Pierce left the bed and turned off the set. ‘I was afraid of that.’ He studied the others. ‘Looks like our work is cut out for us.’ He stepped toward Collins, who was sitting stiffly in the armchair. ‘Chris, we need all the help we can get from you. Let us try to help you, so that you can be free to help us.’
‘You mean Karen?’
‘Your wife. Tynan’s blackmail. Let me get Jim Shack and the other two into Fort Worth.’
The discouraging event on the television screen had already made up Collins’ mind for him. ‘Okay,’ he said, ‘go ahead. I appreciate your offer.’ He had decided that his last hope lay with these three men. ‘As a matter of fact, there’s something else you might help me with, if you can. ’
‘Anything that can do that gets my help,’ said Pierce, returning to his place on the edge of the bed.
Collins had come to his feet. ‘Have any of you ever heard about a paper, possibly a memorandum, called The R Document?’
‘The R Document?’ repeated Pierce. He shook his head. ‘It doesn’t ring a bell. No, I haven’t heard of it.’
Van Allen and Ingstrup also signified they had not heard of it.
‘Let me tell you about it, then,’ said Collins. ‘It all began the night Colonel Noah Baxter died. I first learned of it a few days later…’
Omitting no detail, Collins revived the familiar cast of characters and recapped the events of recent weeks, as the other three listened enrapt. For an hour, Collins talked -about Colonel Baxter, the Colonel’s widow, The R Document (‘danger - dangerous - must be exposed … I was -trick - go see’), Josh’s Tule Lake internment camp (Pierce had nodded knowingly), Assemblymen Keefe and Tobias and Yurkovich and the doctored crime statistics, Warden Jenkins and Lewisburg Penitentiary and Susie Radenbaugh and Donald Radenbaugh himself, Radenbaugh and Fisher’s Island, Chief Justice Maynard and Argo City, Radenbaugh and Ramon Escobar.
Everything was laid out before them, except the most important evidence of all. The R Document. That remained missing.
When he was done, his voice hoarse, Collins expected to find incredulity in their faces. Instead, they seemed unmoved, as they considered what they had heard. ‘You’re not shocked?’ Collins said. ‘No,’ replied Pierce. ‘It’s because we’ve seen too much, heard too much, know too much about Tynan.’ ‘You believe me, don’t you?’
‘Every word,’ said Pierce, rising to his feet. ‘We know Tynan is capable of - and has the capability to do - anything to satisfy his own ends. He’s utterly ruthless, and he’s going to win, unless we take advantage of our own capability. If you give us your full cooperation, Chris, we’ll set our entire
counterforce of ex-FBI agents and information into operation
within hours. I want you to stay here tonight, Chris. You can go back to Washington in the morning. I’ll send Van out for some food and drinks. Let’s hole up here until midnight and work out our plan. Then the three of us will separate, hit the pay phones, get the lines buzzing to our counterforce members. By morning they should all be on their assignments. How does that sound to you?’
‘I’m ready,’ said Collins.
‘Great. The most important contacts we’ll reserve for ourselves. Fast as possible, we’ll have to go over the ground you’ve already covered. I know you did a thorough job, but investigation is our life. We might be able to elicit information you couldn’t. Further, people you’ve already seen may remember some detail during a second telling that they’d previously overlooked. I’ll interrogate Radenbaugh again myself. Van Allen will go to Argo City to case the town once more. Ingstrup will sit down with Father Dubinski. And you, I think you should see Hannah Baxter again, Chris. I think you could do better with her than any of us. Is that okay?’
‘I’ll see her again,’ promised Collins. ‘What about Ishmael
Young?’
Pierce considered this, then shook his head. “No. I’m sure he’s on our side, but he’s too close to Tynan. He might let something slip accidentally. If that happened, all our heads would roll.’ He paused. ‘Now, is there anyone else?’
Collins had a thought. Tshmael Young mentioned, the last time I saw him, that Vernon Tynan has a mother. She’s in the Washington area. Tynan sees her once a week.’
