“I didn’t say that.”
“You just did.”
Robles’s attorney whispered harshly, “Stop talking.”
Judge Vargas leaned forward.
“Ms. Hernández, is this the only discrepancy you have discovered?”
Sofía looked toward Lucía.
“No, Your Honor.”
Lucía finally moved.
She carried a laptop.
She placed it beside Sofía.
“This is my sister Lucía Hernández,” Sofía said. “She works in forensic accounting.”
Robles went pale.
Don Chema looked at Lucía.
“Forensic what?”
Lucía finally laughed.
“Numbers, Papá.”
“Oh.”
“Complicated numbers.”
“That sounds terrible.”
Even Judge Vargas almost smiled.
Then Lucía opened the laptop.
Her expression became serious.
“For six weeks, I’ve been reviewing procurement records connected to the school.”
Chema frowned.
“Six weeks?”
Sofía looked at him.
“We knew about the investigation before you received the final summons.”
“How?”
Valeria answered.
“Because someone contacted me.”
Chema turned.
“Who?”
Valeria hesitated.
Sofía interrupted.
“Later.”
That single word told Chema something else was happening.
Something his daughters hadn’t told him.
Lucía displayed a spreadsheet.
“The alleged theft was supposedly accomplished by ordering materials that never reached the school.”
She pointed to several entries.
“Computers. Cleaning supplies. Projectors. Electrical equipment. Construction materials.”
The total exceeded eight hundred thousand pesos.
“But there is a problem,” Lucía said.
She enlarged several invoice numbers.
“These companies barely exist.”
The prosecutor frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“The addresses lead to empty storefronts, private residences, and in one case, a tire repair shop.”
Murmurs spread through the courtroom.
Robles’s attorney stood.
“Your Honor, we have not had an opportunity to verify these allegations.”
“You’ll get one,” Judge Vargas replied.
Lucía continued.
“Three companies were incorporated within months of Mr. Robles becoming principal.”
Robles suddenly stood.
“This is a circus!”
Judge Vargas slammed her gavel.
“Sit down.”
“They’re lying!”
“Mr. Robles!”
His attorney physically pulled him back into his chair.
Sofía waited until the room quieted.
Then she said:
“The interesting part isn’t when those companies were created.”
She removed another document.
“It’s where the money went afterward.”
Robles stopped moving.
Sofía placed the paper before the judge.
“Payments from the school went into supplier accounts. Portions were subsequently transferred through intermediary accounts.”
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