Even in a worst-case scenario Knight looked good. They had patents pending on some of the new technologies and materials used in the Sam amp; His Friends line. The Knights insisted that there were no manufacturing defects, and they reiterated what David already knew: Knight International had a fair record with labor. Still, part of the reason Knight had come to China was to avoid dealing with the American unions.

"Our workers here do have a union of sorts," Sandy explained. "The elected union leader also serves as on-site party secretary. We've found Madame Leung very easy to deal with. Actually, we couldn't get along without her. She's like a den mother, troubleshooter, and conflict resolver rolled into one. Our workers go to her when they have problems at work, but also when they have problems at home. Since most of our workers live right here in dormitories, you can imagine how conflicts might come up. But," he added, "a lot of the women get lonely for their husbands or children. We've had a few cases of women having affairs with the men here."

"I haven't seen many men," David noted. "In fact, I haven't seen many people at all except during the lunch break."

"We try to keep the men and women separated from each other as much as possible," Sandy said. "All of the men are locals. They crate the packaged products for shipping, load the trucks, deal with refuse. We've trained them how to use forklifts and…" Sandy smiled sheepishly. "Well, you get the idea. The point is, they're almost always in the warehouse or the shipping building. Their lunch break is at a different time than the women's. The only time they see each other is at the end of the day when the men go home and the women go to their dorms."

"All that to discourage fraternizing?"

"Madame Leung thinks it's best," Sandy said. "I'm sure you've heard a lot about how inhibited the Chinese are about sex. They're especially puritanical about extracurricular sex. I'm talking about serious penalties for screwing around. Did you know there was a time you could get sent to a labor camp for having an affair with a married woman? Things have always been a bit looser in the countryside, where the government isn't watching as closely and the attitudes are, shall we say, cruder. Nevertheless, we employ married women and single girls. Most of them are far from home and lonely. While there are still plenty of ways for the men and women to get together-this is a big place and all it takes is a few minutes-we're trying to do what we can to prevent broken hearts and unwanted pregnancies."

David moved on to licensing agreements. Like Sam amp; His Friends, several of the older products had also originated from television or movie characters, but those licenses had been locked into place years ago. In fact, Knight's relationship with the various studios had only improved with the wild success of Sam amp; His Friends. David finally had to ask Henry the question that had been gnawing at him since he'd read about the sale on the day of Keith's funeral. "With so much opportunity out there, plus the way you love your company, why are you selling?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm a dying man," Henry said.

David regarded the older man. He still looked shaken from seeing the dead woman, but death seemed very far from him personally. Henry looked strong and fit for a man his age. "Ill or not, how can you give up something you so obviously love?"

"It's a new world. I've lived my life in the toy business. Sure, I've made my forays into Hollywood, and they've been very profitable. But I don't want to spend the rest of my years in New York and L.A., going to lunches in fancy restaurants or commissaries, chatting up studio marketing and licensing people."

"You could let someone else do those things," David said.

"But it's my company. I like to be in control. Oh, not everything. I've never cared much for everyday operations."

"He means," Sandy clarified, "that he likes to sit on the floor arid invent toys. He likes to work with the test groups-kids and moms. He likes to go to the toy fairs and put our products into the hands of the people who'll sell them. There isn't another company where the inventor is so closely linked with the end user. It's what's made Knight so successful."

"Then why sell?" David pressed.

"Because we've come to a crossroads," Henry said. "I just don't like the outside demands on my time." He got an almost dreamy look on his face. "I'll travel, maybe find an island or someplace around here, set up a little workshop out back…"

As he spoke, David understood why this was such a great deal for Tartan. Knight International had done extremely well over the years and Henry was a genius, but his iron-fisted control over the company and its practically nonexistent board of directors had undoubtedly kept Knight from expanding. With a host of managers, lawyers, accountants, and designers set to come in, and with Henry's commitment to bringing his products "home," the Knight brands under the Tartan umbrella could skyrocket.

And the conglomerate wasn't just buying a company with great potential, but would also continue to avail itself of the services and connections of Phillips, MacKenzie amp; Stout, in particular Miles Stout. Henry Knight had made his connections in Hollywood, but for years he'd been isolated in New Jersey and more recently isolated because of ill health. Tartan was in L.A., as was Phillips, MacKenzie. Miles, David recalled, had spent a lot of the firm's money on entertaining Hollywood bigwigs over the years. By getting his children into the right private schools, he'd developed personal relationships with studio heads. He'd coached Michael Ovitz's kid for a soccer season. His wife had set up play dates with the Roth kids. He'd helped Lew Wasserman get his grandchild into Brentwood Elementary. In turn, these media giants had invited Miles to be a fourth for tennis, to play a round of golf at the Riviera Country Club, to give money to their favorite charities, to go to screenings and premieres, and to join their Oscar-night parties. David could remember those evenings in years past when Miles and Mary Elizabeth had been whooshed away in a limousine to go party-hopping from the MCA Universal tent to the Paramount soiree to the Sony bash. Those studio relationships, while not part of the building blocks of the contracts, did act as the mortar. Add to this a final bonus: an independent contractor- in this case an eccentric toy inventor-coming up with new products on his island hideaway.

So, if the information Sandy Newheart and the Knights were giving him was correct-and David would have to check that it was-then he felt confident that this aspect of the deal would be all right. That still left what Tartan and Knight, as public companies, needed to disclose to the government: the financial details on past performance as well as what the consolidated company would look like, what the shareholders would get and if it was fair, documents dealing with antitrust issues since the original companies were both in the toy business, and affidavits stating that their officers and directors were in compliance with their respective companies' codes of conduct-meaning no instances of bribery, undisclosed transactions with vendors, or violations of the laws of the countries in which they operated.