Switching Anomaly - at my wits end.

Hello all I'm working w/ a network that I'm trying to discover/map out after an emergency.

• The engineer who designed the network is gone.
• No documentation was done.
• There are other vendors that have access to the network.
• None of the vendors have coordinated change management.
• On my day off, a primary switch died.
• Tech who filled in for me, yolo'd the network and unplugged everything w/o documenting it.
• There are 3 primary switches (aruba). switch 2 is the one that died.
• Tech put a temporary switch from another client in place of switch 2.
• The temp switch was configured for the other client as a backup. VLAN setup was incompatible.
• Tech played random mix and match between the 3 switches until "enough" of the network was online to hold them over till i returned. They documented NOTHING of the original config or port/cable orientations.
• When I returned, I managed to get the dead switch functional and pulled the configs and programmed the loaner switch.
• I have zero information on what the network is supposed to look like. I have managed to get 95% of the network functional.
  
• In the process of trying to understand the network, I am mapping it out. I have come across an anomaly that is driving me nuts.

According to the mac address table of each switch, a portion of the network looks like this. Switch 1 is connected to switch 2 via port 1. Switch 2 is connected to switch 1 via port 1. Switch 3 is connected to both Switch 1 and Switch 2 via port 1. Logically im thinking there is a 4th unknown switch, probably unmanaged, in between the 3 primary switches. The tech who was physically on site (not the one who screwed everything up) following my instructions connected switch 1 port 1 on one of the 2 primary switches. He forgot to record which port he plugged it into. I figured when all the dust settled I'd just map the network and be done with it. That's how i discovered this anomaly.

2 questions: Is there a more efficient way to map a network and discover physical layout vs vlan layout? Am I interpreting the mac address table incorrectly and/or what am i doing wrong?

The CEO of our company is furious livid because they do not want us to spend anymore time on this task. I tried to explain that we need to map the network to establish a baseline then work with each of the vendors to understand their needs and design from scratch something that works for everyone. They are not hearing it and just want the solution to magically spawn and already be in place.

help...