‘No kidding? Tynan with a mother. I can’t believe it.’
‘It’s true.’
‘Well, obviously, we wouldn’t dare interview her. But still - who can tell? Let me sleep on it. Any other ideas, Chris?’
‘No.’
‘Well, we have more than enough to go on - certainly enough to keep us occupied in the seventy hours we have left. Now let’s take off our coats and ties, get Van to bring up some drinks, and settle down to some real planning.’
‘Our field force, remember? I’ll contact Jim Shack to get into Fort Worth tomorrow to tackle your wife’s case. But we have more than fifty other men and women almost Shack’s equal. They’re going to be looking at every rock Tynan ever lived under. No stone will be unturned.’
‘Do you think we have a chance?’
‘If we have good luck, Chris.’
‘What if Tynan finds out?’
‘That would be bad luck,’ said Pierce.
*
It was nine eighteen in the morning when Chris Collins returned to Washington. His limousine was waiting outside National Airport. He ordered Pagano to take him directly to his house.
Opening his front door, he let himself in quietly, assuming that Karen might still be asleep.
He went through the house and entered the bedroom, intent on changing his clothes and getting back to the office as soon as possible. He saw at once that the bed was made. Wondering where Karen was, he backtracked through the house, calling her name, expecting to find her in the kitchen. She was not in the kitchen.
Collins returned to the bedroom. The house was unnaturally still. He entered the bathroom and immediately saw the note scotch-taped to the mirror. He pulled it free, recognizing Karen’s handwriting, and from the time scrawled on it he realized that it had been written the night before. With some apprehension, he began to read it.
My darling,
I hope this doesn’t upset you. I’m really doing this for our sake. I’m leaving for Texas on a late plane.
I feel miserable about what I’ve done to you. I should never have withheld anything at all about myself from you. I should have known that as a public figure you were vulnerable, and I should have known that someone like Tynan would ferret out the information about me
and misuse it. I swear to you that I am innocent.
I’m afraid, however, I have not fully convinced you. The fact that you would not allow this to come out into the open, were afraid of a second trial {for my sake, I know), tells me you don’t know how that trial might end. I have no fear of that, but I know you have.
Anyway, since you would not defy Tynan (because of me), I’ve decided to defy him myself. I’ve decided to go to Texas, find his so-called new witness, and wring the truth out of her. I did not want to wait till you came home. I did not want you to talk me out of this. I want to prove my absolute innocence - to you, to Tynan, to everyone - no matter how long it takes, and I felt that only I myself could do this.
Don’t try to find me. I’ll be in Fort Worth staying with friends. I won’t be in touch with you until I’ve solved our problem. Don’t worry. Let me do this my way. The important thing is -I love you. I want you to love me -and trust me.
Karen
Collins dropped the note on the sink, and rocked back on his heels, dazed. Her act was the last thing on earth he had expected. She had hoped this would not upset him, she had written. She had hoped right. He wasn’t upset. He was stricken. The thought of his pregnant wife alone somewhere in Texas, somewhere in Fort Worth, out of reach and deeply troubled, was almost more than he could handle. He was tempted to take the first flight to Fort Worth and try to find her. But that would be a needle-in-the-haystack undertaking. Yet something must be done.
<
br /> Before he could put his mind to it, he heard the telephone ringing in the bedroom.
With a silent prayer that it might be Karen, he hurried to the phone and picked up the receiver.
It wasn’t Karen. He recognized the male voice. It was Tony Pierce.
‘Good morning, Chris. I came in on American right after you. I’m in Washington now.’
‘Oh, hi…’ He almost addressed Pierce by his first name,
but caught himself in time, remembering the ground rules
worked out in Chicago last night. No mention of Pierce and his friends on the telephone.
‘One thing to report,’ said Pierce. ‘We just got information that Vernon Tynan is flying to New York on business tomorrow night, and then going on to Sacramento. He’s scheduled to make a personal appearance Friday before the State Senate Judiciary Committee. He’s going to give the 35th a strong pitch. He’ll be the last witness before the bill goes to the Senate floor.’
