I was being ruthless, in the truest sense, ruthless about what my company actually needed.

Consider what Elena had demonstrated, under conditions no business-school credential could ever test for.

She had detected a sophisticated conspiracy that my entire professional apparatus of lawyers and executives had missed, or joined.

She had assessed the threat correctly, gathered evidence methodically, and acted with courage under mortal risk, all without instruction, all on her own judgment.

She had shown perfect discretion, perfect nerve, and an incorruptible conscience, in a situation where nearly every credentialed person around her had revealed themselves to be corruptible, cowardly, or both.

If I had run a search, with every recruiter in Manhattan, for a person who could be trusted to guard the integrity of my company, I could not have designed a better test than the one Elena had already passed, or found a candidate who had passed it more completely.