Chapter 9.

Ladies and gentlemen, a plummy voice announced to the assembled group of diners,

it gives me great pleasure to present Mr. Ajay Shah.

The tall form of Shaw stepped forward into the brightly lit dining hall of Wallace Blake's home,

and was greeted as if by one voice by Blake's dozen dinner guests.

Ajay Shah cut an impressive figure, attired as he was in the height of fashion, if a trifle somber,

for some tastes. He glanced around the handsomely appointed dining room, full of smiles and

refined company. The men around the table represented some of the cream of the city's high society, and a good

deal of old money to boot.

It was a perfect place to begin.

Shaw smiled to himself, amazed at the efficiency of his new ally, Joshua Kane.

Less than a day after Shaw forced their acquaintance,

he found himself installed in tasteful surroundings at one of the city's finest hotels,

complete with wardrobe, backstory, and papers. You're the son of a wealthy importer,

Kane had begun. He owns a dozen very desirable business concerns, none of which would be very easy to check

up on.

Complete fiction, of course, but as long as you don't try and pull any phony business deals,

I doubt very much that anyone will question it.

He had thrust official-looking documents into Shaw's hands.

I'm sorry about the name, but if I tried for a hundred years, I couldn't come up with a more

exotic-sounding one than Ajay Shah. Shah had raised an eyebrow. I should have thought the

objective was not to appear exotic, Mr. Kane, Shaw had purred, or did I not make myself clear?

...