“That takes heart.”

“Not for them. After the first block came down, it was flattened and covered with blacktop. The construction company paid for that and then leased the block to the E and F Services Corporation, which Rainbow created for that purpose, at one hundred dollars a month. The construction company took a loss it applied to taxes and the cost of construction—in other words, the federal loan, while the smaller E and F Services operated the block as a parking lot at enormous profit.

“The objective was to draw as much as possible out of the construction company. In another deal it sold all the appliances in the slums to another Rainbow outfit and then leased them back at three times the sale price. On a third project, the rent collecting was farmed out to an agency—Rainbow-owned, of course—so that the construction company took a beating while the collection agency made the money.”

“A moment ago you said that MacIver was clean. There wouldn’t be any trouble making a case of conspiracy.”

“The way I’ve explained it, yes. Conflict of interest is studiously avoided. The correspondence is carefully worded—you could argue that it refers to nothing but entirely unrelated transactions. The books MacIver kept have to be interpreted. If you called a grand jury, a score of innocent, maligned know-nothings would parade to the stand and wonder what you were talking about.”

It was true.

“I have found one opening,” Mike said. “The banker on the Planning Board. His name is Thomas Hanrahan and he’s the president of the Port Smith Commercial Trust Company on Merchant Street. I told you that he recommended the Port Smith Development Corporation. He wrote a total of four letters, sending copies to the secretary of Port Smith Development, who happened to be Colin MacIver. The day before Hanrahan wrote the last letter, Port Smith Development acquired, for stock, the Gordon Holding Company, which was a real estate company involved in another project. It had a tax credit that made it valuable. Thomas Hanrahan, Jr., age twelve, had five hundred shares of Gordon Holding that were exchanged for one hundred and fifty shares of Port Smith Development. As I say, the transaction was completed the day before Hanrahan wrote his last letter. The first letter contained the usual document attesting that he had no personal interest in Port Smith Development. As his son’s guardian, he executes all his son’s documents. It would be enough to pry open some of the rest. Port Smith Development, by the way, doesn’t own a single bulldozer or truck. It subcontracts everything. The subcontractors do their financing at the Port Smith Commercial Trust Company.”

“On Merchant Street,” Leland said.

“I said that there were thirty-eight principals. I didn’t bother to list all the sons, daughters, wives, parents, and so forth. These people have enough confidence in this to set up everyone in their families.”

“Our client doesn’t know a thing about it,” Leland said.