out to be a knotty problem for me. Fortunately, he’s being
cooperative. At this very moment. Conferring with one of my
colleagues up in Oregon. My colleague says Mr. Cestare’s estate is
quite lovely.”
Full smile. “Don’t worry, Doctor, we only bring out the thumbscrews as
a last resort.”
Milo put down his coffee. “Why don’t you just cut to the chase,
bucko?”
Huenengarth’s smile vanished. He sat up straighter and looked
atMilo.
Silent stare.
Milo gave a disgusted look and drank coffee.
Huenengarth waited a while before turning back to me. “Is there anyone
else you’ve spoken to in addition to Mr. Cestare? Not counting your
girlfriend, Ms.-uh-Castagna. Don’t worry, Doctor. From what I know
about her, she isn’t likely to leak a story to The Wall
StreetJournal.”
“What the hell do you want?” I said.
“The names of anyone you’ve included in your fantasy. Specifically,
people with business connections or a reason to harbor a grudge against
Jones or Plumb.”
I glanced at Milo. He nodded, though he didn’t look happy.
“Just one other person,” I said. A doctor who used to work at Western
Peds. Now he lives in Florida. But I didn’t tell him anything he
didn’t already know and we didn’t go into any details-” “Dr. Lynch,”
said Huenengarth.
I swore. “What’d you do, tap my phone?”
“No, that wasn’t necessary. Dr. Lynch and I talk once in a while Have
been talking for a while.”
“He tipped you off?”
“let’s not get sidetracked, Dr. Delaware. The main thing is you told
me about speaking to him. That’s good. Admirably frank. I also like
the way you wrestled with it. Moral dilemmas mean something to you-I
don’t get to see that too often. So now I trust you more than when I
walked into this room, and that’s good for both ofu “Gee, I’m touched,”
I said. “What’s my reward? Learning your real name?”
“Cooperation. Maybe we can be mutually helpful. To Cassie Jones.”
“How can you help her?”
He folded his arms across his barrel chest. “Your theory-the entire
staffs’ theory-is appealing. For a one-hour TV episode. Greedy
capitalists sucking the lifeblood out of a beloved institution; the
good guys come in and clean it up; cut to commercial.”
“Who’re the good guys here?”
He put a hand to his chest. “I’m hurt, Doctor.”
“What are you, FBI?”
A different collection of letters-it wouldn’t mean anything to you.
let’s get back to your theory: appealing, but wrong. Do you remember
Cestare’s first reaction when you floated it by him?”
“He said it was unlikely.”
“Why?”
“Because Chuck Jones was a builder, not a destroyer.
Ah.”
“But then he looked up Plumb’s job history and found out companies
lies’ been associated with tend not to live long. So maybe Jones has
changed his style and is going for slash and burn.”
“Plumb is a slash-and-burn man,” he said. “Got a long history of
setting up companies for raiders, then taking fat commissions on the
buy-out. But those were companies backed up by assets that made them
worth plundering. Where’s the incentive to destroy a nonprofit
money-loser like Western Pediatrics? Where are the assets, Doctor?”
“The real estate the hospital sits on, for a start.”
“The real estate.” Another headshake, accompanied by a finger wag.
The guy had a definite tutorial bent. As a matter of fact, the land is
owned by the city and leased to the hospital under a ninetynine-year
contract, the contract’s renewable for another ninety-nine at the
hospital’s request, and the rent’s a dollar a year. Public record look
it up at the assessor’s office, just as I did.”
“You’re not here because Jones and his gang are innocents,” I said.
“What are they after?”
He moved forward on his chair. “Think convertible assets, Doctor.
A massive supply of high-quality stocks and bonds at Chuck Jones’s
disposal.”
“The hospital’s investment portfolio-Jones manages it. What’s he
doing, skimming?”
Yet another headshake. “Proximate but no panatela, Doctor.
Though that’s also a reasonable assumption. As it turns out, the
hospital’s portfolio is a joke. Thirty years of dipping into it to
balance the operating budget has stripped it down to bare bones. In
fact, huck Jones has built it up some-he’s a very savvy’ investor. But