“So Arthur called his friends,” I said, picking up the narrative. “And their company was called Press Alert. And they were prepared to put up the five hundred million.”

“That’s right. Arthur said they wanted to invest in media businesses in the United States. They had an idea for this financial news service that would use the Mirror’s name to attract customers and offer very specialized information. That’s how we got started with Mirror Alert.”

“Did you know then who was running the company?”

“Arthur told me it was run by a Frenchman named Bézy, who was the personal lawyer for Alain Peyron. I knew Peyron, of course. I’d met him at meetings around the world. Arthur might even have been the one who first introduced us. I got the impression that some of the Press Alert money came from Peyron. But the source wasn’t really clear, and at that time we weren’t in a position to ask any questions of investors who had five hundred million to spare. We were grateful. It saved the newspaper.”

“Did you know that Press Alert was a corrupt company?”

“No. I had suspicions. It was obvious this man Bézy made Arthur uncomfortable, though he wouldn’t explain why. But as I told you, we were desperate. We did not perform our ‘due diligence’ with much vigor. We couldn’t afford to.”

“Do you understand, now, that they are a corrupt company?”

“I’m beginning to. A strange young man named George Dirk came to see me yesterday. He said he was a friend of yours, and that you had urged him to come talk with me. He laid out the most appalling evidence of what these people are doing—how they are using our reporting and our good name to cheat the markets. Is it true?”

“Yes, it’s true. Bézy asked me to run this business for him, two days ago. I refused. That’s why he sent the photographs to Weiss and the Times.”

“Mr. Dirk claims Press Alert is violating the securities laws. He thought I might be involved, too, but I think I convinced him otherwise. I knew nothing about this, Eric. I obviously made a dreadful mistake in taking their money, but I did it to save the Mirror.”

I believed Sellinger, but that wasn’t enough. He needed to act quickly or the paper would be destroyed. “What did you tell Dirk you would do about the insider trading?”

“I told him I’d look into it. I asked him to leave whatever evidence he could with me, and I would look it over and get back to him. I don’t think he was very impressed with my diligence. He seemed a somewhat angry man, with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.”