You were an investigator. Are you getting involved? However, in view of the fact that I had been definitely advised we would take the case I did not discuss the matter of emolument with her at any length, but merely made an attempt to ascertain her financial background. Devine felt like saying,Look whos talking. But what would have been the point? Were off, Stone said. While the others were climbing aboard, Stone took the vans driver aside. Did you notice whether you were followed here? he asked. The receptionist went back to doing what she was doing when I came in, proofreading, it seemed, and I went back to smoking my roll your own. I was about halfway through it when a door opened and a tall woman with streaked blond hair came in and said,Mr. Longmire? Later, he walked home from the station and there was Valentine on the couch. Mason glanced sidelong at Doxey. They were silent for a while; then Doxey shifted his position and said,Ive got a sunburned back. You could do me a very great personal favor, Mr. Mason. Thank you, Mason said, and slipped out into the corridor. Devine looked out the window at the sunny day.So, I didnt really complete my mission, then. And you dont give out participation trophies. Am I headed to USDB? Christian was found dead in your pool, snapped Montgomery. The police think you killed him. Youre an MD now, are you, Conrad? A lot of them. The management was buying the company on the cheap because that was part of the plan. It was all front- and back-end-loaded with fees for the M and A boys. The sub would then issue debt that it never intended to repay. They would use the proceeds from the debt offering to pay management a huge dividend. Then they would go back to the bankers, wrap the junk debt with some decently rated stuff into a CBO, or collateralized bond obligation, and then sell it off to pension funds, police unions, and grandmas. Management would next bleed the company dry, sell whatever of the assets it could make money off of, fire a quarter of the workers, raid the pension plan in such a complicated way prosecutors would never be able to prove anything, and eventually leave the remaining workers hanging without paychecks or health care. When the debt went bad, which it was designed to do, they would go back in, peel off the good stuff, and make even more money off that, while the grandmas and the workers went to the poorhouse. They had no recourse because to have recourse you needed to hire lawyers. And even if the grandmas had any money left, folks like Cowl already had the best attorneys in the business. The litigation would take years and by the time appeals were done, the deep pockets would have vanished under a wall of legalese and there was no money left to pay off any judgment. Stone helped Eds right arm into his jacket, but left the other arm unsleeved and a bit bloody. In the canoe?.