By noon Friday, Barry Rinehart had propped1 up his poll numbers to the point where he felt confident enough to call Mr. Trudeau. Fisk was seven points ahead and seemed to have regained2 momentum3. Barry had no qualms4 about rounding the numbers up a bit to make the great man feel better. He'd been lying all week anyway. Mr. Trudeau would never know they had almost blown a sixteen-point lead.
"We're up by ten points," Barry said confidently from his hotel suite5.
"Then it's over?”
"I know of no election in which the front-runner has dropped ten points over the last weekend. And, with all the money we're spending on media, I think we're gaining.”
"Nice job, Barry," Carl said, and closed his phone.
As Wall Street waited for the news that Krane Chemical would file for bankruptcy6, Carl Trudeau purchased five million shares of the company's stock in a private transaction.
The seller was a fund manager who handled the retirement7 portfolio8 of the public employees of Minnesota. Carl had been stalking the stock for months, and the manager was finally convinced that Krane was hopeless. He dumped the stock for $ 11 a share and considered himself lucky.
Carl then launched a plan to purchase another five million shares as soon as the market opened. His identity as the buyer would not be disclosed until he filed with the SEC ten days later.
By then, of course, the election would be over.
In the year since the verdict, he had secretly and methodically increased his stake in the company. Using offshore9 trusts, Panamanian banks, two dummy10 corporations based in Singapore, and the expert advice of a Swiss banker, the Trudeau Group now owned 60 percent of Krane. The sudden grab for ten million more shares would raise Carl's ownership to 77 percent.
At 2:30 p.m. Friday, Krane issued a brief press release announcing that "a bankruptcy filing has been indefinitely postponed11.”
Barry Rinehart was not following the news on Wall Street. He had little interest in Krane Chemical and its financial dealings. There were at least three dozen important matters to monitor during the next seventy-two hours, and none could be overlooked.
However, after five days in the hotel suite, he needed to move.
With Tony driving, they left Jackson and went to Hattiesburg, where Barry got a quick tour of the important sights: the Forrest County Circuit Court building, where the verdict started it all, the semi-abandoned shopping center that the Paytons called their office, Kenny's Karate12 on one side and a whiskey store on the other-and a couple of neighborhoods where Ron Fisk yard signs outnumbered Sheila McCarthy's two to one.
They had dinner in a downtown restaurant called Front Street and at 7:00 p.m. parked outside Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of Southern Miss. They sat in the car for thirty minutes and watched the crowd arrive, in vans and converted school buses and fancy coaches, each one with the name of its church painted boldly along the sides. They were from Purvis, Poplarville, Lumberton, Bowmore, Collins, Mount Olive, Brooklyn, and Sand Hill.
"Some of those towns are an hour from here," Tony said with satisfaction.
The worshippers poured into the parking lots around the coliseum and hurried inside.
Many carried identical blue and white signs that said, "Save the Family.”
"Where did you get the signs?" Tony asked.
"Vietnam.”
"Vietnam?”
"Got 'em for a buck13 ten, fifty thousand total. The Chinese company wanted a buck thirty.”
"So nice to hear we're saving money.”
At 7:30, Rinehart and Zachary entered the coliseum and hustled14 up to the nosebleed seats, as far away as possible from the excited mob below. A stage was set up at one end, with huge "Save the Family" banners hanging behind it. A well-known white gospel quartet ($4,500 for the night, $15,000 for the weekend) was warming up the crowd. The floor was covered with neat rows of folding chairs, thousands of them, all filled with folks in a joyous15 mood.
"What's the seating capacity?" Barry asked.
"Eight thousand for basketball," Tony said glancing around the arena16. A few sections behind the stage were empty. "With the seats on the floor, I'd say we're close to nine thousand.”
Barry seemed satisfied.
The master of ceremonies was a local preacher who quieted the crowd with a long prayer, toward the end of which many of his people began waving their hands upward, as if reaching for heaven. There was a fair amount of mumbling18 and whispering as they prayed fervently19. Barry and Tony just watched, content in their prayerlessness.
The quartet fired them up with another song, then a black gospel group ($500 for the night) rocked the place with a rowdy rendition of "Born to Worship." The first speaker was Walter Utley, from the American Family Alliance in Washington, and when he assumed the podium, Tony recalled their first meeting ten months earlier when Ron Fisk made the rounds. It seemed like years ago. Utley was not a preacher, nor was he much of a speaker. He dulled the crowd with a frightening list of all the evils being proposed in Washington. He railed against the courts and politicians and a host of other bad people. When he finished, the crowd applauded and waved their signs.
More music. Another prayer. The star of the rally was David Wil-fong, a Christian20 activist21 with a knack22 for wedging himself into every high-profile dispute involving God. Twenty million people listened to his radio show every day. Many sent him money.
Many bought his books and tapes. He was an educated, ordained23 minister with a fiery24, frantic25 voice, and within five minutes he had the crowd jumping up in a standing26 ovation27. He condemned28 immorality29 on every front, but he saved his heavy stuff for gays and lesbians who wanted to get married. The crowd could not sit still or remain quiet. It was their chance to verbally express their opposition30, and to do so in a very public manner. After every third sentence, Wilfong had to wait for the applause to die down.
He was being paid $50,000 for the weekend, money that had originated months earlier from somewhere in the mysterious depths of the Trudeau Group. But no human could trace it.
