Chapter 12: The Inmates Are Running The Asylum

September 14, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“So what did you do?” Kara asked as we cuddled in bed with Jessica late Saturday evening.

“What do you THINK I did?” I asked.

“Did you have your bike?” Jessica teased.

“Cute, but I wasn’t on top of the babysitter!”

“So?” Kara asked insistently.

“Remember, there is no more wifely privilege,” I teased.

“Snuggle Bear...” she growled, narrowing her eyes.

“I thought I was supposed to growl!”

“He’s just trying to wind you up, Kara!” Jessica laughed. “It’s like Jesse and his sisters!”

“And I’m pretty good at it, too!”

“Which tells us where your son gets it!”

“It does! I told her that while I was certainly interested, and absolutely flattered, I had to turn her down. She wasn’t upset, either. I think Misty was disappointed, though, in losing her wager.”

“May I ask why?”

“Because I’m finding reasons to violate my own guidelines and I’m not sure that’s a good thing. And it’s one thing to be with Eve or even Lyudmila, and another thing to be with a new girl.”

“So no new girls? Ever?”

“You mean besides Maria Cristina?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’m not ruling it out, but if you think about it, there are still several who I’m willing to be with - Eve, Katy, Karla, Elena, and potentially Cindi, assuming both of you agree.”

“What bothers you about that, Tiger?”

“The policy violation. I can’t do that just because I decide to. It’s WAY too risky given my past behavior, and especially given I restarted with Eve.”

“Cindi would be just a one-time thing?”

“That’s all it was ever intended to be,” I replied. “And even so, there’s no guarantee that it will happen. I’m actually hoping she and Stuart reconcile. Not because I’m concerned about how she’ll react, but because I want her to be happy long term. That’s important to me as her friend AND for NIKA’s success.”

“I don’t see a problem with it,” Jessica replied. “Kara?”

“Not if you think it’s the right thing to do, Snuggle Bear. So, after you turned her down?”

“The next session basically crashed and burned the way the one before the break did. Jacqui was offended by something someone said and got into a heated argument with Alice and Misty. I really didn’t have a choice but to ask her to leave if she couldn’t deal with the concept of Free Speech. She promised to file a complaint with the administration on Monday.”

“What will happen?”

“I have no idea. In the end, it won’t affect me in any way, other than perhaps the sessions being canceled. But even then, nothing prevents me from having them off-campus somewhere, if there is enough interest. But somebody would have to make the arrangements, and we’d also lose the funding from the university that covers my flights and hotel, as well as the free meeting space. We’d probably have to charge some kind of admission.

“The thing is, if we did go that route, it would end up self-selecting and the people who were there wouldn’t be the ones I was trying to reach like Wendy and James, who hadn’t been exposed to that kind of no-holds-barred discussion with nothing off limits and no taboo subjects off the table. The professors I’m dealing with are already struggling with those kinds of limits in the classroom. And other professors are not only supporting the ‘do not say anything which offends me’ crowd, but encouraging them!”

“Your nightmare scenario,” Jessica said.

“Yes. If the college professors take the OTHER side of the ‘free speech’ debate from the 60s campus radicals, we’re completely screwed. Honestly, I can’t think of ANYTHING more insidious and destructive to society than some mythical right to not be offended. If that ever takes hold, the country will simply collapse.”

“Seriously?” Kara asked.

“Seriously. Debate will be stifled, political discourse will be impossible, there will be no negotiations because nobody will even listen to the other side, both sides will radicalize, the country will become ungovernable, and it will devolve into physical conflict.”

“So what’s the solution?”

“Not feeding the insanity by reminding everyone at every turn that Free Speech guarantees you will be offended and your only choices are to walk away or confront that speech with better speech. Silencing your opponents is a step towards totalitarianism. The biggest risk comes from the radical left, but their activity could cause blowback and bring about right-wing totalitarianism. I don’t THINK so, but remember who has the guns.”

“That’s a scary thought,” Jessica replied. “So what happened?”

“She left, and the rest of the group had a very good discussion which continued through dinner and until nearly midnight. We picked up again this morning and went until lunch. After lunch I flew home, and here I am!”