Collins was still too distraught about his wife to react to the news about Tynan or consider its implications. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but I’m afraid I won’t make much sense right now. I just came home and found a note from my wife. She’s -‘
‘Hold on,’ Pierce interrupted. ‘I can guess. But don’t discuss it on your phone. Are there any public phone booths in your neighborhood?’
‘Several. The nearest -‘
‘Don’t tell me. Just go there. Call me. I’ll be waiting. I gave you my number last night. Do you have it?’
‘Yes. Okay, get right back to you.’
Collins snatched up Karen’s note and hastened out of the house. The official limousine was waiting, and Collins signaled his driver to stand by, then called out to Pagano that he’d be right back.
A few minutes later, he had walked two short blocks and turned into the filling station. He made his way to the telephone booth, closed himself inside, deposited his coins, and dialed Tony Pierce.
Pierce answered immediately. ‘You can talk now,’ he said. ‘It’s safe. Did your wife run off?’
‘To Texas. She wants to vindicate herself.’
‘I’m not surprised.’
‘Well, I am. I can’t understand her doing it. I realize she wants to clear herself for me, but that means defying Tynan. It’s foolhardy. She should know better. She should know that nobody can beat Tynan at his own game. Trying to snatch one of Tynan’s witnesses from under his nose and wring the truth out of her. Karen doesn’t realize how dangerous that can be.’
‘You mentioned she’d left you a note,’ said Pierce calmly. ‘Do you mind reading it to me?’
Collins pulled Karen’s note out of his pocket and read it to Pierce.
When he finished, he said, ‘I’ve got a good mind to go to Fort Worth today and try to find her.’
‘No,’ said Pierce firmly. ‘You stay put. We’ll find her for you. I’ll notify our man down there - Jim Shack, remember? - and get him on her trail. It would save time if we had some leads. Her note says she’s staying with friends in Fort Worth. Do you have her address book at home?’
‘We keep a joint address book. But I think she has an old one of her own around somewhere.’
‘Good. The minute you get back to the house, dig up that old address book, if she left it behind. Then - No, better not read those addresses from your phone - use another pay phone on the way to the office - then read me the names and addresses of all of Karen’s friends in the Fort Worth-Dallas area. I’ll pass them on to Jim Shack.’
‘Very well.’
‘I’ll also have Jim Shack find Tynan’s star witness. Your wife would be too emotional to handle her. But Shack can tackle the job.’
‘Thanks, Tony. Only - how are you going to find Tynan’s witness? He wouldn’t let me see his file.’
‘No problem. I told you we have two informers in the FBI building. One is a night man. He’ll get a chance to peek at the dossier on Karen after Tynan and Adcock have gone home. He’ll relay the name of the witness to me and I’ll pass it on to Shack. Trust us to handle this. Your wife - and her case - are in good hands.’
‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am, Tony.’
‘Never mind,’ said Pierce, ‘we’re all in this together. I’d like to spring you in time to get to California and counteract Tynan’s testimony. If he’s the only Government witness, he’ll stampede the Senators into passing the Amendment. My other hope is that we can nail down The R Document by tomorrow. We’re seeing Father Dubinski and Donald Radenbaueh for follow-up interviews in the next few hours.
What about you? Are you going back to see Hannah Baxter today?’
‘She couldn’t make it today. I phoned her from Chicago - from the airport - this morning. Woke her up, but she was nice about it. She agreed to see me tomorrow morning. We have an appointment at her place at ten.’
‘Okay. If there’s anything new, I’ll call you at your office. Is your phone clean for incoming calls?’
‘It will be by the time you call. I’m having it debugged every morning now.’
‘Good. I’ll be in touch.’
*
For the first time in many years, Vernon T. Tynan was on his way to see his mother on a day that was not Saturday.
Besides the fact that it was Wednesday, there were other unusual aspects to Tynan’s visit to Alexandria. For one thing, he had not bothered to bring his OC file on celebrities. For another, he was not going to have lunch with his mother. For yet another, it was not a quarter to one but three fifteen in the afternoon.
