by Emma Lathen
The sale of Exchange Place and related assets had given the compa - ny another $5 billion to buy stock which they did in two blocks and had done by the Friday before the Court date. Now they had only 80% out, costing $40 billion at today’s market prices.
The Sloan borrowed $40 billion to take the insiders to 100%. Pretty good for a short spurt George thought. Later that month they turned in a record quarter and earned $3 billion to reduce their debt to $37 billion in the LBO. They eliminated the dividend to do so.
The first two months of the second quarter, April and May, delivered another $2 billion and they used that to reduce their debt to $35 bil- lion, in a safer range George thought. In parallel they had continued to move trust accounts to Ireland and close full service branches in the US while opening automated ones. The VC and IT area contin- ued to prosper by growing equity and cutting costs.
They decided to recalibrate on June 15th, 3 days before the sched - uled Senate Hearing. The news was good. First, they had acquired all the stock they sought at favorable prices so the insiders had 100% now they had reduced their debt from $40 billion to $35 billion and had confidence they would eliminate it entirely in a few years.
John thought that if they hadn’t had the upcoming Senate Hearing they would have had to invent such an event to be so inspirational in getting the team so motivated to get things in order, which they had done. He was particularly pleased that Elizabeth was leading the consolidation of their riches rather than seeking more. Of course her knowledge of history warned her about those who extended great gains for more, and wound up dead or exiled like Alexander, Napo- leon, and Hitler.
Senate Hearing
Elizabeth decided to take an early flight to DC 2 days before the hearing. She did not want to come the night before and pace the floor. She wanted a day to get her feet on the ground and the first tough night’s sleep when traveling; on the second day, she as with most travelers, felt a lot better and was raring to go.
She took a cab to the Senate building; met Jack and went to the Hearing room, arriving at about 9:30 AM for her 10 AM examina- tion.
Everett and Charlie had come up the night before as witnesses in the audience. They did not speak to her or interfere in any way. They were there to make the planned fast exit. At 12 Noon Everett and Charlie would leave with Jack and her to go to jump into a waiting limo driven by the ever reliable Sam, now an Uber driver. No bath- room breaks, conversation, or other such things. She would not risk a bathroom break for fear of seeing the Senator or her Chief of Staff in the Ladies’ room.
Everett and Charlie did not sit together. There was a small crowd, primarily other lawyers and lobbyists according to Jack. He had known most of them for decades and nodded to them to disconcert the Senator. It achieved its purpose. This was her first hearing. She didn’t know them; he did. This was not even Jack’s first 100th hear- ing.
Molly Greenwood was in the Staff area next to the Senators on the panel. There were 6 Republicans and 3 other Democrats in propor- tion to their respective party’s membership in Congress. The Head of the Committee, the Republican Senator from Utah, had turned the gavel over to the Democrat Minority Head who in turn had given it to Elvira. It was her show and her funeral as far as he could see, so he let her conduct her own wake. It would be true in more ways than he knew at the time.
Elvira called the Hearing to order. Jack had primed the Republicans to sit without questions or comment. Just let it run like a sporting fish he said. This got a good laugh from the Senator from Utah who was a great fisherman and lover of good humor, which Jack had more than his share of today as always.
Jack addressed the Junior Senator since she was handling it all by herself without the old hand, Harry Goldman, and said the Court Order gave her two hours. They were leaving at 12 Noon no matter what else was going on. It was her dance and he gave her the floor after Elizabeth took the oath.
The Junior Senator was nervous and getting more so because no one else seemed to be. It was dead quiet. She began by making an opening statement about various evils of banking, inversions, not paying your fair share of taxes, overpaid bankers, and the usual rap that such people gave.
Elizabeth was thinking that a good 30 minutes had gone by thanks to that rant. Perhaps she could encourage more; it seemed almost too easy. Jack passed her a note, “They are letting her run; they are making it clear this isn’t their show; so she doesn’t have to claw for position so may go on for quite a while.”
