The Shut Mouth Society (40 page)

“
How confidential?”

Evarts hesitated. “This is life and death.”

“
Then I’ll switch from beer to coffee and send these guys home. They were cleaning my clock anyway.”

Harding closed the cell phone. “You go. Someone needs to stay with Trish.”

Evarts considered all three of them going and decided that was foolhardy. “Where’s the closest pay phone?”

“
Use my car and drive twenty miles west. There’s a persistent rumor that computers monitor every pay phone in the D.C. area. Use a prepaid calling card.”

“
Got one.” Evarts bolted from the house and drove for forty minutes before he pulled into a strip mall. Gary Johnson answered his phone after the first ring.

“
Gary, this is Greg. I need help.”

“
Police work, old business, or new trouble?”

“
New. First, do you know Lake Norman?”

“
I’m standing here looking at it. At least, I would be if it wasn’t dark.”

“
You live on Lake Norman?”

“
Most of the drivers do. Why?”

“
Ever heard of a man named Ralph Branger?”

“
Yeah, but we move in different circles. He’s kind of a mystery man. I’ve only heard about him because he got into a row with the county over this
Gone with the Wind
style mansion he wanted to build on an outcrop that extends into the lake. Made the local paper, but he must have found the right politician to bribe because he built the damn thing. Big eyesore, in my opinion.”

“
Can you find out everything you can about him?”

“
Surveillance or public records?”

“
Public records only … at least for now.”

“
Okay. I got a couple days. I guess I owe you a favor or two.”

“
Be careful. If Branger’s connected the way I think he is, he’s dangerous. Drugs and other bad stuff. He won’t take kindly to someone snooping around his personal life.”

“
I’m always careful. Probably why I haven’t won but one race so far this season.”

“
By the way, congratulations on being seventh in points.”

“
Thanks. I’ll send you some race tickets.”

Chapter 49

The morning news said that Congressman Sherman had called another press conference for ten o’clock in the morning. Evarts and Harding cooked a breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast. Baldwin ate half a cantaloupe and a dry double-toasted English muffin. By the time they finished the dishes and scanned the newspaper, it was close to ten o’clock, so they turned on the television in a small side room off the kitchen.

The preshow continued the attacks on Congressman Sherman and worked to set a high bar in case he actually did offer evidence to support his allegations. When the congressman appeared on the screen, he looked nervous and out of sorts.

“
Gentlemen and ladies of the press, this will be a short press conference. Reasonable questions about what I’m about to deliver will be entertained. I stress the word ‘reasonable.’”

He looked down at some cards he held in his hand. “Yesterday, I made some startling criticisms of the upcoming election in Mexico. I accused the Panther Party of being implicated with international drug trafficking. Today I’ll present evidence supporting my allegations.”

Evarts could hear a buzz from the off-camera press, and someone shouted, “Will we get a copy of the evidence?”

“
Yes. At the conclusion of my remarks, copies will be distributed to all of you. But first, I want to address the slanderous accusations that I’m motivated by racism. I’ll show that the corruption of the Panther Party emanates from these United States. That the real villains—”

The uproar from the press drowned out the rest of his sentence. Everybody shouted at once.

Evarts said, “He’s lost control.”

Sherman made an angry face that the press would surely plaster all over the media if he didn’t present an ironclad case.

“
May I continue,” he said in a rough voice. “I’ll answer reasonable questions at the end.”

The press wouldn’t relent, so he defiantly stood and waited until they quieted down enough for him to continue.

“
Thank you. The documentation I’ll distribute shows a financial trail that goes back to the nineteen twenties. A secret society—”

A chorus of groans came from offscreen.

“
Excuse me, please! May I finish?”

Someone shouted, “Go ahead!”

“
The secret society is called the union, spelled with a lowercase
u
. This secret organization has been in existence for over one hundred years and controls a fortune almost beyond comprehension.”

This time laughter interrupted the congressman, but he pushed ahead.

“
This secret cabal looted its original money during Reconstruction after the Civil War. In the nineteen seventies, they started to support the drug traffic trade, using their strategic investments in Mexico. Although controlled by Americans, the union has reached such dominance in Mexico that they now threaten to put their man into the presidency and control a sovereign nation.”

Offscreen shouting erupted again. “Put your hands down,” the congressman said. “I’ll answer questions only at the end. Please. This is serious.”

Sherman reached behind him and took a spiral-bound binder from an embarrassed-looking staffer. He held it above his head. “This document delineates financial transactions between six American corporations and key Mexican companies. In the early part of the last century, money flowed south, but since the eighties, great amounts of cash flowed north into the coffers of companies right here in the United States.”

“
That’s called capitalism, Congressman!”

“
Of the most vile sort. These money sums are far too large to come from legitimate sources. They came from drug cartels.”

“
Can you prove it?”

“
Circumstantially. The amount—”

Laughter.

“
The amount of money far outstrips the profits from these Mexican corporations. I’m talking about hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The union controls huge private companies on both sides of the border and uses them to launder drug money.”

“
Is this the same secret society that killed JFK?”

“
No, but possibly Abraham Lincoln.”

Huge laughter. That rejoinder had been an obvious mistake. Now they had him tagged for certain as a kook.

“
What companies?” someone shouted.

