Andrew Wren sat waiting, saying nothing.

The Wiz leaned back again in his folding chair and set the papers on the desk. “I haven’t taken a cent from either program that wasn’t approved in advance. Not one. The accounts with my name on them aren’t really mine. I don’t know who opened them or who made the transfers, but they aren’t mine. I can’t believe John Ross would do something like this, either. He’s never given me any reason to think he would.”

Wren nodded, keeping silent.

“If I were going to steal money from the corporations, I would either steal a lot more or do a better job of it. This kind of petty theft is ridiculous, Andrew. Have you checked the signatures to see if they match mine or John’s?”

Wren scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’m having it done professionally. I should know something later today.”

“Who brought all this to you?” The Wiz indicated the incriminating papers with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Wren gave a small shrug. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

Simon Lawrence shook his head in dismay. “Well, they say these things come in threes. Last night I lost a good friend and half of five years’ hard work. Today I find I’m about to lose my reputation. I wonder what comes next?”

He rose from the desk and paced to the door and back again, then turned to face Wren. “I’m betting that when you check the signatures, you won’t find a match.”

“Quite possibly not. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t involved, Simon. You could have had someone else act for you.”

“John Ross?”

“Ross, or even a third person.”

“Why would I do this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you were desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. I’ve given up trying to figure out the reasons behind why people do the things they do. I’ve got all I can handle just uncovering the truth of what’s been done.”

The Wiz sat down again, his eyes smoldering. “I’ve spent five years building this program, Andrew. I’ve given everything I have to make it work. If you report this, it will all go down the tubes.”

“I know that,” Wren acknowledged softly.

“Even if there’s nothing to connect me directly, even if an inquiry clears me of any wrongdoing, the program will never be the same. I’ll quit in order to remove any lingering doubts about the possibility of impropriety, or I’ll stay and fight and live with the suspicion that something is still going on, but either way Fresh Start and Pass/Go will always be remembered for this scandal and not for the good they’ve accomplished.”

Andrew Wren sighed. “I think maybe you’re overstating your case a bit, Simon.”

The Wiz shook his head. “No, I’m not. You know why? Because the whole effort is held together by the slenderest of threads. Helping the homeless isn’t a program that attracts support naturally. It isn’t a program people flock to just because they believe in aiding the homeless. What happens to the homeless is a low priority in most people’s lives. It isn’t a glamorous cause. It isn’t a compelling cause. It’s balanced right on the edge of people’s consciousness, and it could topple from view with just a nudge. It took me years to bring it to people’s attention and make it a cause they would choose to support over all the others. But it can lose that same support in the blink of an eye.”