“Perhaps we should go and see Jerry Trotter,” Russell said, after an awkward pause.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” said Edmund.

Dr. Jerred L. Trotter, an old friend of both Russell and Edmund, ran a very successful hedge fund. Trotter was a man who enjoyed outthinking people, which meant he wasn’t above a certain amount of sharp practice if he was confident he could get away with it. There were so many areas where the regulatory authorities were lax, or there just weren’t any regulations. It was by using Trotter’s good offices, and through a number of disguises of Trotter’s creation, that Edmund had purchased credit default swaps on his own company while continuing to sell subprime bonds to his corporate clients. It was just the kind of caper that Trotter relished. Especially when his cut was so generous.

Edmund had sounded Trotter out very early in the planning stage of LifeDeals. He sent Russell over on what looked like a fact-finding mission. Did Jerry think a model like this might work? Did Jerry think these were good assets to spin off bonds from? Did Jerry think enough investors would want to buy such a product? Russell never mentioned that they were seeking investors.

Three days later, Jerry had called, practically biting Edmund’s arm off over the phone. He’d run the numbers, and he wanted in. Edmund, after pretending to think about it, pretended to reluctantly allow Jerry to invest $25 million of his own money and more of his fund’s. Trotter would definitely want to hear about these new market conditions. He wouldn’t be pleased, to put it mildly, but he was always a man of action and he’d think of something.

The driver had been awaiting instructions as the two men sat in the back of the car. Now Edmund gave the driver an address, and they set off.

Chapter 16.

16.

TERRASINI RESTAURANT
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN
MARCH 3, 2011, 12:45 P.M.

There was no way we could meet you guys today, no way. And then Russell said the magic word: ‘Terrasini.’” Everyone laughed, even Edmund, who was making an effort to calm down.

Dr. Jerred L. Trotter, former plastic surgeon, current hedge fund maven and LifeDeals angel investor, was holding court alongside his longtime number two, Maxwell Higgins. There was always a table at Terrasini for Trotter, and the four men—Higgins, Trotter, Mathews, and Lefevre—were nestled at a table in a corner of the restaurant’s front room.

“I thought it couldn’t hurt,” Russell said, attempting to sound breezy. Edmund and Russell were glad Trotter could see them at short notice, even if it had meant killing a couple of hours until lunchtime.

“You know it’s my favorite place to eat. Unless I’m picking up the tab, right, Edmund?”

“There’s no danger of that, Jerry,” Edmund said. “Everyone knows it’s against your religion to pay for lunch.”