It had been a rough day, but when Alan Schwartz headed for home on Friday, March 14, the Bear Stearns chief executive thought he'd have a month to find a buyer for his teetering firm.

A quickly concocted loan, guaranteed by the government for up to 28 days, allowed the brokerage to open its doors that morning. But its stock continued to spiral down, its clients continued to flee and its trading partners continued to disappear. It grew obvious to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. that Bear Stearns wouldn't last the weekend. It was time for an awkward conversation.