“I know I have to be up early tomorrow for work, but I think I can stay awake long enough to make love again!”

“Yes!” Kara exclaimed and the two of them attacked me.

September 15, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

I turned on both the low-power signal generator and the white-noise generator in my study and nodded to one of the leather wingback chairs. Samantha sat down and I sat in the chair next to her.

“You have to promise me not to do ANYTHING about what I’m going to say until after I talk to the FBI tomorrow morning.”

“Steve...”

“Promise me, Samantha. I’m NOT kidding when I say I can’t tell you without the promise. You and I could both end up in federal prison if you don’t.”

“What the...” she gasped. “I haven’t DONE anything!”

“Which you know full well means nothing. But if you act on what I’m going to tell you before I say it’s OK, you WILL be charged with multiple felonies, and so will I.”

“Jesus,” she breathed. “Fine. I promise.”

“Murray Matheson is involved in a scheme to get your dad out of prison and to either Bahrain or the UAE. They have some way to access tens of millions, which I suspect are already squirreled away, and, unless I miss my guess, some way to hang all of this on you.”

“Fuck me!” she spat.

“Pretty much my reaction.”

“Can I at least block his ability to use our SWIFT codes?”

“The FBI would consider that interference, and might even try to say you were part of the conspiracy.”

“What the fuck, Steve?! You know me better than that!”

“Which is exactly what I told the FBI. Your dad and his buddies tried to use me to misdirect the FBI, but I figured it out.”

“How?”

“They were acting dumb. Is Murray Matheson dumb?”

“No. He’s absolutely brilliant and completely loyal to my dad.”

“And would he concoct a scheme which Jesse and Birgit could unravel in a few minutes if they suspected something fishy?”

“No way! How did they trap you?”

“Your dad asked me to fly down and see him. He insisted I talk with Matheson. That put me smack dab in the middle of the conspiracy. But I went to the Feds BEFORE I met with Matheson because I smelled a rat AND because I didn’t want to help with some kind of prison break!”

“I’m curious; after everything is said and done, do you think my dad belongs in prison?”

“I think he got what was coming to him for being arrogant and thinking he could do whatever he wanted without any repercussions - both with you and with the girls he was with. I think the age of consent should be fifteen, and he made those videos for his own personal use. None of that should be criminal. The girls, on the other hand, had a tort against him for recording them without permission. And they collected on that, from my perspective. As Elyse said, it wasn’t a bad deal to have consensual sex for a million bucks!”

“An interesting take.”

“Why did YOU want him in prison, Samantha? Be honest.”

“Because I was pissed he was fucking all my friends AND because he didn’t trust me to take over Spurgeon in my own right.”

“And your take on the age of consent?”

“I agree with you. Let me ask you this question, though. What do you think your kids will think if you fuck all their friends?”

“Which kid? Birgit will probably go into business selling passes to her friends!”

Samantha laughed, “So true! And your boys won’t be an issue because you won’t try to screw their girlfriends. But your other two daughters are not Birgit.”

“No, they aren’t. And that’s what has given me pause about future dalliances with teenagers. Well, not to mention how insane society has become on that topic. Anyway, back to the situation with your dad. I think if he gets out of prison, he’ll do his damnedest to take Spurgeon away from you, either in toto or client by client. He and Matheson together could cause you real trouble. Are there others loyal to your dad?”

“Yes, but that loyalty waned quite a bit because he’s a rapist, a child-abuser, and a kiddie-porn purveyor; at least according to them. My friends weren’t children, no matter what the government says.”

“Would any of those who were loyal in the past go with him?”

“Maybe one or two.”

“I need those names, please. I have to give them to the FBI. If they don’t do anything, they’ll be in the clear. Here’s my question, if your dad and Matheson conspire, who can beat them at their own game? It has to be someone who’s willing to take a big risk.”

“I know just the person who would LOVE a chance to fuck over my dad. Remember that guy I told you about who screwed my dad? Well, Dad made his life a living hell. He’ll be up for some good old-fashioned revenge.”

“I take it you know how to get in touch with this guy?”

“I do.”

