The IRS agent in charge stepped out of Titus' office followed by his assistant. He said, "I think I'm going to hate Titus more than I hate Magus."
"Why?"
"Do you remember my old boss?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who does Magus' tax returns?"
"Don't tell me."
"My old boss. Every time I audit Magus, that old bastard starts pulling out tax deductions that Magus didn't take. I end up having to write Magus a refund check."
"That must hurt, sir."
"You have no idea. I'm four years from retirement. I've got a feeling that I'm going to end up doing taxes for Titus."
"Ouch!"
"Then I'll be the old bastard when you start doing the audits."
"I'll be doing the audits?"
"Yes; you'll be auditing Titus and Magus both."
"I thought you liked me, sir."
"We work for the IRS. We don't have friends."
Irene listened to the conversation until the door closed behind them. She had been terrified that Magus would come running out of his office pointing at one of the IRS agents while saying that was the man for her. She muttered, "I hate the IRS. Of course, my ex-husband would really be in trouble if I were to hook up with an IRS agent."
A man about the same age as Irene stepped into the office. He looked around as if uncertain that he was in the right place. He was dressed in an off-the-shelf suit that actually fit him pretty well. He was a moderately attractive man. He slowly walked over to Irene and asked, "Is this Solutions Incorporated?"
"Yes it is," Irene answered.
"I'm Leland Bowne from the Department of Agriculture."
Irene said, "Magus is expecting you."
"You wouldn't happen to know why I'm here, would you?" Leland asked. His boss had handed him a check for a hundred thousand dollars and told him to go to Boston to meet Magus. His boss had refused to answer any questions about the reasons for the trip.
"No. He doesn't share those kinds of details with me," Irene answered.
Smiling at her, Leland said, "I guess I better meet Magus and find out."
"That's the door to his office," Irene said gesturing towards the door.
"I guess I should go in there," Leland said.
Irene said, "Good luck. You're going to need it."
"I will?" Leland asked. "Is he some kind of ogre?"
"Yes," Irene said.
"I was kidding," Leland said.
Irene said, "I wasn't."
"Oh," Leland said.
Leland walked into Magus' office. Magus looked up from the paper he was reading and said, "Ah, Leland Bowne. Did you know that your first name means fallow field and that your last name means ready for action?"
"Actually, I do," Leland answered.
"It is a name full of potential. I'm sure that your father knew that when he came up with it," Magus said.
"He did," Leland said. His father was the kind of person who checked into the meaning of names and other things like that. His father was often referred to as a 'character.'
Magus asked, "So how is Oscar Bowne enjoying his career at the university? The last time I saw him he had just been promoted to full professor."
"You know my father?" Leland asked rather surprised by this odd turn of events.
"We ran into each other a couple of times back when I lived in Denver," Magus answered with a grin.
Leland said, "He never mentioned you. I'm sure that I would have remembered an unusual name like Magus."
"Why should he mention me? We attended a few charity events together," Magus said.
"My dad is usually trying to raise money for one expedition or another," Leland said.
Magus said, "Archeology is an expensive pastime."
"Yes it is," Leland said.
"Speaking of expensive pastimes, I understand that you have a payment for me on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture," Magus said.
Leland reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out an envelope with a check in it. He put it on the desk and said, "Here it is."
"Excellent," Magus said. "Now I can explain the problem to you and provide you with a solution to it."
"What problem?" Leland asked.
"Fish," Magus said.
"Fish?"
"To be a little more accurate, an absence of fish," Magus said pointing a finger at Leland.
Wondering if there was a hidden camera around recording the conversation for use in a television show, Leland said, "I was not aware that we have a problem with an absence of fish."
"Now you know," Magus said. He sat back and looked at Leland.
Leland waited for Magus to volunteer some more information, but the man was just sitting there. Finally, he said, "I need a few more details."
"Such as?"
"What kinds of fish are absent?" Leland asked.
"Lots of different kinds."
"Can you be a little more specific?" Leland asked.
"Cod, halibut, eels, and sablefish to name a few," Magus answered.
"I don't work for the fisheries division of the Department of Agriculture," Leland said. Not for the first time did he wonder why he was sent to meet with Magus.
Magus said, "You do now."
"I do?" Leland asked. "I don't recall applying for a position over there."
Magus said, "I got you transferred. You have no idea how tough it is to deal with bureaucracies. I almost had to arm wrestle the Secretary of Agriculture to get you reassigned. Fortunately, Igor took care of the arm wrestling portion of the negotiations."
"I like forestry products," Leland said. "I like forests. I grew up in Colorado where there are lots of trees and very few ocean fish."
"Your new job comes with a pretty nifty title," Magus said while looking particularly pleased.
"What title?" Leland asked. He was starting to get the suspicion that all was not well in the world of Leland Bowne.
"Liaison to Magus."
That was one job title that had escaped his notice. Leland asked, "What kind of job title is that?"
"Only the most sought after job title in all of government service," Magus said. "I've seen grown men weep when they've learned that they've been assigned that job on behalf of whatever agency or department for which they work. I remember Colonel Cartwright breaking down into tears on learning his new job function. You'd think that a Marine would have better control over his emotions than that."
"Why do I have the feeling they weren't tears of joy?" Leland asked.
"I believe it is called paranoia," Magus answered.
"That was a rhetorical question. I wasn't expecting an answer," Leland said. He was wondering how quickly he could escape and call his boss to find out what was happening.
