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Paul’s family brokerage.

I held the glass tighter. “What kind of interest?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Can you tell me why you’re asking questions about Mr. Ellsworth?”

“Yes.”

Dean shifted beside me as Martin opened the folder, although he kept the papers angled toward himself.

“Your family has business dealings with the Ellsworths?”

“My father does.”

“And you’re involved with Paul Ellsworth.”

“That isn’t exactly a secret.”

“No, it isn’t.” He looked down at one of the papers.

“Mr. Hale’s connection is part of why your name appeared.”

My mouth went dry. “My name?”

“Your family.”

The room felt suddenly smaller.

Dean straightened. “What have you found out?”

Mr. Vale glanced at him, then back at me. “There appear to be serious liquidity problems at the brokerage.”

I knew enough about money to understand the words and not enough to know exactly how worried I should be.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning they have obligations they may not be able to meet without additional cash.”

“Alan has plenty of money.”

“Personal wealth and brokerage liquidity aren’t the same thing.”

He slid one paper free, studying it. “There are also positions that appear to be considerably more leveraged than some of the firm’s partners understood.”

I stared at him as I clenched the glass tighter. “Explain it to me as if I work in a record store.”

“They’ve borrowed aggressively against investments. If those investments move in the wrong direction, the firm owes more money than it can comfortably cover.”

“How much?”

“I don’t have a reliable figure yet.”

“Thousands?”

He hesitated.

“Quite a lot more.”