After another 15 minutes she concluded her diatribe by saying, “I wanted to get that on the record.” The comment was met with si- lence. Elvira stumbled around for a minute or so and then asked, “What is your name?”
Harry said, “It is on the subpoena,” to throw her off stride The Junior Senator took up the cudgels on this one about disrespect and similar such things. They batted the ball around for another 18 minutes and the first 63 minutes was gone without a punch being thrown. One of the Southern Republican Senators winked at Jack. He was obviously enjoying the show by the angry dysfunctional Democrat from Granola country. Harry had said nothing because Elvira had demanded he remain silent unless she asked him to do something. That was more than fine with Harry and he worked hard not to grin.
Elvira then asked her second question, “What is your role with the Sloan, for the record.” Jack responded as he had before and another 12 minutes was frittered away. Elvira was now down 45 minutes.
The Junior Senator didn’t make lists because she thought they evi - denced a weak mind and reminded her of school which she had done poorly in. Without a list, she didn’t have a third question ready so she had to pause to think of one.
She came up with, “Tell me about your business?” and Jack took another 5 minutes to say he had provided her with a description of the businesses, 5 years of annual and quarterly reports, and other information the Senator had subpoenaed. He was sure she had not read. He was right.
It took 15 minutes for her to get back on track as Jack took over pointing out the information which she let him do because she couldn’t think of another question in the interim period, leaving her just 20 minutes for her Hearing.
Elvira wound up by saying, “I have had quite enough of this. You have been unhelpful and unresponsive. We will go to Court and get an Order for you to answer my questions.”
Jack said, “The Record will show we have. You haven’t asked any not already answered in writing. You have inconvenienced my cli- ent; caused substantial stress and expense to my client; and we have a transcript and 20 more minutes for you to ask your questions.” In fact it was only 12 at that point because 8 were taken up by Jack carrying on as lawyers do.
With that Jack stopped abruptly and sat back to await events. Sever - al minutes went by without a word. The Junior Senator looked over at her Democratic Colleagues but they were of no help; well, to be fair she thought, she had never cozied up to them. So I guessed this was her punishment.
She had elected to conduct the hearing by herself without counsel unlike Elizabeth and the Sloan. She had no one to confer with but she said, “We will take a 15 minute recess while I consult with my colleagues.”
Jack said, “Senator, you have just 12 minutes left,” and theatrically looked at his watch and said, “No Senator, I stand corrected. You have just 9 minutes left.”
The Junior Senator just stared at Jack, much like a deer in the head - lights the Senator from Utah thought, and paused again. She just stepped down from the Chair, signaled her Chief of Staff, and they left together for their office without addressing anyone and leaving the meeting hanging. The Utah Senator paused, resumed his posi- tion as Chair, and said, “In the spirit of the Court Order we have 9 minutes, no 7, left. Does anyone on our distinguished panel have any questions they wish to put forth?”
No one did, so the Utah Senator spoke, thanking Elizabeth for com - ing. Since everything was recorded and he was a wily character who was a noted conservative but had a legendary positive relationship with
the former liberal lion, Ted Kennedy, he spoke positively about the Hearing, sidestepping the Elvira side show, and called the meet- ing to a halt exactly at 12 Noon.
Jack, Elizabeth, Everett, and Charlie, plus their Security man virtu - ally fled out of the room, signed out at the front desk leaving their badges with an imprinted time sheet that Jack got, left the building, piled into the limo with Sam roaring off. Two blocks away Sam stopped to let Jack out who couldn’t help winking at the others as he got out without another word.
Elizabeth then confirmed the plan with Sam, the driver, an old Sloan hand her father had arranged to transport them back to the Devon- shire in New York. Sam grinned, “Yes, indeed. Mr. Thatcher will be pleased and it is my pleasure to drive you all.” He liked these people and the pay was outstanding. Win, win, as it was with this group. And they were off.
