After a few minutes of friendly banter, Lou gave Paul a thumbnail sketch of the Franconi case. Then he asked about Alpha Aviation.

“Never heard of them,” Paul said.

“The FAA said it was out of Reno, Nevada,” Lou said.

“That’s because Nevada’s an easy state to incorporate in,” Paul explained. “And here in Reno we’ve got a slew of high-priced law firms who spend their time doing nothing else.”

“What’s your suggestion about getting the lowdown on the organization?” Lou asked.

“Call the Office of the Nevada Secretary of State in Carson City,” Paul said. “If Alpha Aviation is incorporated in Nevada, it will be on public record. Want us to call for you?”

“I’ll call,” Lou said. “At this point, I’m not even sure what I want to know.”

“We can at least give you the number,” Paul said. He went off the line for a moment, and Lou could hear him bark an order to an underling. A moment later, he was back and gave Lou the telephone number. Then he added: “They should be helpful, but if you have any trouble, call me back. And if you need any assistance in Carson City for whatever reason call Todd Arronson. He’s head of Homicide down there, and he’s a good guy.”

A few minutes later Lou was on the line with the Office of the Nevada Secretary of State. An operator connected him to a clerk, who couldn’t have been nicer or more cooperative. Her name was Brenda Whitehall.

Lou explained that he was interested to find out all he could about Alpha Aviation out of Reno, Nevada.

“Just a moment, please,” Brenda said. Lou could hear the woman typing the name onto a keyboard. “Okay, here it is,” she added. “Hang on and let me pull the folder.”

Lou lifted his feet up onto his desk and leaned back in his chair. He felt an almost irresistible urge to light up, but he fought it.

“I’m back,” Brenda said. Lou could hear the rustle of papers. “Now what is it that you want to know?”

“What do you have?” Lou asked.

“I have the Articles of Incorporation,” Brenda said. There was a short period of silence while she read, then she added: “It’s a limited partnership and the general partner is Alpha Management.”

“What does that mean in plain English?” Lou asked. “I’m not a lawyer or a businessman.”

“It simply means that Alpha Management is the corporation that runs the limited partnership,” Brenda said patiently.

“Does it have any people’s names?” Lou asked.

“Of course,” Brenda said. “The Articles of Incorporation have to have the names and addresses of the directors, the registered agent for service of process, and the officers of the corporation.”

“That sounds encouraging,” Lou said. “Could you give them to me?”

Lou could hear the sound of rustling papers.

“Hmmmm,” Brenda commented. “Actually, in this instance there’s only one name and address.”

“One person is wearing all those hats?”

“According to this document,” Brenda said.