Dreyfus cleared his throat, took a sip of water, and ran a hand over his shock of slightly shaggy, brown hair. Then he faced the reporters who had gathered in the lobby outside of his office. The steady murmur of conversation died down as they waited for him to speak.
“It’s good to see you all here today,” he said. “I appreciate you turning out. I’ll keep this brief, because there’s no big reveal coming, I think. Many of you speculated openly that when I stepped down as chief of police last year, my intention was to run for mayor. Today, I’m just here to confirm that.
“The financial assets and affairs of this city, frankly, have been badly mismanaged, and it’s going to take a steady hand and a lot of hard work to get us back to where we need to be. I’ve served San Francisco proudly for all of my adult life. As chief of police, I made our force leaner and more responsive, more effective than it has ever been. I can do the same for this city and this county. If the citizens of this community see fit to give me the opportunity, I will do so.”
He smiled. “That’s it,” he said. “Brief, as I promised. But I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have.”
Hands shot up.
“Rick,” he said.
“You’re aware of the so-called ‘Monkeygate’ affair, Chief Dreyfus?”
“It’s just ‘Mr. Dreyfus’ at the moment, Rick. But sure, it’s hard not to be aware of it, given the media—if you’ll forgive me—circus surrounding the events that occurred.”
That drew a few chuckles.
“In a statement three days ago,” the reporter continued, “Mayor House cited the incident on the Golden Gate Bridge as a failure of your ‘leaner’ police force, and claimed that the late Chief Hamil of the San Bruno Police Department was a casualty of your policies.”
“We’re all sorry for the loss of Chief Hamil,” Dreyfus said. “My heart goes out to his family. But he died out of his jurisdiction, in a helicopter accident. What he was even doing in San Francisco is entirely unclear. I don’t see how that had anything to do with the relative strength of the police force I put together. And Rick, you were being polite—Mayor House said I ‘crippled’ the SFPD. But if that’s true, why did crime drop in every year of my administration? How was it that we put away three major crime lords?
“And as far as the present state of the force goes, it’s been more than a year since I left the post. Chief Burston is a fine golfer, I know, and he frequently golfs with the mayor. As far as I can tell, however, that’s his only qualification for the post. It seems to me that Mayor House is poisoning the well. He’s trying to make you believe that our force is inadequate in order to justify his use of outside contractors to address the so-called ‘monkey problem’ instead of using local law enforcement.
“I respectfully disagree with him.”
The gathering exploded when he said that, members of the press crowding closer to his podium.
“Sonja,” he said, nodding in the direction of another reporter.
“What contractors would those be?” she asked. “And what is your evidence to support this claim?”
“Well, I may not be chief of police anymore,” he said, “but I’m not totally out of the loop. The name of the contractor is Anvil. My staff has prepared a brief for each of you on this matter, which you will be given as you leave. I think you’ll find more questions are raised about this incident every day. Why contractors, and why has the mayor’s office been so quiet about it? There was ineptitude, that’s true, but I won’t let the brave men and women who protect our streets be the whipping boys in this matter.”
“Mr. Matthews.” He pointed at another reporter. Matthews was a distinctly young man with reddish hair and a serious expression.
“Sir,” he said, “what—if anything—can you tell us about the virus?”
“Well it’s hard to tell yet,” Dreyfus replied, choosing his words carefully. “There’s so much we don’t know about it.”
“The CDC estimates that thousands are infected in San Francisco alone,” Matthews persisted.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t a serious matter,” Dreyfus said. “But it would be irresponsible of me at this point to say or do anything other than what the CDC recommends. Avoid social contact when possible, wash and bathe frequently, and above all let’s not have a panic. Misinformation and fear have killed more people in situations like this than disease itself.”
Before Matthews could continue, he motioned to yet another reporter. But she carried on the topic.
“The mayor has suggested the possibility of quarantines,” she said. “Do you think this a good idea?”
“So far only a handful of people have died,” Dreyfus replied. “As tragic as any loss is, I must again caution any politician—or the media, and that means you folks—against provoking hysteria. In my view, by calling for military-style quarantines, the mayor runs the danger of doing exactly that.”
“But, sir,” Matthews shouted, “everyone who gets this thing dies. We may be looking at thousands dead in the next few days.”
“Son, I know you’re concerned about this,” Dreyfus said. “We all are. But unlike some, I’m not comfortable commenting on a matter this fraught with peril while speaking from a position of limited facts. There are experts in these matters. I am not one of them. Neither is Mayor House. I’ve really exhausted all I have to say on this for the time being, so please—I’m sure there are other things that interest you. There, Assam?”
“Yes,” Assam replied. “Regarding your position on the SPLOST last year, I wonder if you would maintain that stance if elected, and employ such a tax.”
