“Julie, what a pleasant surprise. And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Minna Cancienne sat smiling at her desk in the plushly appointed greeting room outside of Joe T. Evangeline's office. Julie Galjour, sliding into a chair, smiled back, attempting her most dispassionate face.
Julie knew for a fact that the Guv was way up in northwestern Louisiana attending the opening of an economic-development zone in some impoverished timber backwater. His presence there had been briefed in the back pages of the Morning Advocate, and Julie had seized the opportunity to visit Minna. She wondered, though, how long she would be able to keep up her dispassionate act, given the nature of her mission.
“Minna, it's great to see you, too,” Julie replied. “And I wanted to thank you again for, uh, brokering that lunch with Governor Evangeline. It, uh—”
“Julie, you don't need to thank me. I must say the governor came back in a rare mood. I gather it went well?”
“Yes, I suppose it did.”
Minna arched her eyebrows. “You don't sound too sure.”
“Oh, no, it's not that. It's …” She fell quiet and looked down into her lap, wondering just what to say. She'd tried to rehearse some reasonable line of questioning that would not be so transparent as to give herself completely away. But Minna's solicitousness had weakened her defenses.
Minna picked up on her distress instantly. “Julie, is there something wrong?”
Julie looked up, gathering her thoughts. “Minna, I'm not sure. Can we speak in utter confidence?”
“Why, of course.”
“Have you heard anything about Governor Evangeline that would, well— how should I say this?—put him in an unfavorable light? Rumors, grapevine stuff ? Anything like that?”
“You mean, rumors of political scandal, et cetera? Why, those things have been crackling around the governor during the entire time I've worked for him. They're the favorite sport of a certain kind of political animal and political reporter in this state. I didn't think you traded in rumors.”
Julie shook her head. “No, I don't, not normally. I hate to even be asking, but something has come up—something potentially terrible—and I need to know whether it's true.”
Minna became alarmed. “Come up? In what way?”
“Oh, Minna, this is awful. But I've been presented with a document that purports to show that the governor accepted a bribe—a fairly large bribe— from an oil-company big shot. It's—”
Minna interrupted. “Would his name be Huff ?”
Julie was startled. “Why, yes, how do you know?”
“Educated guess. He's a blowhard oilman down in Chacahoula Parish running the Big Tex operation, right?”
Julie nodded.
“Well, for the record, the governor hates his guts.”
“He does?”
“Yes, he considers him a loudmouthed, self-absorbed twit.”
“Well, I guess that's comforting. But it still doesn't resolve my dilemma.”
“So, this document, was it leaked to you by some jealous enemy of the governor?”
“No, that's the problem. It came to me from someone who cares about me and certainly is no enemy of the governor. It was someone who worried that I might, well, be blindsided if it leaked out.”
“I see. And does this document say what Huff got for his money?”
“No, that's the thing. It doesn't. Trust me, I'm hoping with all my heart that this is all some horrible misunderstanding. But you can see why I need to know.”
Minna nodded. “Julie, of course. And as you may know, I'm not a knee-jerk apologist for the governor. But I don't believe Governor Evangeline is a crook.”
“No, of course not. Nor do I—well, I don't want to believe such a thing. But I have to say, Minna, I'm very concerned. And that's why I came. I thought maybe you could help me sort it out.”
Minna leaned back in her chair and took off her glasses, letting them dangle from a long gold neck chain. She rubbed her temples and looked intensely at Julie. “Okay, yes, there are the obvious rumors that there was some funny stuff involving the rig-tax settlement—I'm sure you've read the political gossip in the papers. But I don't buy it. I know for a fact, because I was in on some of the meetings, that the governor had come to his decision to settle the suit long before these rumors began. And Julie, get this. Most of the complaints after the settlement have come from the oil industry, for goodness’ sakes. So, why would an oil executive pay a bribe for a plan that the industry thought was too tough? And why would the governor take a bribe for doing what he already intended to do? It doesn't add up.”
