Thin Blood Thick Water (Clueless Resolutions Book 2) by W B Garalt Page A

compare it with.” The Partners shared a laugh over that. Dannie seemed to like Max’s sense of humor. That summed up the briefing.
    Max had been cautious in summarizing the experience and was looking for any hints or clues from Chip and Danyel as to whether they had gotten any reports back, from any source, concerning the trip prior to his briefing. He did notice a fleeting glance between the two when he referenced the Native Indians presence. Max wondered if they were looking for signs of any prejudice he might have, or whether he might have noticed any prejudice on their part. There was nothing conclusive either way. It was just more of the USAP ‘charm’ that he was getting accustomed to, sort-of.

Chapter 12
    Senior Partner Chip Chaplain called for a convergence meeting of all available USAP Partners. To each whom responded, he gave the date and place in code.  At the meeting a majority of Partners would decide on the question of a buy-out of deceased Partner Ernest Bickford’s family business. In order to arrange an agreeable date for a sufficient number of Partners, several contacts were made and re-made over a course of two days. Such was the security emphasis with the Partnership Operations.
    In a memo from Chip, Max was asked to provide value estimates on the property and business. The property was not named, but in light of the briefing with Chip and Dannie, Max knew it was in reference to the Bickford Laboratory in Nova Scotia.  It required three separate value estimates, real estate, equipment, and business, plus a feasibility study on the complete purchase as a going business. The due date for the completed report was, ‘any time prior to October 26th’.
    Max was somewhat surprised at the short notice. He could, based on his inspection, estimate the current real estate value based on an analysis of recent comparable sales, but the value estimation of a business located in Canada would require him to locate and hire a local area financial advisor familiar with the Bickford Laboratory operation. Max knew that he could get acceptance from Chip to engage Maggie as a financial advisor to protect the Partnerships interest, but he didn’t know how long it would take for her to settle on a reliable financial expert in Nova Scotia with whom she could collaborate. He recalled Maggie’s conversation with the local banker during the laboratory inspection.  “ That could be the individual with some insight as to the best contact for that purpose,” he thought. In any event, although Max didn’t relish the thought, a return trip to Nova Scotia would be necessary.
    When Maggie called him at his Lakeside apartment later that evening, they both had serious business to discuss.  Maggie was consumed with the court summons she had been served with and used Max as a sounding board on that issue. She did agree, however to contact her fellow ‘financial guy’ in Nova Scotia (she couldn’t recall his name but had his business card) for assistance, or recommendations, in his local area.
    After current matters were covered, the two intimate friends conversed at length on a wide range of subjects, most of which centered on the unusual, irregular circumstances they had gotten involved in together. It all started in East Wayford when they became embroiled in a police investigation of serial homicides. That escapade ended with the mysterious perpetrator dead and their police chief friend clinging to life with a possibly fatal wound. Both Maggie and Max were vindicated, and they actually had assisted the police in finding the killer.
    They marveled at how two professionals like themselves, while living rather successful and tranquil existences operating and living in a sleepy Connecticut village, had innocently gotten caught up in a high-drama, life-and-death cycle of criminality vs. police work vs. public relations.
    In the process they had become close to the Mayor of East Wayford who, at Maggie’s request, was now going