Who dominates the town by fear and force. Jason Lindberg lost both of his legs in Afghanistan. The Veterans Administration did well by him at first. The surgery had gone as well as could be expected. The rehab program had also been helpful. What lagged was treatment for his mental issues. Both he and his wife pleaded for help but the only psychologists available were scheduled months out. Eighteen months after his return home Jason swallowed half a bottle of prescription antidepressants and died. His wife Jan was at work and returned to find him dead in his wheelchair. Hunch? Dino asked. Jackson deliberated a moment, blinked reflectively, and said,I believe she is, Mr. Mason, as though the thought had just struck him. Go fuck yourself, she managed to say, then smiled a little. Check my birth certificate. If you enter it incorrectly, well have to buy all new computers. People like Sig dont love anybody, except themselves, Stone said. Thats a hard lesson to learn, but learn it you will. His expression was serious, focused, Devine thought, until he saw Devine. Then Valentine smiled, and said,Dude. He sighed deeply, nodded again, slumped a little in his chair, and turned slightly so that he could look out the window.No, he said softly, “it isnt, is it? Okay, Stone, whatever you say. Ed, Stone, lets go climb some stairs. They got out of the big SUV, went to the front door, and Dino opened it with one of the two keys on the chain. The lights on the stairway came on automatically, and Dino led the way up the steps. At the second floor, he used the other key to open the door. He felt for a light switch and found one. It turned on three lamps in the room. An interior staircase led up to another floor. Mix? The management was buying the company on the cheap because that was part of the plan. It was all front- and back-end-loaded with fees for the M and A boys. The sub would then issue debt that it never intended to repay. They would use the proceeds from the debt offering to pay management a huge dividend. Then they would go back to the bankers, wrap the junk debt with some decently rated stuff into a CBO, or collateralized bond obligation, and then sell it off to pension funds, police unions, and grandmas. Management would next bleed the company dry, sell whatever of the assets it could make money off of, fire a quarter of the workers, raid the pension plan in such a complicated way prosecutors would never be able to prove anything, and eventually leave the remaining workers hanging without paychecks or health care. When the debt went bad, which it was designed to do, they would go back in, peel off the good stuff, and make even more money off that, while the grandmas and the workers went to the poorhouse. They had no recourse because to have recourse you needed to hire lawyers. And even if the grandmas had any money left, folks like Cowl already had the best attorneys in the business. The litigation would take years and by the time appeals were done, the deep pockets would have vanished under a wall of legalese and there was no money left to pay off any judgment. The international order of Oddfellows Hall was about six blocks from The Feathered Nest bar and grill in a not particularly fashionable section of downtown St. Louis. After all, Della Street asked Mason when they were back in the car, driving to the office, does it make any great difference? Fine, Mason told her. Devine kicked the bike into gear and raced after the Bugatti. Were lined up for it, she said. I see the Hawker. Its taxiing from the terminal. Yes, Your Honor..