Another negotiation taught me that being right about an asset did not mean I understood the people whose work kept it valuable.

Neither lesson arrived with applause.

The firm acquired after Patrick’s collapse required patient work.

The pension-related losses had to be addressed through the recovery and criminal processes.

The employees who remained needed clear governance rather than a new owner’s personal quarrel displayed in the lobby.

I had Patrick’s name removed from places where it no longer belonged.

I did not remove the history from the records.

The fraud case reached its actual conclusion during those years.