They didn’t talk for a while as they each decompressed. They didn’t have to. They all knew each other too well. Everett was thinking about lunch and whether any health foods would be available; Char- lie was thinking about a quart of whisky; Elizabeth was thinking about a bottle of wine.
Elizabeth was also thinking about her cruise out of Fort Lauderdale after taking the Silver Star tomorrow down there. Sam spoke up, “Miss Elizabeth,” he had known her all her life, “Mr. Thatcher wanted me to bring provisions and you will find them in the bar and refrigerator back there. He particularly wanted me to assure Mr. Gabler that a suitable lunch for him was provided by his favorite cook at the Devonshire.”
Charlie opened the bar, and said, “Sam, my savior,” as he pulled out a Red Label and poured himself a drink as if it was water; they all knew Charlie had a hollow leg, was not driving, and would be the great entertainer they needed on the way back to the Devonshire.
Charlie chuckled again, “Well Ev, here is your healthy mess,” giving the elegant plate to Ev.
Ev sighed, “Thank you so much Sam.” Sam nodded with a grin. And Charlie continued, “Elizabeth, here is the wine you were wait - ing for with the screw top you say is better than a cork, though we won’t rat you out,” and chuckled. Elizabeth smiled as Charlie ex- pertly took the top off, poured her a hearty glass, and saluted her on their first drink with their Escape from DC.
They all tended to dose off on the way up to New York. Sam stopped at a restaurant they all liked and they went in. Sam joined them and said, “You know, this is new to me riding in the first cabin so to speak with you all. It is nice to be at the table with you though I can’t have a drink,” and smiled as he lightened it up at the end of the comment. He went on, “I hope you will use me privately now.” We will they all exclaimed in unison.
Elizabeth, Charlie, and Ev noticed that Sam was more important to them than ever before as they were more important to him. The nuclear life of home offices made you miss those more complex non-nuclear days, to put it in those terms. With those sobering thoughts, they had another drink each to offset that brief moment of melancholy.
They rode back quietly, dosing much of the way. When Sam let them out, Charlie and Ev left quickly for the elevator. Elizabeth hung back and told Sam. “Sam, I put a package on the backseat for you to drop off at FedEx. The label is on it, and thanks for a great ride.” Sam knew that she had held back to say this so said, “Sure and I’ll keep it under the lid,” as he tipped his hat. She smiled at him in acknowledgement. When he got back into the car he found the $100 bill he had expected on top of the package. The Thatchers were nice; yes they could afford to be, Sam knew. But he also knew most rich people weren’t. He never looked at the package when he dropped it off at FedEx. He knew she wasn’t lazy so he took it into the 24/7 FedEx office to be sure it arrived properly on his end.
Elizabeth ceremonially turned off her devices when going into the Devonshire. She was on vacation now. She had no landline in her apartment so she was effectively out. She did not go to the new of- fice on the sixth floor. She took the stairs up to her condo to get a bit of exercise, took a bath to relax, picked up a book, and immediately fell asleep. She woke up early as always and puttered around before leaving for the train.
She had prepped for her vacation. She had done her job at the Hear - ing. It was time to decompress so she would be alert for what came next. She knew from her father she had to be careful not to start pulling up the flowers to see how the roots were doing. It was a time for patience never an easy thing or anyone else for that matter, when things were afoot. The seeds were planted. Now they needed time to grow. She would let them do so as she vacationed.
She walked happily down to Penn Station to get on the Silver Star to Florida. She imagined the glorious dinner she would have on board with new friends at the table since they always made you sit with others. Instant friends for the trip and sometimes longer. She was delighted.
She had shipped her bags directly to the cruise line to avoid hassling with them. She would be getting on the Navigator, spending a week unwinding with no plans and no people brought along, just the open air, seas, and fun. She would let others get off at the stops as most did on the first stop, some on the second, and almost none on the third.
