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and the Fed wire was never completed. Maybe the money is still in transit, in limbo somewhere. It’s happened before.” Gil looked around the room. “Either one of these would solve the problem.” He shrugged.
    “Three, maybe it’s Exchange’s fault—maybe Greta signed more than one letter,” Gil continued. “Or somewhere between Greta and Midwestern, the document was corrupted by a third party.” He shrugged again. “Could be.”
    “I thought you said that Harrington and Sommers signed off on the letter,” Preston said. “They both eyeballed and approved the goddamn letter.”
    Gil nodded. “That’s true. I’m sorry, I guess we can forget about number three.” He held up four fingers. “Still, someone at Midwestern Title could have changed the numbers after the letter was approved by Sommers. I doubt it was Ellis, I’ve known him for a few years, but I guess you can’t exclude anyone. Also, it’s possible someone got into his file cabinet. Maybe another officer at Midwestern.
    “Five, Harrington could have changed the numbers and slipped it by Sommers at the closing. Six, I guess you all know what’s coming. Sommers and Harrington could have jointly participated in a monstrous embezzlement. They’re both missing.” Gil looked around the room. “I recommend we notify our liability-insurance carrier immediately.”
    “What are the limits of our policy?” a partner asked.
    “Fifty million,” Jenkins said.
    “So we could be holding the bag for thirty-eight million dollars?”
    Jenkins nodded. “That’s true. If we’re found to be at fault, if it was stolen by one of our partners, or through the firm’s negligence, this partnership and every partner here could be liable for thirty-eight million dollars.”
    “Shouldn’t we also notify the FBI?”
    Just then, Jenkins’s secretary entered the room with an e-mail from Exchange and handed it to Jenkins. He read it and closed his eyes. He dropped the note on the table where Gil retrieved it and read it to the group:
    “‘ Wire transfer for eighty-eight million dollars received yesterday by the New York branch of Exchange National to be credited to the account of Loan Services, Co. The account was opened by Richard Hudson, president of Loan Services, Co., on December twentieth with an initial deposit of one thousand dollars. At ten thirty A.M. , within minutes of the receipt of yesterday’s wire transfer, Mr. Hudson directed Exchange to immediately wire-transfer the entire balance to the First Republic Bank, Panama City, Republic of Panama, to be credited to the account of Capital Investment Funds, Inc., account no. 14-961245444. The transfer was completed at ten forty-five A.M. EST. The account was then closed. It appears that neither Mr. Hudson’s telephone number nor his address is valid. Duplicate copies of the documentation to follow.’”
    There was silence in the room. The partners looked around, hoping that someone would offer up an answer, a solution.
    “Does anyone know anything about this bank in Panama?” Jenkins said.
    “I’ve never dealt with the First Republic Bank, but I’ve done business with other Panama banks,” a partner responded. “They have the second-largest international-banking center in the world, next to Switzerland. There are over a hundred international banks in Panama, with the tightest banking-secrecy laws in the world. Panama law prohibits bankers from disclosing any information about a private banking client to any person, including the United States government. Panama has enacted severe penalties for any violations.
    “Accounts are easy to set up. You can do it from anywhere; you don’t have to be in Panama. All you need is two financial reference letters from banks or brokerage houses, bearing a notary stamp, the kind that every secretary in our office has sitting in her desk drawer. You also need a passport, but they’ll accept a photocopy. The documents are rarely, if ever, verified, especially