So I went deeper. I called McKinsey. I had a friend from college who worked in their Chicago office, and I asked him to pull up Marcus's internal profile — something that would have been quick, because all former McKinsey consultants are kept in a database forever. My friend called me back forty minutes later. He said, "I have no record of anyone named Marcus Cole ever being staffed at McKinsey. In any office. In any year." I sat at my desk and I stared at the wall for twenty minutes. Then I called the Fortune 500 company where Marcus claimed to have run strategy. I got routed to HR. I told them I was doing a reference check. They said they could confirm he had been there. I asked them if he had held the title of VP of Strategy. They paused. They said, "Sir, I'm sorry, but I am not authorized to discuss title-level details. If you have a specific question about his tenure, you may want to speak to his manager directly." I asked for the manager's name. They gave me one. I looked him up on LinkedIn. I sent him a message.