“They’re acting like the scumbags I always knew they were. I can’t tell you how happy I am that we’re out of this cockroach pit. I don’t even mind having to do all this packing on my own. Well, hardly mind, anyway. Were you on Freeman’s calendar? I thought I caught everyone.” Catherine had grown up in Jackson, Mississippi, and she’d never made any effort to accommodate her accent to the Yankees around her.

“No. I was trying to call this morning and couldn’t get through, so I came down in person. You need some help?”

She grinned. “I need it, honey, but these are all confidential files. I’ve got to look after them myself. What can we do for you? Freeman’s spending the day at home, but if you’ve been arrested or something he’ll be glad to leap into action.”

“Nothing that interesting. I just wanted to look something up on Lexis; it can wait until you’re in your new quarters.” Or I could drive to Springfield and look up the records manually. Not my favorite activity, but maybe better than sitting on the problem another few weeks.

Catherine grunted. “Why don’t you write down what you need for me? I’ve still got a couple of friends in this rathole. If they’re not too jealous of me getting to jump ship, one of ’em might do the work for me.”

I wrote down Diamond Head’s address and line of business. “I just want the owners and the board of directors. I don’t need any financial reports, at least not right now. Where will you be setting up shop?”

“Oh, Freeman found us a sweet little place down on South Clark. Nine hundred square feet. All we have to do is move in the desks and plug in the machines—not like here, where they were painting and papering and God knows what under our feet the first six months we were here. We’re taking a week off first, and I can’t wait.”

“What’s Leah Caudwell doing now?” I asked, handing her the piece of paper.

She made an unhappy face. “ ’Bout eighteen months, two years ago, we just started handling so much business—I won’t say she couldn’t stay on top of it—but it wasn’t like the old days, where she knew all the clients personally and they remembered her at Christmas and stuff. Some of the new people coming through here were just purely rude and she didn’t like the atmosphere. So when we moved, they suggested that she not come along. I felt real sorry for her, but what could I do?… You gotta excuse me, Vic—I’ve got movers coming in three hours and I need to get all this stuff boxed up. Here’s our new address—you be sure ‘n’ come see us.”