There were two hundred fourteen entries made into eight different First Chelam account numbers, all of which were immediately transferred into two accounts in Barbados. The records were spread over six pages of computer printout, showing single-spaced rows of numbers without meaning, dates to the far left, account numbers to their right, amounts to the right of that, destination accounts on the far right, with dates going back four years and eleven months. I would read the sheets, then pass them to Pike, and he would read them. Karen watched us and drank the wine. It was sort of like reading a phone book with phone numbers but without names.

I said, “Let’s start with the most recent deposit and you can walk us through every transaction.”

“God, they’re all the same.”

“You told me that most of the deposits come through Harry, but some of them come through Charlie.”

“That’s right.”

“Then they’re not all the same. There are Harry deposits and there are Charlie deposits.”

She nodded and said, “All right. What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know. All we can do is dig into what we have and see if something presents itself.”

“Oh.”

“Most of the time, in what we do, there are no clear or ready avenues. Detectives look for clues, and clues tell you what’s going on and what to do about it. Do you see?”

“Of course.” She didn’t look convinced. I think she was trying to relate it to banking.

“I’ll need a pad and a pencil.”

She got up and went down the little hall and came back with a yellow legal pad and a Paper Mate Sharpwriter pencil. She also got more wine. She seemed tired, but I didn’t think it was just the booze. Her hip brushed the jamb when she came back through the door. I said, “Let’s start with the transaction I saw in Brunly. Tell us how it was arranged and who arranged it, and how you were told to do what you did and as much as you know about where the money came from and where the money went. Don’t leave anything out Things that you take for granted we don’t know anything about. We’ll do that one, and then we’ll walk through every transaction for as far back as you can remember.”

She nodded gamely, and we began.