Page 66 of Fire and Bones

“What’s a dust bath?”

“No idea.”

“How does one bathe a chinchilla?”

“No idea.”

“When does Chuck arrive?”

“Later today. I’m afraid the little guy will have to stay in his cage most of the time he’s here. Ben is allergic to every mammal that ever evolved.” Eyes rolling. “That’s why I have no pets.”

Lan topped off my coffee and looked a question at Doyle.

“Why not. I’ve only had six gallons.” Then, as Lan poured, “I’ve learned something you won’t believe.”

“Donuts are high in nutritional value.”

“I wish.”

Doyle and I—yep, you guessed it—relocated to the study. Not my preference. I wanted to return to my room and hop back onto the internet to verify my theory about Uncle Norbert Mirek. Her eagerness made refusal impossible.

Doyle and I had barely settled into our cushy Eames loungers when she yanked a yellow legal pad from the satchel and placed it on her knees, one of which was pistoning up and down.

I noted that the pad’s top page was filled with scribbling. That the satchel’s remaining contents looked quite hefty. Clearly, my hostess was now serious about fact-checking.

“W-C Commerce,” Doyle began without preamble.

“The owner of the illegal Airbnb that burned,” I said.

“Bingo!” Way too pumped.

“And possible meth lab.”

“Probably not.”

That surprised me. I let her continue.

“I’m still working to verify what the initials stand for. If anything.”

Doyle’s coffee arrived. I waited while she thanked Lan, then drank, thinking to myself that caffeine was the last thing she needed.

“Do you know the purpose of a holding company?” Doyle asked.

“Vaguely.”

“I’m not a lawyer, so I’ll summarize to the best of my understanding.” Quick skim of her copious notes. “A holding company is a financial entity that owns and controls other assets.”

“Things like real estate, stocks, firms,” I guessed.

“Yes. Typically, a holding company conducts no business operations of its own. It produces no goods or services, but has controlling interests in other companies, which are called subsidiaries.”

“I get it.”

My expression must have said otherwise. Doyle elaborated.

“A parent corporation can control the policies of its subsidiaries, maybe oversee management decisions, but it won’t run the day-to-day activities. The structure is used by businesses of all sizes and in all industries.”

“Why? I mean, what’s the advantage?” Not sure where the conversation was heading.

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