I stumbled back to my car, still reeling over the initials Murph the Mouth pointed out on dad's note. If my case was somehow related to dad's, the initials C.C. could only mean one thing -- and it wasn't creamed corn. And if Conrad Christian was his mark, then just who the hell was dad's client?

The sandwich board sign on the 7th Street sidewalk read "Billy's Bohemian Butchery." Below that, on a paper banner, "Now Kosher!" God, I love Los Angeles. There was no one inside but a guy behind the counter the size and shape of a '57 Caddy. The cleaver he was using to hack apart some unidentifiable hunk of meat looked like an Easy-Bake Oven toy in his massive hand.

"You Billy?" I asked. He turned around, startled, nearly decapitating me. He was ugly, with the laser-like eyes of a madman. Didn't my old man have any NORMAL contacts? Billy wore an ear cuff and an ascot, splattered with way too much blood for a kosher shop. It didn't take much to figure him for one seriously defective individual.

"Yes, I am he. Meat?" He was working real hard at sounding cultured.

"Information," I said. "The name's Diamond. You knew my father, Jack."

"Indeed I did. I'm sorry, young Diamond, but I've already shared with the authorities all of the information I possess about your father's unfortunate and dis-timely mur...disappearance."

"I found a note says you met with my dad the day he dis-timely got whacked. What I want to know is why."

Billy tugged at his ascot and rubbed his pocked chin reflectively for a moment... and then threw his cleaver at my head. I ducked. Billy took off behind the counter and was almost to the back door when I grabbed a rump roast and clocked him with it. By the time he came to I had him tied up with butcher's twine like a stuffed turkey. He struggled until he realized it was useless, then he started cussing at me. His accent went from upper crust to pizza crust.

"I ain't telling youse nuttin'!"

"That's unacceptable," I explained, and proceeded to smack him senseless with a short rack of thick and meaty ribs. When than didn't work I jabbed a boning knife against his ear. "Do you like Van Gogh paintings, Billy?"

"Awright, awright. I told 'em both the same ting. Yer dad was looking into some rich schmoe called Christian. He came to me cuz Murphy the Big Mouth told him I moved some heavy equipment for da guy."

"Moved? As in pawned? You hack up cows and pawn heavy industrial machines?"

"What can I tell ya? I'm a full-service butcher. This guy Christian was going broke on account of military contract cutbacks, so he started selling off his machinery to keep the business open. He even used some of the money to pay his shareholders a dividend, to look good on paper. I know, I was one of 'em. But dat wasn't enough, so he starts sniffin' around and finds some middle-eastern bad guy willin' to buy his igniters on the black. Made himself a fortune in illegal trade, selling 'em at three times normal."

"So that's where the money for the new equipment came from."

"Duh. He got flush, fast. Except somebody found out what he was doin' and was blackmailing the fool. I don't know who, I don't know who your dad was workin' for, and I don't wanna know either one."

"You said you told them both the same thing. Who else did you tell this to?"

"Tall guy, wit' an accent. Swarthy. Scary. Came in after Jack. That's why I don't wanna know nuttin' else. He threatened to cut my head off. I didn't ask any questions after that, you know? Now, will you let me up?"

"I oughta keep you tied up there just for being stupid enough to keep your shares in a company you knew was going broke, ya mook. But I'm gonna give you a chance. I'm gonna ask you a question. You get it right, we'll call it even. Ready?" He nodded. "How can you tell that a company has lower cash provided by operations than net income?"

1) By looking at the Balance Sheet

2) By talking to the company President

3) By looking at the Statement of Cash Flow

4) By looking at the analysts' estimates

Statement of Cash Flow information provided by TMF Parlay.

The answer is 3) By looking at the Statement of Cash Flow.

Many times a company will have lower cash flow from operations than net income. By comparing the statement of cash flow to the income statement an investor can discover exactly where the company is receiving its money. If a company is making a profit from non-core operations, such as selling of land or equipment, it will show up in the income statement but not the operating activities portion of the statement of cash flow. Since non-core activities are often one-time in nature, they should be looked upon with several grains of salt by an investor.

Billy the Butcher didn't get the right answer, but it wouldn't have mattered. For all I knew he was in contact with The Wire, and I couldn't take a chance. I stuffed half a pound of stew meat in his craw, informed him that dis-timely was not a word, and left him tied up. There was one more name on dad's list. It was time to go see the good padre. If he didn't know who dad was working for...

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