“I agree. But Edmund has a point: it’s still a good business even if there is a bump in the road with the current model. It will just take some juggling and deep breaths on our part. It’s not a time to panic. Besides, since we can’t sell the LifeDeals stock, we can’t panic even if we wanted to. I also agree that in an ideal world, he should have seen this coming. But our due diligence didn’t pick it up either. It’s a function of the times. Technology’s changing too fast just like markets are changing too fast. It’s getting harder and harder to factor this kind of thing in.”

“Well, I think we need to do some of our own research. A little more street-level. We can’t rely on Edmund et al. for that, clearly. Let’s get an investigator up to Columbia, sniff around a little. And someone can do some digging on Gloria Croft. A woman like that doesn’t get where she is without pissing a lot of people off. And maybe cutting some corners. We need to get some angles to work with, get some leverage.”

“Okay, I’ll get right on it. This is a new one on me—shorting stocks because of a medical breakthrough.”

“It’s new all-round. We may have to get creative,” Trotter said, watching the Park Avenue traffic move slowly in a steady afternoon drizzle.

Jerry Trotter knew how to make an entrance into a room, and he also knew how to make an exit. Edmund didn’t know what to make of what had just happened. Sure, Jerry was royally pissed when he first heard about the problem, but he seemed calmer when he left. The problem was that the departure had been so sudden.

“What do you think?” Edmund asked Russell. They had ordered cappuccinos.

“For me, Higgins is the brains of that operation, he sees the bigger picture,” said Russell. “It didn’t take him long to zero in on the heart of the problem. They definitely got the message.”

“Do you think they’ll come up with some suggestions?” Edmund asked.

“I do,” Russell said. “I think it was right to tell them early in the game. It feels good to have Jerry Trotter and his team working on this with us. I just hope they get back to us soon.”

“My guess is that he will,” Edmund said. “Jerry isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to watch while his sixty million dollars turns into pocket change. But I do have one reservation.”

“What’s that?”

“I never can be a hundred percent confident Jerry’s working with us.”

Chapter 17.

17.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
NEW YORK CITY
MARCH 3, 2011, 6:23 P.M.