Larry was considerably higher up on the legal food chain than I was. In our last conversation, he had told me a friend of his, an insurance executive in L.A., had mentioned his company was hiring investigators on a contract basis to help clear their backlog. He had pitched me to the executive who told Larry he was interested in talking to me and to pass along his number. I still hadn’t called. I had been—was, was trying again to be—a criminal defense lawyer but picking up the pieces of my practice after my crack-up was slow going. Still, as much as I needed the work, the idea of investigating insurance claims and potentially denying someone payment of a claim rankled me. I again explained this to Larry.

“I understand,” he said impatiently. “Henry Rios for the defense, sticking up for the little guy, can’t bring himself to work for the big bad corporation. You think every insurance claim is legitimate, Henry?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I sniffed.

“Answer the question,” Larry said in a cross-examination voice. “Are all insurance claims legitimate?”

“Of course not. Whenever there’s money to be made, there’s going to be some fraud.”

“That’s right, and do you know what happens when an insurance company pays out a fraudulent claim? It passes the loss on to its other policy holders. Their premiums get jacked up because someone gamed the system. In other words, the little guy gets screwed.”

“So now you’re pitching this job as consumer advocacy?” I asked sarcastically.

“I’m not going to tell you you’d be doing God’s work by helping Western States avoid paying out claims, but you wouldn’t be in league with the devil, either. Why don’t you ditch the black-and-white thinking and try living in the gray zone with the rest of us. I know you’re barely scraping by and could use the income. Take a case from Western States, see how it feels, and if it doesn’t feel right, you can always walk away.”

“I don’t know, Larry…”

“Henry,” he said, adopting the rich baritone he undoubtedly used to cajole reluctant clients. “Wouldn’t you rather have someone with an open mind like you investigating an insurance claim than a hack looking for a way to deny it before he even begins?”

Grudgingly I replied, “Yeah, I can see that. Okay, I’ll call the guy this afternoon.”

“Good. Talk to you tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, and uh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said and then signed off as he always did with a gruff, “I love you, Henry.”