Chapter 37

After a time, there was a knock on the door, and a young man in his twenties entered the room. Charles introduced me to the new arrival, who turned out to be Mark Tatum, the associate who’d be assisting with the preparation of my defense. We moved to the conference table and chatted amiably for a few minutes. Finally, there was another knock on the door and Richard came in, followed by Charles’ secretary. I’d noted the previous day that, as he’d said, she was as attractive as she was efficient.

When we were all settled around the table, Charles looked at me and said, “What we’re about to do is second nature to us, and we sometimes take it for granted that laymen understand the process, even if they don’t. Please feel free to interrupt and ask for explanations and/or clarifications at any time.”