She had brought her turned off her electronics with her but would not turn them on until the ship was safely out of port the day after tomorrow. It would turn out to be another good move by her.
The previous afternoon Elvira’s office was looking for her. She had some meetings she hadn’t attended and no one said they had seen her since she left her Hearing in a huff.
The Capitol Police got in the act and found her body in the Hearing Room Ladies Room. She had been conked on the head and then hit several more times.
The Officer that found her thought, lots of people hated that woman. I wonder who she pushed too far? Bet there will be a lot of sus- pects he thought quietly. She had always been incredibly rude to him though proclaiming she was for the people, which as a basic security guard he was. Republicans weren’t for the people but were always nice to him; he preferred their good manners and quietly voted for them in the last few years.
He would be only semi-right about the push part and totally right about a lot of suspects. At this point Ev, Charlie, and Elizabeth were all snugly in their New York apartments. No one had their itineraries. They were all on their own so the Capitol Police had to take it from there.
Chapter 14
Police Chief & Jack
The Capitol Chief of Police had a normal police job that was sub - ject to all the politics of DC, pressure from individual narcissists in the House and Senate, and the FBI which was involved too. There was really no precedent for this murder so retired FBI agent, Dan Largent, now Capitol Chief of Police, was stuck with all of it.
Dan was an old school donuts and coffee cop so was at least 50 pounds overweight. He did not share that with the svelte Jack Reyn- olds who had been a long term acquaintance. Dan had originally come from the old conservative Vermont, not the new Granola state. He lived by Yankee adages which went down well in DC. They might have left or right agendas down here he knew; but they wanted conservative follow the law rules and policing when it came down to them personally. Dan could live with that and that was something people knew and led to him getting this previously simple well paid job with hardly nothing to do, except for now.
Dan knew that the New England phrase about knowing people ap - plied to Jack and himself: It isn’t how well you know someone, it is how long. And they had known each other since they were young pups in DC almost 40 years ago. So it was natural that his first inter- view was with Jack, off the record and at a high calorie, heart attack kind of breakfast place they both loved and had dinner at that night.
“So Jack, tell me what happened?” “First Dan, tell me what you know. Then I can build on that. Don’t make me go first; not in my nature as an ambulance chaser,” and with that self-deprecatory sidebar, Dan chuckled and set forth what he had been told so far.
“No one liked that woman. She came here with no friends. She was elected in the Democrat prima
ry by the angry Granola crowd in Cal- ifornia that really got out the vote. The party traditionals and Cali- fornia independents liked Molly Greenwood, now her chief of staff, didn’t like her. But Molly, a great lady, lost to the Junior Senator by a whisker in the Primary. And you know, Harry, out there the tradi- tional yellow dog Democrat can beat any Republican in a statewide election these days. And did; but, and this is a factor perhaps, it was a far closer race than usual. The Junior Senator didn’t win by much in either the primary or in the general election. The Party was stuck with her, but no longer, as several people pointed out. Most made no bones about not liking her; they were venting; and these are pros, so she must have been a corker behind closed doors in addition to my staff who she had total disdain for.”
“So there is one enemy list. I don’t think the Republicans had it in for her since she was such a blemish on the Democrats. She was a local joke though no one dares joke openly about women any more, nor about the Granola set, but that makes for pent up bad feelings so there is that too.”
“The Sloan clearly had reason to dislike her; but they cleaned the mat with her in the Hearing from what I learned so they were prob- ably more relieved than worried when they left. None of her fellow Democrats even pitched in with a question; the Republicans gave the witness a free pass.”
“So why would the Sloan be part of killing her if they had won? I don’t see it. The one suspicions thing is how quickly you all left, evacuated might be a better term, being careful to alibi your way out. Perhaps you can speak to that too.”
“So that’s a beginning, Jack; help me out with this. It is a mess. In sum, the people who were her natural enemies, the Republicans and the Sloan, had a safe weak adversary installed in DC for at least an- other 5 years. So why would they?”