A little over a month ago, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston ended years of suspense by finally filing a civil suit against former Harvard University hotshots Andrei Shleifer and Jonathan Hay. The two eggheads, eXile readers may recall, once headed the now-defunct Harvard Institute for International Development (Shleifer was the head of the whole institute; Hay was the chief of the Moscow office), the organization which in its day had been charged with distributing much of American aid money to Russia. Both were fired from HIID in 1997 after they were allegedly caught investing in Russia through Shleifer’s wife, Nancy Zimmerman, and Hay’s then-girlfriend, Beth Hebert.
 

“Hands behind your back. Face to the wall,” the sergeant with the provincial mug ordered, in an irritated voice, as he fumbled with the ring of keys. Finally locating the needed key, he opened a massive door and shoved me inside. The IVS-the internal detention isolator-is one of the early stops on the long trip to the final destination, the zone. I was not alone in the small room, which was permanently lit by a small dim light bulb. Sitting with crossed legs on the creaking plank-beds was a personage who resembled a woodpecker. Strength gone, I collapsed on the wooden rods, on which boxes for games of craps were carved.
 

Hey kids! It’s me, your hip school counselor Mark Ames! Wow, it looks to me like we’ve really made some important breakthroughs since our first jam session a couple months back, dontcha think? Some of you are new here, some of you I’ve seen before. That’s okay, too. If you just want to just hang out with us and chill, or if you want to contribute to our little bull session, either way’s cool with me.