Outline Part II

6. Monday, November 6: Billie the Kid
   
   1. Conversation with the Doctor
      Dag goes to see his doctor on Monday morning for what we find is a routine visit, but also find that he has not reported the incident. He has a lump on his head, however, and scrapes on various parts of his body. The Doctor warns him that he has to avoid “falls” like that. Right now he’s in good shape for a heart transplant, but frankly the heart is failing fast and it is a race to get a donor in time.
   
   
   2. Meeting the kid
      As Dag leaves the doctor’s office (at the hospital) he meets Billie coming in. She is eight years old and a little tiger with a sharp sense of humor. She asks Dag if he has a bad heart. Anyone seeing this particular doctor has a bad heart. She blatantly says “Mine’s going to kill me if I don’t get a new one soon.” Billie’s mother tries to hush her, but Dag is fully engaged and when the nurse takes Billie back to be weighed, he talks to the mother to find out about Billie. Here’s where we have to answer some of the basic questions about waiting for a heart transplant, statistics, likelihood, etc.
   
   
   3. Stoney silence
      Riley picks Dag up at the hospital and takes him home in silence. Dag realizes she is still angry with him. We discover that Riley picked Dag up and took him home after he was hit Saturday night. When they get to Dag’s house, they pick up Maizie from Mrs. Prior and find that she is wearing a yellow jacket as a helper dog. Mrs. Prior explains that she can carry Dag’s medicine and that this way they can catch a bus whenever they want to.
   
   
   4. Footwork for Riley
      In order to appease Riley, who will not let Dag return to the office for the rest of the day, Dag tells her about his meeting with Angel and suggests that she drove off just before he fell. He asks Riley to try to find her and make sure she “got home okay.” Riley heads out and Dag collapses into his easy chair to rest.


7. Tuesday, November 7: Just the Facts
   
   1. Visit from FinCen
      Dag is in the office looking up additional records when Silas comes in. Silas wants to know what Dag has found and we discover in the process that Silas is on the trail of a major money laundering scheme that points to Simon’s company. He stops short of saying Simon was involved, but suggests that any information that Dag uncovers would be of interest, including Simon’s location.
   
   
   2. Another client
      After Silas leaves, a “walk-in” comes in with a laptop that has been dumped in water. The client says he’d really like to recover his files from the hard drive. Dag agrees to do his best and asks what kind of files he is looking for. After suggesting several types, the client says his e-mail and “those favorite thingies.” Dag tells him to come back at 5:00.
   
   
   3. Just a travel agent
      Acting on Angel’s tip, Dag starts to track down travel records for Simon. He can find no ticket purchases in any of his financial records or credit cards. Puzzled, he calls Brenda about Simon’s travel plans and where he was going. She says he took the jet, of course. It is news to Dag that Simon had a private jet and he begins tracking down its records and flight plans. He discovers that it did, indeed go to Singapore and return, but that US Customs has no record of Simon having been on the plane.
   
   
   4. Angel has a boyfriend
      When Riley returns, she brings Maizie in with her and comes with the news that Angel lives with a man who is reputed to be violent and possessive. Not only is he her boyfriend, but he works at Stocks & Blondes. She says he has been known to assault clients who were too friendly with Angel. Dag begins to suspect that it was the boyfriend who attacked him, and might be the cause of Simon’s sudden disappearance.


8. Wednesday, November 8: A Partner Calls
   
   1. Put up or shut up
      Riley comes into Dag’s office to talk and becomes provocative. She makes another proposition to him and Dag tells her to put up or shut up. They get their coats and Dag walks her down to Pier 56 where they engage in a number of video games and pinball, ride the merry-go-round, get fish and chips, and head back to the office.
   
   
   2. Maizie on guard
      Bradley Keane, has come in while they were gone, intent on stealing the computer. When Dag & Riley return, Maizie is sitting on Brad in Dag's office growling. Brad tells Dag that Brenda had no right to give him the computer and that if he doesn’t get the data from the computer, their client will be furious. Brad is revealed to be sneaky and blustery, but unable to take a punch when Riley kicks him in the stomach. Bradley is the type of person who would leave all the dirty work to someone else. (Possible clue: Dag may spot a thumbdrive on a chain around the partner’s neck when he is putting himself back together after Maizie took him down.)
   
   
   3. Information please
      A subdued Bradley turns to charm and cooperation as he spins a story of a partner who has wronged him. He believes his partner has embezzled funds from one of their clients and wants to get the information from the computer. Dag leads him on, telling him that if he finds anything he’ll be sure to let Bradley know. He even offers to put the computer back together if Bradley can show that the company owns it and not Simon personally. Bradley backs off and it is suddenly okay to just be kept informed. He spends some time trying to get into Dag’s method for recovering the data and Dag may throw him some bones.
   
