“She brought this on herself, Arthur,” I said, keeping my voice level.

“I am not defending her,” he said, turning his head slowly to look at me. “She is a fool who thought she could bypass the board and the law.”

He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded document, placing it on the small wooden tray table between us.

“The banks are preparing to call in our primary loans,” Arthur said. “By tomorrow morning, the Bradford holding company will be technically insolvent.”

Marcus reached over and took the document, unfolding it and scanning the pages.

“This is a transfer of voting shares,” Marcus noted, his eyes moving rapidly down the lines of text.

“All of them,” Arthur said. “Fifty-one percent of the controlling interest in Bradford Enterprises.”

I looked from the papers to the old man’s face, searching for a trick. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because your agency is clean, Clara,” Arthur said. “Your firm has the trust of the market, and you have the liquid assets to satisfy the immediate debt service.”

He leaned forward, his grip tightening on his cane.