The law office sat between a dry cleaner and a print shop in a low strip mall on Ross Avenue.

Mark Vance took off his reading glasses and polished them with a gray silk cloth while he read the yellowed copy of our company charter.

“This is airtight, Raymond,” Mark said in a clipped, dry voice.

“Your son covered his tracks on every bit of the paperwork.”

“Can I pull his operating authority today?” I asked.

“Not without an emergency court injunction,” Mark said.

He put his glasses back on and tapped the page with his index finger.