Inside the third floor corner office of the Provincial Treasury on Capital Boulevard, the air conditioner blew a weak stream of lukewarm air that did nothing to cool the room. State Treasurer Morley Croft sat hunched over his mahogany desk, staring at the twin financial monitors with bloodshot eyes. Sweat soaked through the collar of his pale blue dress shirt, dampening the silk fabric against his heavy neck.
On the left monitor, a glowing red terminal counter ticked down toward tomorrow afternoon. Exactly five billion dollars in short term provincial general obligation notes were scheduled to reach maturity by three o'clock. Under ordinary circumstances, the rollover would have been routine paperwork handled weeks in advance by investment syndicates in London and Zurich.
Today, however,
