‘Dear Ms Theresa Wade,’ I emailed again to the campaign’s website. ‘Thank you for responding to my previous inquiry. I’m confident that you and your brother know much about John Shea, Willard Piser, and Gary “Red” Halvorson. Let’s meet before the story appears in the television news.’
I hit ‘Send’ and fired my note into cyberspace, hoping it was a rocket and not another dud.
My phone rang two hours later.
‘Mr Elstrom?’ a pleasant voice asked. It was a voice I’d heard on television.
I admitted it.
‘This is Tim Wade. You wrote the magic words.’
‘Shea, Piser and Halvorson?’
‘No.’ He laughed. ‘“Television news.” Those are magic words, especially to my sister.’
‘You’re avoiding the media.’
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘How about stopping by for a drink?’