   
   4. Riley on a mission
      After they talk for a while, during which Dag comments on Riley’s martial arts skills, Riley is sent back to the library for more information on Simon and Bradley’s business. Dag lies down to nap. He awakens to the phone and Riley tells him that she has some info. The info proves to suggest that Simon and Bradley are highly diversified, including investment funds from hidden corporations and a tangle of holding companies. Dag is ready to get back to work, but finds that after he takes Maizie out he is too tired to walk home and stretches out in the office to sleep. Out the window he can see an office building with a light in a window that is in his eyes no matter how he shifts his position.


9. Thursday, November 9: Day in court
   
   1. Maizie goes to camp
      Dag drops Maizie off in the morning with Mrs. Prior to go to day camp. Mrs. Prior has something to say about how Maizie worries about Dag. Riley picks up Dag to take him to court and Dag suggests that she find out the name of Simon and Bradley’s WiFi Network
   
   
   2. Dag goes to court
      Dag talks about being an expert witness in a trial in which an employee is accused of theft. Dag has deconstructed the employee’s computer and testifies that there are files that incriminate the employee. While waiting for his case to be called, Dag conducts text message conversations with Riley and proceeds to use his VPN to tap into the network. He does this with his laptop, VPN to his network, to Riley’s laptop (in the women’s room), to Bradley’s network. In this way, Dag downloads all the company’s critical financial data to his network and starts sifting through it. Riley also sees Bradley coming and going from the office and sees Brenda come for a visit.
   
   
   3. Partner in court
      While in court, Dag meets Silas. None of what Dag has learned is admissible, so Silas suggests that Dag investigate the source more fully, possibly leading to a suggestion to go to Chicago. There is a question as to whether Silas is telling Dag everything, but Dag puts the idea into his hopper.
   
   
   4. Maizie comes home
      When Riley drops Dag off at home, he picks Maizie from Mrs. Prior. Maizie has had a big day and won a costume contest. Some other silliness.


10. Friday, November 10: Partners in Crime
    
    1. Maizie the pirate
       Maizie and Dag walk to the office together with everyone exclaiming about her costume, which she has refused to take off since the dog day the day before. Dag is long-suffering about his sissy guard dog. It doesn’t help when Riley gets all gushy in the office.
    
    
    2. Uncovering the nasty business
       Dag works on unravelling the accounting records and discovers a spiderweb of shell companies and holdings and at least three sets of books. It is impossible to know who owns what and how it is managed. In addition, Riley is doing research on the businesses as Dag uncovers them and discovers that Stocks & Blondes is one of their businesses.
    
    
    3. Brenda takes a vacation
       Much to Dag’s surprise, Brenda calls to tell him she is going to be gone for a week on vacation. She wants to know what progress Dag has made and Dag chooses not to tell her the truth of what is going on in the investigation. Brenda reiterates that it was Simon who said she should go to Dag if anything ever happened, much against her better judgment. She is as emasculating as possible.
    
    
    4. Planting suggestions
       Dag calls Bradley and tells him that Simon’s computer has some accounting anomalies on it that suggest that Simon may not have been playing above board. He’s thinking he should turn it over to the Feds. Bradley goes into an immediate sales job on why Dag should keep it and pursue the leads. In fact, Bradley is willing to increase Dag’s fee that he’s getting from Brenda to keep trying to locate Simon because that is the only way that Bradley will get his name cleared. Bradley suggests investigating a business that Simon had in Chicago.


11. Saturday, November 11: I learned the secret of life the day after my 42nd birthday
    
    1. The workload at the office.
       Dag talks about having been a loyal employee of a major accounting and consultancy firm for 17 years. How on that day he had handled problem after problem errorlessly and that when the day was done he realized that he knew everything except why he was in this job. The dream had always been to have his own business. So he quit.
    
    
    2. Going back to school
       Dag tells about how Lars greeted his suggestion and took him on as an agent for the three years that it took for him to establish himself as an independent investigator. He talks about this time as the time that he met Silas as well. There was always something special about the relationship of the three of them, but Dag could never bring himself to trust the relationship fully. He’d had friends before.
    
    
    3. Advice from a mentor
       Dag remembers a conversation with Lars that says “If you open the floodgates, you have to wade in the water.” It was his way of saying that if you really got into a case, you would get dirty from it. Dag uses the advice to make the decision to go to Chicago and books his tickets.