I sat there with the cold coffee and watched the waitress clear away his uneaten pie.

She wiped the table down twice.

At three thirty Gordon Bell sat across from me at Hayes Accounting with the corporate charter in a manila folder.

He had come straight from a settlement conference, and his tie was already loosened.

His reading glasses dangled from one hand.

He adjusted his silver-framed glasses.

“The charter is very clear.

Julian has no signing authority on any corporate card line.”