Dreyfus nodded, happy to be off on another topic.
* * *
“Hey, Daniel,” Dreyfus said. “Glad you could drop by.”
Daniel Ngyun was in his late thirties, but retained a lot of boyish charm. He was physically trim, wore suits with colorful shirts and ties, and had a pleasant voice. He was also one of the youngest presidents ever elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Dreyfus rose to shake his hand, then pointed him toward a seat.
“Well,” Ngyun said, “I thought you dropped the bomb about Anvil very nicely.”
“I’m really in your debt for that bit of information, Daniel,” Dreyfus said. “You could have let the press have that yourself. Some say you were considering a run.”
“I might have, if I thought I had a chance to beat you in the primary.” Ngyun smiled. “But we both know I don’t. All we might manage to do is sabotage one another, enabling House to stay in. Anyway, this is my first term as president of the board, and I kind of like the job. In a few years you may be looking over your shoulder at me, but for now, I hope you beat the bastard. Life will be easier for me without him.”
“Just out of curiosity, do you know why he’s using these Anvil guys?”
“I wish I did,” Ngyun said. “It makes me nervous. Everybody on that side of the building is barking at flies, and I’m being kept out of the loop as much as possible.”
“Well,” Dreyfus said, “if I win, that won’t be the case, I can promise you that.”
“I look forward to it,” Ngyun said. “And by the way, if I was in your shoes, I would back off on the whole Hamil thing. You and I both know he was a dufus, but he was a chief of police—albeit not ours—and he died trying to defend San Francisco. Sort of.”
“I thought his chopper crashed just after takeoff.”
“Yeah,” Ngyun said. “That’s the story they put out. But I’ve heard something different.”
Dreyfus leaned forward, one eyebrow rising.
“Oh, yes? Tell me more.”
“A couple of witnesses early on claimed the chopper was at the bridge, and that it was brought down by a gorilla.”
“What witnesses?” Dreyfus asked.
“Well, that’s the thing—no one is claiming it, not anymore. We can’t turn up a single reliable witness.”
“That makes no sense,” Dreyfus said. “It would make him look more like a hero, not less. House could probably use that to his own advantage.”
“Yeah,” Ngyun agreed. “At this point it’s just a rumor.” He stood and held out a hand. “Good seeing you,” he said. “But I’ve got to go—I’ve got another meeting.”
Dreyfus stood up and walked around his desk to shake hands.
“Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome. And good luck.”
* * *
“This virus is the biggest unknown in the race,” Adam Patel said. It was an hour later, and they were having gin and tonics in Dreyfus’s office. Patel was his aide, an intensely competent man with clipped black hair and an English West Country accent.
“This could be House’s 9/11, his Hurricane Sandy,” Patel continued. “If he handles it well, his numbers could jump through the roof. Or it could sink him. Either way, since you don’t currently hold public office, you’re kind of out that equation. There isn’t much you can do to seem mayoral. You can’t benefit from it much, but you also won’t be burned by it.”
“I’m not inclined to think of thousands of people dying as ‘benefiting’ me,” Dreyfus replied, dryly.
“You know what I mean.”
“I guess.” He paused, then continued. “Is what that kid said true? About the survival rate?”
“Yeah,” Patel admitted. “Worldwide, there’s about fifty dead, ten here in San Francisco. But so far every single person diagnosed with this thing has died. Young, old, male, female, black, white, Latino, Asian.”
“Sure, but the only people who get diagnosed are the ones who get so sick they seek help, or pass out or whatever, right? So the sample may be skewed. There might be plenty of people it hardly affects at all.”
“Maybe,” Patel said. “But the crazies on TV—the pundits, the preachers, the conspiracy theorists—they’ve got this now, and they’re going nuts with it.”
“Yeah. I’m afraid there will be a panic,” Dreyfus said. “If the only thing I can do is what I just did—try to stand in the way of that, publicly—then maybe that’s what I should do.”
“You did just fine today.”
“No, I mean it’s time to get me on some of these shows. I want to be out front on this.”
“Too risky,” Patel said. “I don’t advise it.” But Dreyfus shook his head.
“There’s going to be a panic,” he said. “People will remember me as a voice of reason. And if I’m wrong, and this all goes away—people won’t remember I had anything to say about it at all.
“Call the shows. Get me booked. Now.”
“Okay, boss,” Patel relented. “Whatever you say.”
“Another thing. I want a private investigation of this whole Monkeygate thing. I want to know why people on the force, guys who used to trust me, are so skittish of talking about this whole thing. Even Troy is sitting on something—I know when that sonofabitch is lying to me. And now this business about Hamil… Something stinks here, and it smells like a cover-up. I want to know what House is hiding, because I promise you, if we find out what it is, we can take him apart. I feel it in my gut.”