Tony Simeon had to call in a favor before he managed to secure the services of Pierre LeGrand, a retired cat burglar who now worked as a security consultant. LeGrand’s main client was a group of high-end art galleries primarily owned by Frank Krause, a friend and client of Tony’s. Last year, Tony had cancelled a Hawaiian vacation so he could (successfully) defend Krause against charges of tax fraud. Krause had repeatedly said he “owed Tony one,” and today Tony collected. He called Krause, who called LeGrand, who was willing—but not particularly happy—to do the job, no matter what day it was. Operating on the assumption that his home and office phones were both bugged, Tony had called LeGrand from a pay phone to discuss the new security system he wanted installed. LeGrand couldn’t do it that day, but he was willing to work on Thanksgiving in light of the urgency of Tony’s request. Tony did not say why the system needed to be installed immediately, and LeGrand did not ask.
