Page 39 of Only the Devil

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Rhodes MacMillan

True. But she travels a lot. She had some things to finish up here. We’re headed back to SF on Wednesday.

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I’ll have to check this NC out.

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Rhodes MacMillan

Are you making headway? Do you need anything?

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He hasn’t blocked my access to ARGUS, so right there, I have a gold mine at my fingertips—if I know what questions to ask. While targeting veterans and retirees with high-risk investments is morally reprehensible, it’s not illegal. But laws were broken. The murder proves it. Why else kill an employee?

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Can you find out for me if Jocelyn Faribault made contact with anyone with the SEC or any other group that might have been unofficially investigating Sterling? I’m wondering if maybe she was going to whistleblow.

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Obviously, it could be a team is unofficially investigating, and they haven’t yet concluded if an official investigation is warranted. It could also be a situation where a connection of Sterling’s squashed any investigation.

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Rhodes MacMillan

I’ll check around. The law firm that was building a class action lawsuit against Sterling Financial dropped the case. I’m not sure the SEC has jurisdiction over financial products based outside of the US.

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When did the class action suit get dropped?

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Rhodes MacMillan

Noah found out yesterday. I shouldn’t say dropped. They never filed it. What I meant is, they are no longer pursuing it. Noah’s still trying to track down the sales guy who met with these people and sold them on the fund.

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“Knock, knock.” I look up to find Sterling in the doorway, hand resting on the stainless-steel handle to my office.

“Hi,” I say, and click to close out of the message app. The app will display a message to Rhodes that I’m no longer online.

“You have a minute?”

“For the boss? Of course.”

He takes a seat across from my desk. For an older man, he’s handsome, charismatic even, with piercing blue eyes and a consuming presence, factors that I’m certain contributed to his success.

“Are you making headway?”

“I am,” I say, answering honestly, glancing at the screensaver of dancing bears. “I have some ideas on how to construct what you’re looking for. I think it can be done. Of course, I feel like a broken record, but I have to repeat myself. There’s no way any algorithm can predict the future with certainty. There will always be risk.” His lips spread into a slow smile that injects ick through my veins. “No man can be god.”