The agents did not arrest Marcus at the wedding.

That would have been more dramatic, and reality, I have found, is rarely as dramatic as it is thorough.

Instead, they asked him to step into a private conference room, and informed him, quietly, that investigators had questions regarding suspected wire fraud, falsified corporate disclosures, and the unauthorized movement of company funds.

Upstairs, the wedding continued, the band playing, my cousin dancing, the champagne flowing, the guests entirely unaware.

Downstairs, in a small carpeted room, Marcus Mercer’s life began, quietly, to collapse.