“Harry says his friends are okay with everything we discussed while you all were having your coffee. They’re okay leaving their business in our hands, with Harry sending them the reports I give him, probably every other day. Harry has their power of attorney, so that will help things a lot. A small team of gentlemen from the IRS are on their way here, so we have that covered. The pillow man said he had to call an emergency meeting of his board, his family, and his staff, and would get back to me momentarily. I think I rendered him speechless. I have three of my best paralegals on the export end of things, container ships, schedules, and so on. For now, we have that part of it covered. But here it is in a nutshell. To export to most of Asia, including China, you sometimes need an export license from here and almost always an import license there.

“The here part is pretty easy—as long as you aren’t exporting anything that has or can be adapted for military use, they give them out quite freely, and you don’t even need them for most commodities. Pillows would probably not need anything on this end.

“The there part is going to be much harder. Realistically speaking, money needs to change hands not only to get the permit but for each shipment that comes in. That money needs to be factored in for the boys so they understand. Do not confuse that amount of money with the legal fees. That is totally separate. I suppose you could refer to it as a gift in polite circles, but let’s call a spade a spade. The word is bribe. It can be any amount, from piddling to outrageous. Whatever it turns out to be, you either pay or end up sucking your thumb.

“Goods have to clear customs over there and need to be accompanied by a commercial invoice, payment terms, and other paperwork. More bribes. Don’t go getting bent out of shape here. It’s how they do business. You either accept it and pay up or walk away. Also, most organic material, like pillows, might need a quarantine period. You know, if there are feathers.

“Then there is the matter of import duties that apply. Having said all that, you must realize I can’t make all this happen overnight. It’s going to take some time. Like I said, we’ll work at it nonstop, and even though I’m going to be at the hospital a lot, I can still stay on top of it.” Lizzie leaned back and waited to see what the reaction would be to all she’d just said.