The answer was in Mr. McGrath’s eyes. I’d just offered him a deal he could live with, what he’d strived for since taking the co-CEO position.

“We have debt,” he said. “We still have a January 3rd date to either produce a balloon payment that we can’t afford or to accept a crippling increased interest rate.”

“Gregg,” Mrs. McGrath scolded.

“What, Ana? If you don’t think a man like Mr. Sherman knows everything there is to know about Wade, then you’re the one who’s delusional.”

I spoke, “I was aware of the January 3rd deadline even before you told Julia and she told me. I do my homework.”

“We can’t make it—the balloon payment,” Mr. McGrath said, his head shaking. “We’ll have to accept the increase in interest.” He exhaled and leaned forward. “That too is too much for us to pay. We won’t make it.”

“What are you saying, Dad?” Julia asked. “Is it too late?”

“No, it’s not,” Mrs. McGrath said. “The combination of McGrath and Butler has been planned forever. This was going to restore Wade’s standing. Once our rating was higher, the interest rates would lower.”

“That scenario isn’t happening. Do you have a backup plan for raising your standing?” I asked.

The McGraths looked at one another. Finally, it was Julia’s father who spoke. “We have researchers working on an Alzheimer’s medication that, if the clinical trials go well, will be able to be produced for much less than the one currently applying for approval.”

“I hadn’t heard about that,” I admitted, intrigued.

“Because we haven’t announced it,” Julia’s mother said. “There are advantages to being small. We stay under the radar until we want to be seen.”

“Will you send me your research?”

She sat straighter. “Are you also a biophysicist, Mr. Sherman?”

“No, Mrs. McGrath, I’m a businessman. The shares I just purchased...had those stockholders been made aware of this new medication on the horizon?”

“No,” Butler said, joining the conversation. “It was my father’s belief that if we announced too soon and the wider studies didn’t come out as the earlier and smaller controlled studies had, it would hurt us.”

Marlin Butler knew about the possible future profitability of Wade and chose not to disclose it to the people whose stock he’d arranged to purchase. I wondered if he’d sold the new medication idea to the bigger companies he was courting. That could definitely increase the value of his shares.

“How long until the wider studies will have data to share with the CDC and FDA?” Julia asked.

A smile curled my lips as I watched her take part in this conversation.

Her father answered. “Unfortunately, we can’t know that for sure.” He turned to me. “We just need to hang on.”