“How many investors have you got backing you at this moment?” Johnny asked.

“Fifty-two.”

“Fifty-two idiots,” Johnny said bitterly.

“I never did anything like this before,” Brad said ingenuously. “My reputation in Oklahoma and Texas is as clean as a hound’s tooth. You ask anyone. People trusted me. And they had a right to.”

“You’re going to go to jail, Brad,” Rudolph said.

“You wouldn’t do that to me, to your old friend, Brad, who sat next to you the day you graduated from college, would you, Rudy?”

“I certainly would,” Rudolph said.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Johnny said, “before we start talking about jail. I’m more interested in seeing if we can get our money back than in sending this moron to jail.”

“That’s it,” Brad said eagerly, “that’s the way to talk. Sensibly.”

“What have you got in the way of assets?” Johnny asked. “Right now?”

“That’s it,” repeated Brad. “Now we’re talking business. It’s not as though I’m wiped out. I still have credit.”

“When you walk out of this room, Brad,” Rudolph said, “you won’t be able to borrow ten cents from any bank in the country. I’ll see to that.” He found it hard not to show his disgust.

“Johnny …” Brad appealed to Heath. “He’s vindictive. Talk to him. I can understand he’s a little sore, but to be vindictive like that …”

“I asked you about your assets,” Johnny said.

“Well,” Brad said, “on the books, it’s not so … so optimistic.” He grinned, hopefully. “But from time to time, I’ve been able to accumulate a little cash. For a rainy day, you might say. I’ve got it in safety-deposit boxes here and there. It’s not enough to pay off everybody, of course, but I could go pretty far toward paying you fellas back.”

“Is it Virginia’s money?” Rudolph asked.

“Virginia’s money!” Brad snorted. “Her old man tied up the money he gave her so tight, I couldn’t buy a hot dog with any of it if I was dying of hunger in a ballpark.”

“He was a lot smarter than we were,” Rudolph said.

“Jesus, Rudolph,” Brad complained, “you don’t have to keep rubbing it in. I feel bad enough as it is.”

“How much is there in cash?” Johnny asked.

“You understand. Johnny,” Brad said, “it’s not on the company’s books anywhere or anything like that.”

“I understand,” Johnny said. “How much?”

“Close to a hundred thousand. I could give each of you nearly fifty thousand dollars on account. And I’d personally guarantee to pay the rest back later.”

“How?” Rudolph asked brutally.

“Well, there’s still some wells being dug …” Rudolph could tell he was lying. “And then I could go to Sandra and explain how I’m in a little hole for the time being and ask her to give me back the jewelry, and …”

Rudolph shook his head, wonderingly. “You really believe she’d do that?”

“She’s a fine little girl, Rudy. I have to introduce her to you sometime.”

“Oh, grow up, for Christ’s sake,” Rudolph said.

“You wait here,” Johnny said to Brad. “I want to talk to Rudy alone.” He ostentatiously took the papers he had been working on with him as he went toward Rudolph’s bedroom door.

“You fellas don’t mind if I mix myself a little drink while I’m waiting, do you?” Brad said.

Johnny closed the door behind them when he and Rudolph were in the bedroom. “We have a decision to make,” he said. “If as he says he’s got close to a hundred thousand cash, we can take it and cut our losses. That is, about twenty thousand give or take a few dollars in one way or another. If we don’t take it, we have to report it and ask for a creditors’ meeting and probably put him through bankruptcy. If we don’t start criminal proceedings. All his creditors would have an equal shot at the money, or at least pro rata, according to the size of their investments and the amount he actually owes them.”

“Does he have the right to pay us off like that, preferentially?”

“Well, he isn’t in bankruptcy yet,” Johnny said. “I think it would stand up in a court of law.”

“Nothing doing,” Rudolph said. “Let him throw it into the pot. And let’s get the safety-deposit box keys from him tonight, so he can’t lift the money before we can stop him.”

Johnny sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that,” he said. “When knighthood was in flower.”

“Just because he’s a crook,” Rudolph said, “doesn’t mean that I’m going to be a crook to cut my losses, as you say.”

“I said I thought it would probably stand up in a court of law,” Johnny said.

“Not good enough,” Rudolph said. “Not good enough for me.”

Johnny looked speculatively at Rudolph. “What would you do if I went to him and said, okay, I’ll take my half, and drop out of the rest of it?”

“I’d report it at the creditors’ meeting,” Rudolph said evenly, “and make a motion to sue you for recovery.”

“I surrender, dear,” Johnny said. “Who can stand up to an honest politician?”

They went back into the living room. Brad was standing at the window, a full glass in hand, tickets at the fifty yard line for the big game of the season in his wallet, gazing out at the rich, friendly city of Dallas. Johnny explained what they had decided. Brad nodded, numbly, not quite understanding.

“And we want you back here tomorrow morning at nine o’clock,” Rudolph said. “Before the banks open. We’ll go around with you to those safety-deposit boxes you spoke about and we’ll take care of the money for you. We’ll give you a receipt for your files. If you’re not here by one minute before nine, I’ll call the police and make out a complaint for fraud.”

“Rudy …” Brad said plaintively.

“And if you want to hold onto those fancy, pearl cufflinks,” Rudolph said, “you’d better hide them someplace, because by the end of the month the sheriff is going to come around to seize your property, every bit of property you own, including that pretty, frilled shirt you’re wearing, to satisfy your debts.”

“You guys,” Brad said brokenly. “You guys … you don’t know what it’s like. You’re rich, you’ve got wives with millions, you’ve got everything you want. You don’t know what it’s like to be somebody like me.”

“Don’t break our hearts,” Rudolph said roughly. He had never been as angry with anyone in his whole life. He had to restrain himself from jumping on the man and trying to strangle him. “Just be here at nine o’clock.”

“Okay. I’ll be here,” Brad said. “I don’t suppose you want to have dinner with me …?”

“Get out of here before I kill you,” Rudolph said.

Brad went to the door. “Well,” he said, “have a good time in Dallas. It’s a great city. And remember …” He gestured for the suite, the liquor. “All this on my bill.”

Then he went out.

Rudolph didn’t have time to call home the next morning. Brad came over at nine o’clock, as ordered, red eyed and looking as though he hadn’t slept all night, with a collection of keys for safety-deposit boxes in various Dallas banks. Ottman hadn’t called the night before, although Rudolph and Johnny had dined in the hotel to be ready for his call. Rudolph took it as a sign that all had gone smoothly on the Whitby campus and that Ottman’s fears had been exaggerated.

Rudolph and Johnny, with Brad in tow, went to the office of a lawyer whom Johnny knew. There, the lawyer drew up a power of attorney, for Johnny to act as Rudolph’s representative. Johnny was going to stay in Dallas to sort out the mess. Then, with a clerk from the lawyer’s office as a witness, they went from bank to bank and watched as Brad, not wearing his pearl cufflinks, opened the boxes and took out neat packages of cash. All four men counted the bills methodically, before the clerk made out a receipt, which Rudolph and Johnny signed, acknowledging that they had received the sum from Bradford Knight, and the date. The lawyer’s clerk would then duly witness the slip of paper, after which they would all go up to the main floor from the bank’s vault and deposit the money in a joint account in Rudolph’s and Johnny’s names, all withdrawals to be made on presentation of both signatures. Rudolph and Johnny had planned the procedure the night before, knowing that from now on anything to do with Bradford Knight would have to stand up to scrutiny.