I scanned the rest of the file perfunctorily. It was past four now and my eyes were having trouble focusing on the shimmery green letters. I wished I knew how to print the file, but I was too tired to figure out any more computer shenanigans, and I didn’t want an early arrival to find me on the job.

If Carver kept Diamond Head’s books, they were in a separate set of ledger files, which I also couldn’t figure out how to hunt down. The summary data presented here showed that Diamond Head was heavily leveraged. In fact, debt seemed to exceed retained earnings by about a 1:2 ratio. And the company had a relationship with Amalgamated Portage, which held a big chunk of the debt. That was cozy—just keep it all in the family.

In addition, Diamond Head had a connection to Paragon Steel. Carver’s files didn’t spell out how, but Paragon seemed responsible for a lot of Diamond Head’s cash flow. Paragon Steel. For such a huge conglomerate to be involved with a tiny outfit like Diamond Head made no sense to me. I rubbed my eyes a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly.

Paragon was one of the few companies that had seen the writing on the U.S. steel industry wall fifteen years ago. They had restructured themselves so that they could produce relatively small lots of different specialty grades of steel on very tight turnaround; they had gone into plastics in a big way; and they were also one of the few Illinois companies to make out like bandits during the Reagan defense buildup.

The Wall Street Journal had done a major story on them only a month or so ago—that’s why the details were fresh in my mind. I could see Paragon owning Diamond Head—the small engines the latter made would fit right into their defense operations. But Paragon providing a stream of cash to the smaller firm? I shook my head over it, but time was rushing past. I’d have to worry about it tomorrow.

I rummaged in Carver’s desk and found a legal pad. I tore off a piece so that my writing wouldn’t leave telltale dents underneath, and jotted down the key points. There wasn’t anything else I could do right now. Anyway, I was longing for sleep.

Fortunately the keyboard offered me the choice of exiting. I did so, and more by luck than skill found myself back at the blank screen with the blinking cursor. I looked carefully around the two rooms to make sure I hadn’t left anything of myself there.