“I don't know,” Julie said. “Maybe he needed the money?”
“How much money are we talking about?”
“Well, here's the other odd thing. It's a strange amount—$286,697, to be precise. I've gone over the document so many times, I've memorized it.”
“Hmm. That's fishy, Julie. Had you told me it was $10 million, I might be worried. And why that number? Why not $275,000 or $300,000? A good round number that makes sense?”
“Honestly, that was my reaction as well. But let me ask you. Does the governor have any debts in that amount? A mortgage?”
“Not one on the books. He has a house back in Ville Pierre and a parcel of land outside of town, and both are mortgage-free. I know because I looked it up in the financial disclosure form he has to file with the state.”
“Okay, don't be angry with me for pressing this, but what about gambling debts? By reputation the governor has been known to spend time at the blackjack table.”
“True, he likes to gamble and this amount conceivably could be a secret gambling debt. But, if so, why not just cut a deal with the casinos? They'd love to have the governor beholden to their greedy little interests. They could just wipe out the debt without anyone really knowing. They wouldn't have to send cash.”
Julie sighed. “All very true, Minna. But it's speculation, not an answer. I need an answer because, well …” She looked down, staring into her lap again. “Maybe it's harsh of me, but if he's done such a thing, I could never face him again. I couldn't bear to even be in the same room.”
Minna nodded grimly. “It's not harsh. It would leave me in an awful spot, too.”
Another silence followed, then Julie spoke again. “Has the governor ever seemed to be on the verge of, uh, confessing something to you?”
“No, not precisely. But I would say I've picked up a sense that something has him preoccupied. But it could be a lot of things.”
Julie nodded. “Well, interesting, because at our lunch he seemed like he was about to confess something—well, maybe confess is the wrong word. But there clearly seemed something he wanted to tell me, but then brushed it off as trivial.”
“Hmm,” Minna mused. “You know, I think there is something going on that may have to do with his brother, Jimmy T. There was an unusual flurry of phone calls a while back, and more recently some talk of some kind of real estate transaction involving one or both of them.”
“Real estate?”
“Julie, how much has the governor told you about his brother?”
“Almost nothing. He talked about his family briefly at lunch and seemed to be poking affectionate fun at his brother. The impression I got is that they are close but maybe there are issues?”
“That's putting it mildly,” Minna replied. “Jimmy T. is in the real estate business, but between us chickens, he's a businessman like I'm an opera singer. He's the nicest fellow in the world—I've met him a time or two. But he's a recovering alcoholic with a long list of maladies, physical and emotional. He went through a wrenching divorce a couple of years ago. The governor essentially set him up in the business, which trades entirely off the Evangeline name—meaning, of course, the governor's name—because frankly, Jimmy T. has never been able to hold a real job.”
“Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear all that. But what could his brother possibly have to do with this bribe allegation?”
Minna looked at Julie and suddenly found herself burying her head in her hands. “Oh, my God, Julie—I'm so dense! Look, I overheard parts of a spirited quarrel over the phone not long ago. Clearly some large amount of money had gone missing, and Governor Evangeline was berating Jimmy T. about his part in it. There was also something about a safe-deposit box, but none of it really registered back then. I assumed it was about real estate proceeds. But now—who knows?”
Julie took this in, uncertain what to think. “Well, Minna, that's interesting. But some involvement by the governor's brother in this doesn't necessarily absolve the governor.”
“No, of course not, but I have a hunch that Jimmy T. is our best shot for solving this mystery. Are you willing to do a little gumshoe work?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“Good. I'll give you his address and a phone number. But I wouldn't call unless you get lost going there. I'd go see him in person. I think surprise is the best option.”
Minna turned toward her PC, punched up an address in Outlook, and hit the print button. A sheet of paper whirred from the printer on her desk, and she handed it to Julie.
“I hope this leads to something,” said Minna, “for all of our sakes.”