What had inspired this precedent-shattering trip was a telephone conversation Tynan had had with his mother no more than ten minutes ago. She did not call him regularly, but occasionally she did call, and this had been one of the times.
‘Am I disturbing your work, then, Vern?’ she had asked.
‘No. Not a bit. How are you? Is everything all right?’
‘Never better. I was just wanting to liank you.’
‘Thank me?’
‘For being such a thoughtful son. The television set works perfectly now.’
He had not known what the devil she was talking about. ‘What do you mean?’ he had asked.
‘I want to thank you for having the television set fixed. The repairman came late this morning. He said you’d sent him. It is very nice of you, Vern, to think of your mother and her problems when you are so busy.’
He had been silent as he tried to assemble his thoughts
‘Vern? Are you there, Vern?’
‘I’m here, Mom. Uh - I may see you in a little while. I have some business in Alexandria. I’ll put my head in for a minute.’
That’s an unexpected treat. Again, thanks for sending the
repairman.’
After he had hung up, Tynan had tilted back in his chair, still trying to sort it out.
It could have been a mistake, the wrong address. Or it could have been something else. In any case, one thing for sure: He had not sent any television repairman to fix his mother’s set.
Immediately, he had heaved himself out of his chair to find his driver and car and get himself over to Alexandria as fast as possible.
Now, having arrived before his mother’s apartment in the Golden Years Senior Citizens Village, he left the back seat and entered the building. He tested her alarm button; uttered an expletive because it was not on, then let himself into the apartment.
Rose Tynan was in her contour chair before the television set. She was watching an afternoon variety show. Tynan absently brushed her cheek with a kiss.
‘You’re here,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad you could come. Can I get you a bite?’
‘Never mind, Mom. I stopped by for only a minute.’ He indicated the set. ‘So it’s better now. I can’t remember -what was wrong?’
‘What?’ she asked over the din of the television program. With a wheeze, she leaned forward and lowered the volume.
‘I was trying to remember what was wrong with the set.’
<
br /> ‘Sometimes the picture jumped around.’
‘So the repairman came this morning? At what time?’
‘Maybe eleven or a little after.’
‘Was he wearing a uniform?’
‘Of course.’
‘Do you remember what he looked like. Mom?’
‘What a silly question,’ said Rose Tynan. ‘He looked like a repairman. Why?’
‘I wanted to be sure they sent out their best man. How long was he here?’
‘A half an hour, maybe.’
He wanted to pursue this without worrying her. ‘By the way, Mom,’ he said casually, ‘did you watch him fix ii to see he was doing his job? Were you in the room with him all the time?’
“We talked a little while. But he was very busy. Finally I went to do the dishes.’
‘Okay.’ Tynan walked over to the sofa and looked at the black telephone on the stand beside it. ‘Mom, where can I find a screwdriver?’
With an effort, she struggled out of the contour chair. ‘I’ll get it. What do you need with a screwdriver?’
‘I thought I’d check your telephone while I’m here. I couldn’t hear you very well when you called. Maybe I can adjust it.’
The moment that his mother returned with the screwdriver, Tynan disconnected the base of the telephone. Next, he removed the casing. The inner mechanism lay bare. He began to examine it minutely.
After an interval, he exhaled softly, murmuring, ‘Ahh.’
He had located the monitor - a transmitting bug smaller than a thimble encased in adhesive and resin - the electronic eavesdropper that picked up both sides of a conversation on an FM receiver hidden somewhere else in the city where the conversation could be taped. The device was the very one the FBI had been using.
Tynan extracted the monitor from the telephone, pocketed it, and restored the casing and base to the telephone.
‘Was something wrong, then?’ Rose Tynan asked.
‘Yes, Mom. It’s okay now.’ The important thing was what they - whoever they were, exactly - had picked up on the telephone since this morning. He tried to remember if he had told his mother anything of importance, in the last several Saturdays, that she might have repeated today to a friend on the phone.
(1976) The R Document Page 29