I could see the dust motes floating in the air between us.

“Graham,” Elliot repeated. “The phone.”

Graham slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his black iPhone.

He laid it on the table.

Arthur’s associate stepped forward with a static-shielded plastic bag and picked it up.

“And your keys,” Arthur said.

Graham reached into his pocket again and pulled out his key ring.

The metal clinked against the glass table.

“You are suspended effective immediately, Graham,” Elliot said. “We will conduct a full audit of every account you have touched.”

“Elliot, let’s talk about this in private,” Graham said.

He took a step toward Elliot, his hands raised in a gesture of appeal.

“We can handle this internally,” Graham said. “We don’t need to involve the regulators.”

“The regulators are already in the building, Graham,” Elliot said.

“We can manage the narrative,” Graham said, his voice rising in pitch. “If we do a quiet transition, the firm survives.”

He looked at the compliance officers, then back to Elliot.

“If this gets out, Whitaker-Crane is dead,” Graham said. “The clients will pull their money by Monday morning.”