Life Goes On 2
Chapter 1
Rick's strong fingers massaged the knots from Kate's shoulders. "You really should come to bed, Hon. You need sleep to consolidate what you've learned. I found that out the hard way, cramming for exams in my misspent youth."
"I know Babe, it's just that this is so important. Until I pass the bar I'll always have to depend on one of our volunteer lawyers to be in court with me, even if I do all the preparation. They don't always have the time for that. I feel like the people we're serving are getting the short end of the stick. And even after I take it, we won't know the results until October. It I fail, I'd have to apply again in November to take it in February. It's a long process."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Castle asked.
Kate relaxed under his massage. "I think you're doing it, Babe. From the sample questions and the examples from the previous bar exams, I think I've got most of it down except business law. My father's been able to help with some of it, but it's just not the kind of thing I can wrap my head around. When I started, I thought I'd be into civil rights like my mother was, but since Marla and some of the other women who I've worked with at the center, I think family law may be my passion. There are so many abused wives and children. Many of them are just scared to death of the system, and in many cases rightfully so. I have been helping, but I know I could do so much more. But to get there, I still have to get business law down."
"Is there a prep course you could take?" Castle asked.
"I would have to have already started," Kate answered, "except for the online stuff. And that's not penetrating."
"So how about a private tutor?" Castle suggested. "There must be some of those out there."
"Pages and pages on Google," Kate replied. "I just wouldn't know who to pick. And if I choose wrong, it could mean failure."
"Look," Castle proposed, "the firm that handles my business dealings has some terrific people. They've kept me from falling into more than a few holes. They also handle the affairs of some of the authors I know who are real industries, like some of my old poker buddies. I haven't heard any complaints, and mark my words, if they had gripes, they wouldn't have held back. I'll see if I can get a referral."
"Thanks, Castle. You always seem to come up with something."
Rick grinned. "What can I say? You married a brilliant creative mind."
Kate rolled her eyes, and he extended a hand to lead her to their bedroom.
Bernard pushed off from the coffee table to take a tentative first step. Alexis gasped, but had enough presence of mind to reach for her phone to take a video before her son was back on his rump on the rug. "I'll have to send this to your daddy," she told him. "You'll make him so happy. He's been working very hard. He has a really tough case."
Sergei smiled at the video his wife had sent. It was the first time he had smiled all day. The case he was working on was pretty grisly. Nano-Life had been in every business magazine and all over the web, touting a new technology that could produce cheap energy anytime, anywhere. The pilot demonstrations had been spectacular and when they went public, their stock had taken off like a rocket. The rocket soon fell to earth and shares that had been bought for sixty dollars plummeted to fourteen cents. Disgruntled investors made their complaints to the SEC. But one had taken their anger at the loss to a tragic extreme. An as yet unidentified virus had been released into the water supply at what remained of Nano-Life. The victims had bled from every orifice. Five people died immediately of blood loss and shock as their organs shut down. Several more were struggling for their lives in isolation in the hospital. CSU had aided the CDC in gathering what evidence could be found. All the work was done in full protective gear, which was clumsy and sweaty. Every inch of the air ducts and intakes the killer might have accessed were examined for fingerprints, DNA, and trace evidence. It appeared to have been years since the system was cleaned, if it ever had been, and dirt and mold compromised many of the samples. It was an analytical nightmare. He looked forward to leaving it all behind and heading home as soon possible to witness Bernard's new milestone in person.
Smitty Kirsch did not look like a business law genius. He didn't look like any kind of a genius. His thin-limbed long body stuck out from the chair. As though fighting inertia, his movements were slow. His words were slow as well, or perhaps more accurately, measured. "Maybe," he proposed to Kate, "it would be easier for you to relate to business law with a current real world example of how it all goes wrong. Are you aware of a company called Nano-Life?"
"Of course," Kate responded. "The biological massacre there has been all over the news. Also, my stepdaughter's husband is one of the criminalists investigating the case."
Smitty steepled his long fingers. "Let's put all of that aside as effect, and look at the cause. What happened at Nano-Life that would have driven someone into the madness that would spur such an act?"
"Something about falling stock prices?" Kate ventured.
"But why were they high and why did they fall?" Smitty questioned. "What drove every Tom, Dick, and Emily out to buy the stock in the first place, and why did the stock tank?"
"I don't know," Kate admitted. "My husband and I were overseas when some of that took place, and I doubt that I would have paid much attention had I been here."
"Fair enough, not your favorite ballpark, or I wouldn't be here. So let's start at the beginning. How does a company like Nano-Life start?"
"They have an idea and they get people to invest in it. They get money for research, equipment, facilities, and personnel," Kate answered.
"How?" Smitty persisted.
"Some kind of demo?" Kate ventured.
"And in this case, apparently a fraudulent one," Smitty commented. "But then what?"
Kate sighed and shrugged.
Smitty nodded. "Okay, first step, they put out a private offering, controlled by law so only folks rich enough to afford to lose their money can invest."
"They should do that in Atlantic City and Vegas," Kate commented.
"If they did, there might not be an Atlantic City or Vegas. And believe me, even in business, it doesn't always work the way it's supposed to. People react to the warnings the same way they do to the listing of side effects on a drug commercial or the terms of a software agreement. They pretty much ignore them. Or they fudge on the income that qualifies them. The process is called a PPM, a Private Placement Memorandum. You can look up all the details later. There is a lot of weaselly language you should get familiar with. Nano-Life used that method to stuff their coffers with cash. If it had ended there, it wouldn't have been so bad. Some rich folks would just have gotten a nice tax write-off. But the company used the money that came in to pay their executives huge salaries and then to finance a shortcut to going public called a reverse merger. You need to research those too. They are unsuccessful more often than not. But they make the stock publicly tradable so any Joe or Jill Blow with dollar signs in their eyes and dreams in their hearts, can blow their life savings. That's part of what happened with Nano-Life. You look into everything that takes place with those sorts of transactions, including the capacity for fraud, and we'll pick up the rest of the story next time. Slimy business dealings leading to people getting killed, should give the woman who is the inspiration for Nikki Heat, some good red meat to chew on."
"I think they will," Kate agreed. "Thanks Smitty.
"Oh, you'll get my bill," Smitty assured her.
"So what do you think of your new tutor?" Castle inquired after Smitty had left. "He kinda reminds me of Ichabod Crane - in Irving's short story, not the TV show."
"Me too, but he gave me a different hook for business law, something I hadn't thought about before. It's a lot easier to relate it to my own experience with bad guys."
Castle drew her to him and pressed a kiss to her hair. "Good, I'm a fan of new hooks myself. Maybe we can explore some of our own later."
Kate bumped him with her hip. "I look forward to it."
"Just one thing," Castle added. "Next time Ichabod shows up, feed the man."
Kate laughed. "I'll make a point of it."