Russell Andrews - Hades

"I assume you're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

"That's a phrase that no one even understands on the Street."

"So explain to me how you make enough to justify this extremely impressive office and your suits that cost more than most people's rent."

"We get commissions from every single trade and order flow."

"At no risk."

"We handle the transactions; we're not putting our own money in. And hedge funds probably account for a third of our trades now."

"You want to tell me how much that might come to a year?"

"We don't give out our financial figures," French told him.

"But if I say 'a lot' I'm not going to be far off," Justin said.

"No. That would be extremely accurate. But we also do a lot of margin lending, and that's at least as profitable."

"So you did all of that for Ascension?"

"As I said, and quite a few other hedge funds. We have many resources that smaller firms, money management companies and funds like Ascension, don't have. We can get better deals, get in earlier than other companies, sometimes get in on an investment opportunity when other firms can't get in at all. One of our jobs, one of the key aspects of Ellis's job, is to bring money in to those deals. Let's say one of our clients wants to raise three hundred million dollars in an IPO. We'll certainly have a share of that, if not the entire thing. We might need to raise half, a hundred and fifty million. So we go out and get it."

"And you might get it from Ascension? Telling them this is a good investment."

"Sure. But as I keep saying, we go to many other hedge funds like Ascension. We don't put all our eggs in one basket. Or even a hundred baskets."

"So Ellis is a salesman in a lot of ways."

"Yes. He's a salesman and an adviser and an investor and a deal maker."

"Can you walk me through a typical day-to-day deal?"

"I don't think it's appropriate for me to give you real cash numbers-"

"Just hypothetical. I want to make sure I understand the relationship."

"Is this really relevant to your investigation?"

"It might be. I can't say for sure until I know a lot more of the facts. And the background."

"You don't think Ellis has anything to do with what happened to Evan?" French asked. He didn't seem particularly horrified or shocked at the thought. More curious.

"I didn't say that. I'd just like to understand the kinds of relationships Harmon had with people who he worked with. It's very unlikely that Evan was killed by someone he didn't know. The odds are it was someone he knew extremely well."

"All right," French said. "Let's say the head of research into new media comes up and says we should invest in… oh… companies that are working on technology to make it easy to download original product into iPod-like devices. Got that?"

"So far."

"Let's say they've come up with a way to do it for audiobooks."

"Don't listen to them. I like to read the real thing."

Justin watched as French did his best not to roll his eyes. The executive stayed polite, and he barely hesitated before continuing his explanation. Justin was impressed. It was one of his best things: annoying people to see how they responded. French must have spent a lot of his days being annoyed by a lot of people because his response was to simply keep going. Didn't change his demeanor when caught in a lie, didn't flinch when aggravated by stupidity. No wonder he was a success on Wall Street, Justin decided.

"We have the resources to research which companies have the best technology and the greatest upside. Which companies are most likely to survive some very strict competition. We make our call; Ellis goes to Evan Harmon, says we think this is an area you want to invest in, here's the result of the data we've put together; Evan comes back to us and says, 'Okay, we're in, we're good for X dollars.'"

"X being a substantial amount of money."

"Very substantial in some instances," French said.

"That three hundred million you mentioned earlier-that's not way out of line."

"It can be less than that. Certainly for a company like Evan's. But the total overall can be more."

"And if Evan Harmon says no?"

French shrugged. "Then he says no. We move on to someone else."

"But a rejection could hurt St. John's pocketbook, right?"

French thought about this for a moment, then shrugged noncommittally. "It's possible. Our salespeople are expected to bring in a certain amount of money, and their bonuses are based accordingly. But for it to affect Ellis, it would have to be a lot more than one turndown."

Justin wondered if Daniel French's brown hair ever got mussed. Or even moved. Or if his three-piece suit ever got a little tight. Probably not, he thought. He wondered if French was wondering right now if he, Justin, ever wore a sport coat that actually fit.

"What if Ascension took its business elsewhere?"

"It happens all the time. People move around. Hell, we're not the only broker used by Ascension. They have several sources." French looked at his Rolex. Still no sign of impatience, even when he said, "Is there anything else I can do for you? I do have a substantial amount of work to do."

Justin nodded, determined to be just as polite as his corporate host, and he said, "I'd heard that Evan was not exactly thrilled with the job Ellis has been doing."

French looked surprised. "Where did you hear that from?"

"Is it true?"

"Not remotely."

"So he wasn't thinking of firing him."

"That's absurd."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because it's the kind of thing I'd know. I'd have to know it. We do a lot of business with Ascension-a lot of buying for them and a substantial amount of consulting and partnering. If Evan had any problem with any relationships, I'd know about it."

"But you didn't."

"No."

"Would anyone else?"

"Know about any problems? It's possible. Several executives might be aware if they existed. Possibly Lincoln might know about it because of his relationship with Evan's father. But, again, if I didn't know about a problem, it didn't exist."

"Lincoln Berdon? That's who you were referring to?"

"Yes."

"He's the CEO."

"That's right."

"He very friendly with Evan's father?"

"Yes. H. R. was part of this firm for a while."

"Why'd he leave?"

"H. R.? Because he went back into government. Happens, you know. He made his money here and went back to public service."

"Why didn't he come back here when he left public service?"

"You'd have to ask him. But if I had to guess, I'd say he just didn't want to work as hard. He'd had a heart attack, and even though his job here was fairly cushy, it was still work. A lot of meetings, a lot of socializing. Plus, Evan had started Ascension by then and I think H. R. wanted to help him out, lend his presence over there. Now, I really should-"

"Just another minute or so. This is very helpful. What does that mean, exactly? Lend his presence?"

"It's not a secret. People like H. R. hook up with companies like ours or Evan's because of their Rolodex. H. R.'s international relationships are priceless. Like the Bushes with the Saudis. Bush One was like a member of the royal family, and it paid off for them big-time. H. R. is as tight as it's possible to be with the Chinese, and since they're taking over the whole goddamn world, it's a valuable connection."

"How valuable?"

"Does his father's role at Rockworth have anything to do with Evan's murder?" French asked.

"Probably not. I'm just trying to get the big picture. Anytime this kind of money is involved, it's possible there's some connection."

"I'm not going to get into specifics, but H. R.'s role was essential to our doing business over there. We had access to investment opportunities in China we might not have normally had access to. Everything from financial markets to car manufacturers."