Magus said, "You got one anyway. You probably need a minute or two to come to grips with your new job."
"I definitely do," Leland said.
Magus shouted, "Irene!"
"What?" Irene shouted.
"I need you to take Leland to lunch," Magus shouted.
"Why me?" Irene shouted.
"Because," Magus shouted.
There was a long moment of silence and then Irene shouted, "Are you paying?"
"Yes," Magus shouted.
Irene shouted, "Okay."
Magus said, "You are a most fortunate man. You're having lunch with Irene."
Rubbing his ear, Leland asked, "Have you ever heard of an intercom?"
"Yes," Magus answered. "When you get back from lunch, we'll talk a little more about the solution to your problem."
"Okay," Leland said. He was planning on getting on a plane as soon as he stepped out of the office. He was flying back to the office to confront his boss.
"You might ask Irene about good places to live around here," Magus said.
"Why would I do that?" Leland asked.
"You're moving here," Magus said. Seeing the expression on Leland's face, he added, "Don't look so horrified. It is a good career move. Before you know it, you'll be running a division of the Department of Agriculture. If things really go well, you'll be running the Department of Agriculture."
"I'm not sure I believe you," Leland said.
"Skepticism is good. So is a good dose of paranoia. You'll need both of them now that you are getting into politics. Throw in a general disdain for your fellow human beings and you could get elected to Congress," Magus said.
"What?" Leland asked.
Smiling to himself, Magus said, "A fallow field that is ready for action. I really like your name. I hope you live up to it."
"I try," Leland said.
"Go and have a long lunch with Irene. Take your time. Tell her about yourself. Listen to her talk about herself. Have a little fun. Take her dancing. Drink some alcoholic beverages at her house until late at night. I'll expect you back ... oh ... tomorrow morning or maybe next week," Magus said.
Leland said, "Right. I eat, I talk, I listen, have some fun, go dancing, drink alcoholic beverages, and then come back tomorrow morning. It sounds like you have my whole day planned."
"I do. I'm sure that Irene will drive you here in the morning," Magus said. "Now utilize your lower two appendages and scuttle out of here. You have a date with Irene and it is never a good idea to keep a lady waiting."
"We're just doing lunch," Leland said wondering how this had become a date all of a sudden.
"Of course you are," Magus said. He watched Leland leave the office.
Magus shouted, "Titus."
"What?" Titus shouted back.
"Come in my office," Magus shouted.
"Okay," Titus shouted. He made his way over to Magus' office with a bounce in his step.
As soon as Titus stepped into the office, Magus asked, "Did you bring the check from the IRS with you?"
"Yes, I did," Titus said handing it over to Magus.
Magus said, "This Friday you are getting a very good paycheck."
"One hundred thousand dollars," Titus said thinking he was going to spend a lot of money over the weekend.
"One hundred thousand and four dollars less twenty-eight percent for federal withholding, seven percent for social security, five percent for state income taxes, and an additional three percent for miscellaneous other taxes and deductions," Magus said.
"That's forty three percent of my money," Titus said after doing the necessary additions. He wasn't very happy all of a sudden.
Magus said, "So you'll be getting a check for a little less than fifty seven thousand dollars."
"That doesn't sound like much compared to a hundred thousand dollars," Titus said.
Magus said, "Now that we've got the bad news out of the way, what did the IRS want?"
"They are trying to bring down a Hawala network," Titus said. "They want me to work up a list of all likely participants."
"Those are particularly tough," Magus said.
[A Hawala scheme is one in which the value of money is transferred from one agent to the next without physically moving it. A customer brings in some money to a Hawala agent with the intent of giving it to a person somewhere else. The Hawala agent contacts another Hawala agent in the distant land to have him deliver the agreed upon amount to the intended recipient. Once the money is delivered the first Hawala agent owes money to the second. With a large enough network, the money coming in and going out of any given agent are the same so the debts effectively cancel each other out. Imbalances can be worked out by over or under billing purchases in an import/export business.]
"It is hard to know where to start," Titus said. He knew the key was that members of a Hawala scheme had to trust each other a lot. That meant that there had to be strong ties among them.
Magus asked, "They did give you the names of a few suspected individuals, didn't they?"
"They gave me one name," Titus said.
Magus said, "You start with that person."
Titus thought about the effort that was involved. He sighed and said, "The FBI and the IRS believe the amounts being moved are in excess of a hundred million dollars."
"I'm sure there is a Middle Eastern connection in there somewhere," Magus said.
"And Asia," Titus said.
Magus said, "It sounds like a typical trade of drugs for guns."
"That's what they said," Titus said.
"You're going to have your work cut out for you," Magus said.
Titus said, "I did notice that the name was the same as one that appeared in a past Hawala case of yours."
"That's a very good place to start. They may have resurrected an old network," Magus said with a smile. "Go forth and browse the databases!"
Titus said, "I wonder why they can't just ask some of the other government agencies for the information."
"Bureaucracies don't work that way. That would be too efficient and cost effective. It would also be a common sense approach and that is the last thing you can have in a bureaucracy. If they did use common sense then they wouldn't need us," Magus replied.
"True," Titus said.
"When do you think you'll have an answer for them?" Magus asked.
"I should be done by the end of the week," Titus said shrugging his shoulders.
Magus said, "Make them stew for an extra week or two. There is no sense in letting them think they can do it."