Nick,

For most people, the idea of telling someone who has just been through a very nasty set of experiences that they did things wrong, or making sarcastic, condescending remarks would be so completely over the line that even the most inconsiderate clod will generally realize it's not a very thoughtful thing to do.

Lee and Gary have been around. Gary does real estate and has for a number of years. Certainly they knew about due diligence.

I've bought and sold and consulted on enough businesses to know that sometimes even the best due diligence doesn't uncover stuff if people work hard enough to cover it up, particularly in smaller towns where sometimes people can collude to hide information. Hindsight is always 20/20.

But then again, judging from the posts I've seen, courtesy and humility has never been one of your strong traits.