“
They’re private and keep a low profile; however, one is an investment bank that
Forbes
ranks as number four in their list of the largest private companies.”

“
Name?” many shouted.

“
Confederated Trust.”

“
Oh shit,” Harding said. “That’s an American business icon.”

The incredulous reaction of the press resulted in more shouted questions. They wouldn’t quiet down this time. Sherman gave his staffer a discouraged look and indicated he should pass out the spiral-binders.

“
Questions. One at a time.”

He had to wait several minutes until the confusion caused by passing out the binders subsided, and the reporters settled back into some semblance of order. Eventually, the congressman pointed to an uplifted hand.

“
Mr. J. C. D. McGuire is chairman of Confederated Trust. Are you accusing him of heading up this so-called union?”

“
We know he
does not
lead the union, but we also know he is a direct descendant of one of the families that plundered the South during Reconstruction and formed the union during Grant’s administration.” The congressman hesitated, and then gave a “what the hell” shrug. “We do believe J. C. D. McGuire is among the top echelon of the union.”

The resulting blast of shouted questions made the other eruptions seem mild. “Are you prepared for a slander suit?” someone shouted without recognition.

“
Is he prepared to explain the financial transfers listed in those binders?”

A barrage of questions followed, and then somebody actually tossed one of the binders at Sherman’s feet, and it skidded across the platform. He looked down at it and immediately marched out of the briefing room.

“
Damn it. Is that all he’s got?” Evarts said.

“
Maybe there’s something more in those binders,” Baldwin said hopefully.

“
I doubt it,” Harding said. “If there were, he would’ve beaten those assholes over the head with it.”

An anchor desk replaced the raucous briefing room, and the bespectacled woman opened by saying, “Congressman Sherman from Ohio just made the outrageous accusation that J. C. D. McGuire, a respected businessman and generous philanthropist, is involved with a secret group of drug runners that Congressman Sherman claims controls the Mexican Panther Party and their presidential candidate, José Garcia.”

Suddenly the televised picture split into four quadrants, with a face in each. The anchor, in the upper left window, introduced the three talking heads shown in the split screens and then said, “Let’s ask our panel if the House will censure Congressman Sherman and whether his career can recover from this embarrassing episode.”

Evarts turned the television to mute and asked Baldwin for the congressman’s cell number. As she got it from her purse, Harding picked up the remote and turned on English subtitles. From what Evarts could read, the panel assassinated the congressman politically.

“
Use my cell, not the landline,” Harding said.

Evarts nodded, knowing that if they monitored Sherman’s cell, a landline would be quicker to trace. The congressman answered in one ring. “Yes?”

“
Gregory Evarts.”

“
I’m busy.”

“
Goddamn it, this’ll only take a second. If that’s all you’ve got, I’m not going to allow Patricia Baldwin to expose herself.”

“
Are you sure that she’ll agree with that decision?”

“
What do mean?”

“
Your family shunned us. Patricia’s family has paid the ultimate price in this war. She may be differently motivated.”

“
Have you seen the way the news channels are playing your press conference?”

“
I would if I wasn’t talking to you. This is a three-act play. The climax always comes in the third act. Ask Patricia to release the William Evarts papers tomorrow.”

“
I’ve seen the documents. What possible corroboration can they provide?”

“
I won’t say any more on this telephone.”

“
Then good-bye. We’re outta here.”

“
Hold it. The William Evarts documents confirm the existence of the union in the late nineteenth century, and they also tie the current CEOs of all six corporations to that organization. Every last one of them is a direct descendant of an indictable figure in those dossiers.”

Chapter 50

Evarts described his conversation with the congressman and then asked Harding, “Is that enough? Will it swing the media over to our side? All we have are some questionable financial transfers to six corporations led by men whose ancestors plundered the South after the Civil War.”

“
Hard to tell,” he answered. “The congressman had a good strategy, but I think he underestimated the pack mentality of the press.” Harding looked at the still-muted television set. “I wish I could see one of those spiral-binders.” He nodded toward the press release he and Baldwin had been editing. “That’s an art form. A black art, perhaps, but an art form, nonetheless. I sure hope the congressman had a good spinmeister.”

“
I’m going to get one of those binders,” Evarts headed toward the door.

“
You mean right now?” Baldwin asked.

“
Yeah, right now. Before you become a media sensation, we need to know if this plan has a chance in hell.”

“
Greg, is this wise? They’ll put it on the Internet soon.”

He walked back toward Baldwin. “Sherman wants you to release your documents tomorrow. That means we need to make the decision tonight.”

“
I’ve already made—”

“
Wait. Don’t decide yet. I’ll use the subway. I can be back in less than two hours. Steve can give us his view of the evidence, and the evening talk shows will give us a better handle on how this’ll play out in the media.”

“
Greg, I’ve—” She stopped. After a moment, she smiled, leaned forward, and kissed his cheek. “Okay. Hurry but don’t take any chances.”

As Evarts walked to the subway, he called Congressman Sherman using Harding’s cell phone. He asked to have three of the binders left at the security desk of the Cannon Building. Sherman sounded relieved that he wouldn’t have to meet with Evarts and promised to have the binders ready for him. Not having to pass through building security and go up to the Congressman’s office would save Evarts at least half an hour.