Part 15 (2/2)
”Sure looked like Gerry,” Charlie muttered.
”Doesn't matter,” I said. ”Gerry's dead.”
”Right,” Fisher said. ”And now UpStart belongs to his sons, Adam and Michael.”
”You know Adam doesn't even live up here anymore?” I said, parroting what Charlie had told me. ”Relocated his whole family south. Sold the business.”
”No s.h.i.+t,” Fisher said. ”I live in Concord. Who do you think told Finn that?” He pointed at a sheepish Charlie, before deciding he'd have better luck with Nicki. ”In terms of detention centers, North River's a gray area, right? Stuck between private and public? The state pumps in some money, matching family obligations, the rest comes via donations, local nonprofits, etcetera.”
She nodded.
”How do you know about any of this?” I asked him.
”I told you,” Fisher repeated. ”I've been investigating. It's in my files.”
Charlie flapped his arms, trying to flag down a waitress.
”Your files,” I said. ”So what? You turned pro?”
”No,” said Fisher. ”I am taking a few journalism courses over at Tech, though.”
”What's that got to do with anything?”
”Nothing. But you asked what I was up to.”
”I don't give a rat's a.s.s about some community college cla.s.s you're enrolled in. I mean why do you care about North River? You're not at NorthEastern Insurance anymore.” I stopped. ”And even if you were, this doesn't concern NEI anyway.”
”UpStart,” Fisher said.
”What about them?”
”They bankroll diversion programs. And one of the big ones is North River.”
”Big deal. It's nonprofit. No one's making money. That's what nonprofit means.”
”That's not true,” Nicki said.
”Huh?”
”Nonprofit. The term doesn't mean what most people think it does.”
”I know you can't turn a profit or you start paying taxes.” I might not have had a business degree but I knew that much.
”Right,” said Nicki. ”And one of the ways a place like North River doesn't turn a profit is by paying their officers and staff exorbitant salaries.”
Fisher reached into his bag of goodies and plucked another page, sharing it with the cla.s.s. Nicki staggered over the six-figure salaries, whistling low.
”Just gotta stay out of the black,” Fisher said. ”Any money you make, you funnel back in to the product. Trick is to always be losing.”
”Like Brewster's Millions,” Charlie said, proud of himself for having contributed to the conversation.
”Plenty of other ways to keep cash off the books,” Fisher said.
”What are you talking about?”
”Old-fas.h.i.+oned kickbacks.”
”Bribes? To who?”
”Judge Roberts, for one,” Fisher said.
”Wait. You're telling me you have proof UpStart is paying off Roberts? For what? To send kids to a facility that they pay into? How is that a sustainable business model?”
”Yes. And no,” Fisher said.
”Yes and no what?”
”No. I don't have proof connecting UpStart to Roberts. Not directly. Adam and Michael Lombardi are too smart to leave behind blatant paper trails. If there's bank records or wire transfers connecting payoffs to judges, you better believe that money has been funneled six ways to Sunday. They'll launder that s.h.i.+t until every dime sparkles and not a cent can be traced back. But I can tell you why UpStart would be so interested in increasing enrollment-”
”They want to drum up public support for a new private juvenile facility,” Nicki said.
”Glad someone is following along.”
I stared at her.
”It's been the talk of the courthouse since I signed on. The drug epidemic out of control and all that. Some very vocal proponents want to privatize. Think about the revenue stream. You're always a.s.sured customers.”
Charlie wrinkled his brow like he understood what was going on. Even if he had been listening to Fisher behind the scenes I knew he was as lost as I was. The waitress stopped at our table and Charlie ordered a basket of wings. His coping mechanism for confusion: eat through the uncertainty.
”The way these places work,” Nicki said, outlining North River's enrollment figures on a spreadsheet, ”diversion programs are, like, alternative sentencing, right? Kind of state-funded. Kind of privately financed. Families kick in, but they still get a huge chunk from investors. According to your friend Fisher, UpStart is one of those investors.”
”We're not friends.”
Fisher appeared hurt.
”And so what?”
”Don't you think it's weird?” she asked.
”What? That UpStart, one of New Hamps.h.i.+re's biggest organizations dealing with at-risk youth, would support a residential facility that houses at-risk youth?”
All eyes fell on me. But Charlie was the one who spoke up. ”Jay, you've been hoping for proof that Lombardi's guilty.”
”Yeah. On molestation charges. Not creative bookkeeping. I'm not interested in revisionist history. Besides the old man is dead. And you, Charlie, told me I was nuts any time I brought it up.” I could already see Jenny's eyes rolling if I pressed the need to pursue this further.
”It's not just North River,” Fisher said, taking another crack. He laid out names and numbers on Excel sheets, northern New Hamps.h.i.+re divided up by county and jurisdiction. Courthouses and judges on one side, sentences meted out on the other.
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