“OK. Don’t do it just yet. Who are the two guys you think might go with your dad?”

“Harry Foulkes and Norm Monroe.”

I took a notepad from my desk and wrote down the names.

“Steve, I HAVE to protect Spurgeon.”

“I know. But you can’t do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, until I talk to the FBI. We have to assume that whatever the plan is includes me spilling the beans to you, which means they have a contingency for that.”

“The money has to be offshore somewhere,” she replied. “Otherwise they risk somebody stumbling on it or asking the wrong question at the wrong time.”

“Do you have transaction limits which require approval?” I asked.

“Sure. But Matheson has pretty much unlimited approval.”

“Why would ANYONE have that kind of access? Including you?”

“I AM Spurgeon Capital!”

“Yeah, so? I’m NIKA Consulting and I can’t sign a check for $1.00 without a co-signer! Nobody can. The rule is at least one C-level person, but they can’t do it alone. For the few payroll checks we issue physically, Keri and Elyse both sign them. If Elyse is out, then it’s either me, Cindi, or Julia. You need to put something like that in place, Samantha. And apply it to everyone, including yourself.”

“I’ve been worried about one of those guys with basically unlimited authority bailing on me with significant clients.”

“So put controls in place. Heck, let Stephanie propose it at your next Executive Committee Meeting. And YOU take the counterpoint. Argue with her about it. Make it good. I’m sure she can rely on some kind of regulation and best practices. I know she’s already made herself unpopular with the ‘sensitive leave’ policy!”

“On that, the SEC is going to issue formal guidelines next year. It’ll be in one of their circulars where they suggest it. At some point, they’ll also issue a rule requiring it. And you know me; I want to be out in front of that stuff.”

“Then you have a perfect defense as to why you’ll acquiesce to my sister’s proposal to include you in the ‘two-signature’ rule. I’m curious, can anyone place a trade for any amount? I’m not talking about transferring money, but stock, bond, or option trades?”

“Yes, but anything out of the ordinary is flagged for review. We also create what we call a ‘large trade report’ which is another way of looking at it. Instead of things out of the ordinary, it looks at the largest 10% of our trades over daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly timeframes. There’s also a ‘cumulative trade report’ which does the same thing, but instead of showing individual trades, it shows a combined picture by security. All of those help us make sure no client or trader is trying to game the system or taking excessive risk without us knowing about it. And that’s over and above things like margin reports and position analyses.”

“Is that how you would catch a Nick Leeson?”

“Yes. That kind of activity would show up on our reports and be flagged. He could get away with it for a VERY short time, and by that I mean days, not weeks or months. It WOULD be flagged because it would show as a discrepancy from how he normally traded. A trader could not go nearly so deep in his arbitrage without it being flagged to our compliance or risk teams.”

“Obviously you can’t make these changes overnight, but you should look at doing them, soon. If this blows up, then you have reason to simply impose them overnight.”

“When are you meeting with the FBI?”

“10:00am tomorrow. I’m curious - is there anything you could do which would delay SWIFT transfers which would NOT be obvious?”

“Not really. There is a telephone confirmation for amounts over specific limits, but Matheson could make that call himself, from anywhere, and give the approval codes. Changing them would tip him off.”

“Do you have real-time monitoring?”

“Of every account? No. We would get SWIFT messages, but those can be delayed by hours or even days for a number of reasons. There are also faxes, which replaced the TELEX system about ten years ago. And of course, the telephone, but that’s usually only for problem resolution.”

“Let me see what the FBI has to say, but you should work things out with Stephanie to take away the ability for any single person, including you, to move large sums without what amounts to a co-signer.”

“That will mean restricting access to SWIFT. Messages there are assumed to be both valid and authenticated.”

“Then you REALLY want to limit access to that!” I declared.

“Mostly I have, but some things my dad had in place from twenty-five years ago are still there because they were how he always did things and weren’t a problem for the SEC or CFTC or IRS.”

“Understood.”

“You do realize I am going to track down Matheson, eventually, and force-feed him his own balls.”

“I’d be shocked if you didn’t.”

