"Because it was my job to keep everyone else away from him."
Mick casually sat down, leaned back, and crossed his legs. He looked and sounded curious but not in the least anxious, "You were his personal secretary?"
"I suppose you could call it that . . . unofficially."
"Mr. Midas must have respected your honest character to select you for such a trusted position," the detective complimented.
"Mr. Midas didn't pick me!"
"No?"
"No! I happened to be the first one to deliver some loan papers to Adam's house. He asked for me by name after that. Mr. Midas didn't want anyone else to see him and made me promise not to tell anyone about his accident."
"Accident?"
"Yes, and I didn't tell a soul. I don't suppose it matters anymore." Loneshark squinted his eyes, looking totally confused. "I'm not making much sense. I was never good at telling stories. You see, Adam was here for a year, but he didn't come to the bank during the first month. I delivered documents for him to read. I later brought those papers back to the bank and stamped his signature on them."
"Because of an accident?" Mick asked carefully, gently leading Shirley to reveal more information.
"Yes, well . . ." Shirley continued, trying to relate the history more clearly, ". . . you know rich people lead far different lives from us normal folks. When Adam came to Colorado, he first went to Vale for a skiing trip. Mr. Midas confided to me that he smacked face-first into a tree on his initial run down the mountain and was too embarrassed for anyone to see him."
Mick uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, asking in a conspiratorial whisper, "Did he look very bad?"
"Mr. Midas had two black eyes. He looked like a raccoon, which attracted more attention to the two different colors of his irises, and his face was terribly swollen. There were bandages over his nose and chin."
"It sounds painful."
"Mr. Midas said nothing was broken, but he was severely bruised."
"But when he healed and did come to the bank . . ." Loneshark coaxed.
"I don't know, Mick. Maybe Adam got used to being alone. He always arrived early and stayed shut in his office. Mr. Midas would unlock the door for the employees at nine and rush back to his office without speaking to anyone."
"But didn't Midas have to interview loan applicants?"
"Not often, Adam usually left the unpleasant task of turning people down to me."
