A Man of Integrity

A morning phone call from an acquaintance in Blaine County, Idaho, sets Emil Pulaski and Northwest Investigations off on a harrowing chase. Jim Stuart, the branch manager of Integrity Investments in Ketchum, Idaho, asks for help in running down one of their brokers who embezzled a large sum of money from an important client. It was not the kind of case Northwest usually took on, but they had been referred by the Pulaski family’s financial advisor, a woman they trusted, so he asked for enough background information to consider accepting the case. What he learned from Stuart gave him pause. The case was already twenty days old and had been given to an inept private investigator in Spokane, Washington, by his regional office. The investigator had called Stuart the day before, frightened and announcing he was no longer going to work for them. The firm had also decided not to involve law enforcement in order to avoid bad publicity. The one thing he was told by Stuart, something Stuart had no understanding of, was the embezzler’s military background, particularly his combat experience in Viet Nam, and it caused Emil’s alarm bells to ring. Ultimately, they accept the case and Emil’s foreboding proves to be right.