September 16, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“I have two more names for you,” I said. “Harry Foulkes and Norm Monroe.”

“And they are?”

“They work for Spurgeon Capital and may still be loyal to Noel Spurgeon.”

“And how did you come by those names?”

“I asked Samantha for them.”

“Adams, if she’s involved, you are going to prison for a long time.”

“If she’s involved in this, you’ll have WAY bigger fish to fry than trying to revoke my immunity deal. She’s not going to do anything to tip them off, Agent Stone. And if you think about it, they have to assume I’m talking to her in addition to talking to you. Noel knows Samantha and I are very close. If they were hanging me out to dry, they were hanging HER out as well. You can guess the end game.”

“Control of the company, or something to that effect, giving him billions to play with wherever he lands.”

“Exactly. You guys are hanging Samantha out to dry, though. If part of the plan is to steal from Spurgeon, she’s unprotected. I don’t THINK it is, because as I said, I think they expect me to clue her in.”

“So you don’t expect any further contact?”

“Why would they? They had us looking the wrong way, which tells me whatever is going to happen ALREADY happened!”

“What do you mean?” Agent O’Toole asked.

“They knew Friday was the deadline. They knew I’d come to you. That means they’ve already made their move.”

“Spurgeon is still in Big Muddy and Matheson hasn’t left the country.”

“Are you SURE about that?”

“We do know how to do our jobs,” Agent Stone growled.

“Let me ask you this, Agent Stone. Have you laid eyes, personally, on Noel Spurgeon in the past four days? Have you laid eyes, personally, on Murray Matheson in the last four days?”

“Obviously not.”

I shook my head, “Then you have no idea where either of them is.”

“This isn’t a Freshman philosophy seminar! Is the cat dead or alive? Come on!”

“The paradox in that thought experiment was only resolved by actual observation, Agent Stone,” I said.

The room was quiet for a moment, before Agent O’Toole finally spoke.

“Suddenly, I have a bad feeling about this,” he said.

“I sure do,” I agreed.

“Bill, I think one of us should call Big Muddy and then get an agent over there. The other one needs to call Florida and talk to whoever is watching Matheson. Like right now.”

“I think you might be right,” Agent Stone said.

“I’m going to tell Samantha to freeze Murray Matheson’s codes right now,” I said.

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Samantha’s cell phone.

“Cancel his codes,” I said. “Like right now.”

“And the other two?” she asked.

“I’d cancel EVERYONE’S codes and reissue them, if that’s possible.”

“Not easily, but I can restrict access to SWIFT.”

“Do it. Take EVERY precaution. I’ll explain later.”

She disconnected the call without another word.

“I’ll be in my office,” I said to Agent Stone. “You can reach me on my mobile, too.”

I got up and left the two Agents who looked stunned, and left the building.

As I walked back to the office, I went over in my mind the entire sequence of events. What amazed me was that the FBI had trusted that Noel Spurgeon couldn’t get out of prison, or if he had, that they could keep him from leaving the country. I was betting that not only would they not find Noel in Big Muddy, but that they wouldn’t find Murray Matheson in Florida. Unless I missed my guess, they were somewhere in the Caribbean or Central or South America, on their way, eventually, to Bahrain.

I had just crossed the Chicago River when my cell phone rang.

“Hey big brother! What the fuck?”

“I take it you talked to Samantha?”

“Yeah. She was in class when you called her. She told me what to do and I did it, but she said I should call you.”

“I believe Murray Matheson helped Noel Spurgeon get out of Big Muddy, probably last Thursday, and that by now they’re out of the country.”

“Holy shit!” she gasped. “How do you know that?”

“They ran a ruse on the FBI using my relationship with Samantha and Noel. Noel broached the idea of me visiting him at Samantha’s wedding. I did, and they sprung what looked like a trap, but in the end, was just a giant misdirection. You need to watch VERY carefully for any transfers from any accounts, especially ones outside the US.”

“Already on it. I have people calling every bank and every financial institution we do business with.”

“He has other money, I’m sure of it.”

“Samantha always suspected that was the case. She was thinking around a hundred million, give or take, based on everything she saw after he was arrested. Where do you think he is?”