The Heir

19

Wednesday I fulfilled my promise and arrived in Fred’s armchair a full two minutes before eight. I had other business for the day and I wanted to get this over.

But Fred still had anger to vent. “You’ve wasted precious time.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“So has the governor. Do you understand what this means?”

“ This refers to Angela’s suicide?”

He snorted. “If you want to call it that.”

I tried to make myself comfortable, but I wasn’t. “Okay, so it was no suicide. And we know for sure now that Melvin was murdered, the investigation will be re-opened, and Angela probably died because I interfered.”

“You understand the ammunition that this has given the governor.” “A big pile of it.”

“A very big pile. The investigation is open, since Monday, and late last night the whole story of your interference was leaked to Channel Five.” I’d been playing with fire, and Fred seemed grimly pleased that I was getting burned. He didn’t seem concerned about Angela herself.

“I didn’t interfere in any way they could use against me.”

“Bright will do whatever he wants. He owns the state police, and Channel Five enjoys sensational news. He will let you know that he did not like your interference. Anyway, Mr. Wilcox will call on you soon. You had best be ready for that.”

“I will be.”

“You need to give Stanley Morton something for Channel Six and the newspaper so he’s not left behind.”

Maybe I had been wasting time. This mass was definitely critical. “We talked briefly. I’ll call him again.”

“You will not be able to stop the investigation.”

“I’m not trying to,” I said. “Is this still his way of negotiating?”

“It would be up to you to offer a deal, and it would have to be good. Bright isn’t merely threatening. He has his opportunity, and he is going to try to destroy you. If you had only negotiated, this could have been prevented.”

“But I didn’t. Now I have no choice,” I said. “I think it’s him or me.”

It took him a minute to say the words. “At this point, you are both in the locked room, and you both have guns. Someone will have to fire first. I don’t see any other way out.”

“Then I’m pulling the trigger.”

I gave Fred a few seconds to muse. “The end of an era,” he said. “Harry Bright and your father went back a long way.” Back to the present. “I don’t know what will happen.”

“I’ve got one advantage, Fred. I really am innocent, and he’s not.”

“That’s a very small advantage. I don’t suggest you count on it helping you.”

“I know. How should I do this? Take my briefcase of papers to the FBI? Publish them in the newspaper? Challenge Bright to a duel? Loaded pistols at ten paces. You can be my second.”

“A duel would favor the coolest head, so you would both miss, and I would not want to be nearby. Talk to Stanley first. He may or may not want to be on the front lines.”

“And what about you, Fred?” How did this man feel about being on the front line?

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Are you in on this?”

“What choice do I have? You’re paying me to advise you.”

I’d been hoping for something a little deeper. “Would you quit if I’m too big of an idiot?”

“Oh. Not for a while.”

I wanted to know how deep the loyalty went. “How long did you work for Melvin?”

“Nearly from the beginning.” I did not sense any sentimentality. “I was a staff lawyer for the state assembly, and he asked me to advise him on dealing with the state government.”

“That was before he went to Washington.”

“Yes, by several years.”

“Did you know my mother?”

“Slightly.” A little bit of the old Uncle Fred was resurfacing. “She was ill. Eric was an infant, and you were a small child. In those circumstances, she did not socialize.”

“When she died…” I didn’t know what to ask.

“Yes?”

“How did Melvin react?”

“He didn’t react to such things, in any public way.”

He’d always been that way. “You knew him very well, though.”

“Through the years I did get to know him. But not back then.”

Change the subject. A little. “Did he take chances? How would he have fought this war with Governor Bright?”

“Ruthlessly. In the earlier days he did take big chances, but after a while he didn’t need to anymore. In this situation? He would have easily won. For one thing, he would have been much more feared. Channel Five would have been very reluctant to side with the governor.” “I guess I’m not very fearsome.”

“If you come out of this alive, you’ll be feared.”

I thought about whether I would want that, then, suddenly, about the word Fred had used.

“Is that literal?” I asked.

“What?”

“If I come out alive?”

“I didn’t mean it literally. But you should be very careful. You’re wealthy; spend some money on security for yourself and your wife.”

Up, up, up. In my very own formidably secure office, guarded by Pamela herself, I prepared to call Stan Morton.

One more pause: Was this it? Think it through. If I did what I was planning, Bright would not survive, at least as a politician. That wouldn’t stop the murder investigation, but the goal would be changed to finding the killer instead of killing me. That’s what I needed.

And Bright was too dangerous. I needed to be rid of him. What was the right thing to do? It was ruthless, brutal, risky, but there was no right or wrong here. This was politics. The world without a corrupt state government under my control would also be risky, but there was right and wrong there. I could do right.

Okay, the pause was over. Governor Bright had assailed me and I would punish him. I would punish Melvin, too. Let loose the dogs of war.

“It’s about time you called,” Stan said. “Everyone here knows the police are about to call Angela Boyer’s suicide note a forgery, and there are funny noises about you and why the investigation got frozen two weeks ago. I’m going to put up a report on the news tonight, so if you want any input into it, give me some words quick.”

“I’ve got lots of words.”

“Should we meet?”

I had my other business for the day, and it was already eight thirty. “No, I’ll say them here.”

“Is this on the record?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay.”

“Melvin was murdered, and so was Angela.”

“That’s reality?”

“I have no proof, and no specific suspect,” I said. “But I’m sure.”

“Everyone knows that. Next?”

“The governor wants to use the investigation to annihilate me. My guess is he’ll pick me as the murderer.”

“Are you? Wait, you said you have no specific suspect. Do you have an alibi?”

Far out at sea for the whole weekend, no communications. And the night of Melvin’s wreck, I was home alone. “Actually, no.”

“Interesting, but not news. I’m still waiting.”

“So I’m taking Bright down first.”

“That’s news. What do you mean?”

“I am finding out that his dealings with my companies aren’t legitimate, and I’m going public.”

“The public reads my newspaper. You want me to break this story?”

“Yes.”

There was a thud, a pause, then Stan’s voice, breathless. “Sorry, I dropped the phone. Okay, Jason, on the record, tell me stuff. Do you have any clue what this means?”

“I have a clue and I have many documents from Melvin Boyer’s estate. They have lots of details about bribes, bid-rigging, kickbacks, and intimidation. There are lots of names of Governor Bright’s appointees.”

“What about your side?”

“Heads will have to roll.”

“Where are these documents?”

“In a safe place.”

“I’m coming over there. This is the end of Bright. This is… Does Fred Spellman know you’re doing this?”

“Yeah, I told him. He’s not real happy.”

“I bet. Okay… um… these documents… Are you acknowledging that you’re giving them to me?”

Good question. An unnamed source? Stan would be snowed under with subpoenas. And it would be better if I gave them to the police voluntarily, before the police came asking for them. “I’m meeting with the FBI tomorrow. Someone on my staff sent you an unauthorized preliminary copy.”

“We can work with that.”