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shareholders or the SEC.”
    “And how do you manage that?”
    “Don’t misunderstand me, Wilson. Maximizing shareholder wealth has always been a priority at Fielder & Company. We simply accomplish it while maximizing the wealth of the chief executive and select senior executives. It’s my job to make sure that everything Fielder & Company does is legally defensible, ethically acceptable, and fiduciarily accountable to shareholders. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, what they say about the rich is true. As long as they stay out of court, their moneymaking activities remain incomprehensible, beyond scrutiny and criticism. Keeping Fielder & Company’s clients out of the courtroom, especially their CEOs and CFOs, is what my firm does to earn its fees.”
    Wilson sat back to contemplate what Daniel had said. When it came to matters of economic logic and business strategy, Wilson was uncommonly astute. But his real reason for becoming a management consultant had been to take on the pompous tyrants who resided at the top of most corporate hierarchies. It was his moxie for standing up to corporate bullies that explained his early business success and charismatic appeal. A mere three years out of Harvard Business School, Wilson had already been identified as a rising star at Kresge & Company. He was a natural at challenging and redressing business leaders who’d become overly dogmatic, in fact he did it better than seasoned partners twice his age. What Daniel said hadn’t really surprised him. Some CEOs were magnanimous and empowering, but most were avaricious and domineering.
    “Is my father’s estate at risk?” he asked.
    “Not currently,” Daniel said. “However, if an investigation into your father’s death uncovers the full scope of his financial dealings, it could tie up assets for a long time. Maybe permanently, if you know what I mean.” He shot Wilson a look of caution.
    “What aren’t you telling me?”
    “Your father charged me with protecting his estate. It’s my first and foremost obligation to him, to you, and to your family. And I will do everything in my power to execute his will. Doing it his way will give you unlimited financial resources,” Daniel said, pausing. “When you finally uncover the full story of what happened here, you can do something about it.”
    Wilson quickly saw the wisdom in Daniel’s words, but that didn’t keep him from feeling manipulated.
    “You told me his methods were legally defensible. Why are you so concerned about an investigation into his business activities?”
    “The law is only an interpretation of circumstances, associations, and motives. There are always clients ready to abuse what they learn from Fielder & Company. If such abuses are identified and investigated, they could point to your father as the source. Guilt by association and circumstance. The only motive imputed to him would be greed. We might eventually beat it in the courts, but it could take years, tying up the family estate and crippling Fielder & Company.”
    Wilson looked suspiciously at Daniel Redd.
    “What sort of abuses?”
    “Remember Richard Beckstrom?” Daniel asked as he leaned forward again.
    “The IPO guru who died in prison?”
    Daniel nodded. “He was a client who started inflating earnings before taking companies public to jack up the opening stock price. It took the SEC a few years to nail him, but they finally did.”
    “Why wasn’t Fielder & Company implicated?”
    “Fielder & Company terminated its relationship after two years of working with Beckstrom, but he’d already learned enough to become obsessive and dangerous. That’s when he began launching his now infamous string of IPOs. There are dozens of examples like Beckstrom, employing all sorts of financial devices—LBOs, real estate investment trusts, derivatives, credit default swaps, high yield bonds, IPO mutual funds, E-trading schemes, inflated Net stocks, and the list goes on.