“Probably not,” Hood said. “But there could be something else. Something I might be able to help with. This could be an executive action, as Bob suggests. Or it could be as simple as there being a hole in Darling’s pocket. One that he’s trying to fill. While we’ve been talking I’ve had a look at his stock reports. A lot of those media companies aren’t doing as well as they once were. And he’s a majority shareholder.”

“I like that,” Coffey said. “At least it’s a starting point.”

“Meantime, Lowell,” Herbert said, “maybe you can get your local friends to do some recon to help me. See what kind of boats Darling owns, where they are, possibly check his phone records.”

“I’d like to hold off on that,” Coffey said.

“Why?” Herbert asked.

“Because there’s the very real possibility that an all-out investigation will bump into people who are sympathetic to Jervis Darling or are on his payroll,” Coffey said.

“So?”

“Bob, Lowell’s got a point,” Hood said. “We don’t want him throwing those layers of intermediaries at us until we’ve had a good look around. Lowell, do you think you can talk to Jelbart or Ellsworth about this without sending up too many flares?”

“Jelbart, certainly,” Coffey said.

“Bob, what about Dahman?” Hood asked. “Do we have any Malaysian sources?”

“Not really,” Herbert admitted. “That’s something you should ask Lowell’s friend FNO Loh about.”

“I can do that,” Coffey said. “She seems trustworthy. Though I’m not sure we should open two fronts. There’s twice the opportunity for leaks.”

“I’m not sure we can avoid them,” Herbert replied. “This rope apparently has two ends.”

“That’s true,” Hood said. “Which means if you tug on one, you’ll get to the other. I’m with Lowell on this. I think we should concentrate our resources on the Australian end for now.”

“Paul, trashman Dahman may be the easier end of the rope to grab,” Herbert said.

“But if we do get him, Bob, that will give Darling time to generate alibis and red herrings to keep the heat from him,” Hood said. “Darling scares me more. He’s got unlimited access to interests in the West, Bob. He probably gets a free pass through customs in most places.”

“Billionaires with private jets often do,” Coffey pointed out.

“If Darling’s gone bad, for whatever reason, he’s the one we have to worry about,” Hood said. “If Dahman is involved, we can sweep him up later. Lowell, have that talk with Jelbart and get back to us.”

“Will do,” Coffey said.

“Bob, will you hang on a second?” Hood asked. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure,” Herbert said.