being recorded, he is told. Angelo sits, his heart thumping while his fate is dictated to him. "We have successfully argued that the cops don't have enough evidence that you killed Ms. Measures. They are not going to arrest you at this time. But they are convinced that a breakthrough is imminent, so they are willing to let you go, for now."
Angelo exhales the breath that he has been holding. He can finally get out of here. He is about to thank them when the senior lawyer steps in. "That means that they will be watching your every move, so don't go digging holes in your backyard—actually the cops have already dug up your yard. Assume that your house is wired, your phones are tapped, your devices are being monitored. I suggest that you don't go anywhere at all. If you plan on going out of your house, you check with me first." The lawyer throws his card on the table. Lawrence Balthasar–he has never heard of him.
"Now, when we walk out of here, you will keep your head down. Don't make eye contact with anyone. The last thing we want is a front page picture of you staring down the camera. You will appear humble and ashamed. You will walk out of here with your tail between your legs. Got it?"
Angelo nods and listens to the lawyers talk. One of the guys—the tall, skinny, young one—is looking after Alpha's interests and seems to be in contact with someone at Alpha who is calling the shots on this one. That used to be Angelo. Now, it is someone else on the phone with the young lawyer. The only thing the kid says on the phone is "yes sir." Then he relays the directions to the team.
There is some discussion as to whether the police will be issuing a statement or not. The guy on the phone is telling the lawyers to insist that the police do not issue a statement. They are to threaten them with a civil suit of defamation if they utter a word about this. The police, Angelo hears, are chomping at the bit to tell the world how great they are at solving this case, how the people of Mountain View are safe and protected by such an outstanding police force, and how the sheriff should be re-elected for another term.
In the end, Angelo is told to stand. Hands push him and turn him to the door of the conference room. He is marched through the police station, passing the desk of clerks and cops, all sitting or standing, gazing in awe at the suspect, as he is led towards the door. Angelo has the urge to keep his hands clasped tight in front of him, as though he is wearing handcuffs. He doesn't feel like a free man.
When the doors to the outside world push open, the brightness of the afternoon sun is blinding. Angelo is grabbed firmly by the lawyer Balthasar, and pushed through the doorway into the sea of faces, cameras and shouts. He keeps his head down, like he was told to do. He tries to play the part of the man condemned. His back arches under the weight he carries, the parade through the throngs of reporters is his Calvary.