Twenty minutes into his performance, Wilfong stopped for a special introduction.
When Ron and Doreen Fisk stepped onto the stage, the arena seemed to shake. Ron spoke31 for five minutes. He asked for their votes come Tuesday, and for their prayers. He and Doreen walked across the stage to a thunderous standing ovation. They waved and shook their fists in triumph, then walked to the other side of the stage as the mob stomped32 its feet.
Barry Rinehart managed to contain his amusement. Of all his creations, Ron Fisk was the most perfect.
Families were saved throughout south Mississippi the following day and into Sunday.
Utley and Wilfong drew huge crowds, and of course the crowds adored Ron and Doreen Fisk.
Those who chose not to take a church bus to a rally were bombarded with relentless33 advertising34 on television. And the mailman was always close by, hauling to the besieged35 homes yet more campaign propaganda.
While publicly the campaign raced on in a numbing36 frenzy37, a darker side came together over the weekend. Under Marlin's direction, a dozen operatives fanned out through the district and hooked up with old contacts. They visited rural supervisors38 on their farms, and black preachers in their churches, and county ward17 bosses in their hunting cabins. Voter registration39 rolls were reviewed. Numbers were agreed upon. Sacks of cash changed hands. The tariff40 was $25 per vote. Some called it "gas money," as if it could be justified41 as a legitimate42 expense.
The operatives were working for Ron Fisk, though he would never know of their activities.
Suspicions would be raised after the votes were counted, after Fisk received an astounding43 number of votes in black precincts, but Tony would assure him that it was simply a case of some wise people understanding the issues.
On November 4, two-thirds of those registered in the southern district cast their votes.
When the polls closed at 7:00 p.m., Sheila McCarthy drove straight to the Biloxi Riviera Casino, where her volunteers were preparing for a party. No reporters were allowed. The first results were somewhat satisfying. She carried Harrison County, her home, with 55 percent of the vote.
When Nat Lester saw this figure in Jackson, at the McCarthy headquarters, he knew they were dead. Fisk got almost half the votes in the most laid-back county in the district. It soon got much worse.
Ron and Doreen were eating pizza at the crowded campaign office in downtown Brookhaven.
The Lincoln County votes were being tallied44 just down the street, and when the news came that his neighbors had turned out in big numbers and given him 75 percent of the vote, the party began. In Pike County, next door, Fisk received 64 percent.
When Sheila lost Hancock County on the Coast, her night was over, as was her career on the supreme45 court. In one ten-minute span, she then lost Forrest County (Hattiesburg), Jones County (Laurel), and Adams County (Natchez).
All precincts were in by 11:00 p.m. Ron Fisk won easily with 53 percent of the vote.
Sheila McCarthy received 44 percent, and Clete Coley retained enough admirers to give him the remaining 3 percent. It was a solid thrashing, with Fisk losing only Harrison and Stone counties.
He even beat McCarthy in Cancer County, though not in the four precincts within the city limits of Bowmore. In the rural areas, though, where the Brotherhood46 ministers toiled47 in the fields, Ron Fisk took almost 80 percent of the vote.
Mary Grace wept when she saw the final numbers from Cary County: Fisk, 2,238; McCarthy, 1,870; Coley, 55.
The only good news was that Judge Thomas Harrison had survived, but barely.
The dust settled in the week that followed. In several interviews, Sheila McCarthy presented the face of a graceful48 loser. She did, however, say, "It will be interesting to see how much money Mr. Fisk raised and spent.”
Justice Jimmy McElwayne was less gracious. In several articles, he was quoted as saying, "I'm not too keen to serve with a man who paid three million for a seat on the court.”
When the reports were filed, though, three million looked rather cheap. The Fisk campaign reported total receipts of $4.1 million, with a staggering $2.9 million collected in the thirty-one days of October. Ninety-one percent of this money flooded in from out of state. The report did not list any contributions from or expenses paid to such groups as Lawsuit49 Victims for Truth, Victims Rising, and GUN. Ron Fisk signed the report, as required by law, but had many questions about the financing.
He pressed Tony for answers about his fund-raising methods, and when the answers were vague, they exchanged heated words. Fisk accused him of hiding money and of taking advantage of his inexperience.
Tony responded hotly that Fisk had been promised unlimited50 funds, and it wasn't fair to complain after the fact. "You should be thanking me, not bitching about the money,” he yelled during a long, contentious51 meeting.
Soon, though, they would be attacked by reporters and forced to present a united front.
The McCarthy campaign raised $1.9 million and spent every penny of it. The $500,000 note produced by Willy Benton and signed by twelve of the MTA directors would take years to satisfy.
Once the final numbers were available, a storm erupted in the media. A team of investigative journalists with the Clarion-Ledger went after Tony Zachary, Judicial52 Vision, Ron Fisk, and many of the out-of-state donors53 who'd sent $5,000 checks. The business groups and the trial lawyers exchanged heated words through the various newspaper stories. Editorials raged about the need for reform. The secretary of state pursued Lawsuit Victims for Truth, Victims Rising, and GUN for such details as the names of members and total amounts spent on advertising.
But the inquiries54 were met with stiff resistance by Washington lawyers with wide experience in election issues.
Barry Rinehart watched it from the safety of his splendid office in Boca Raton. Such postgame antics were the rule, not the exception. The losers always squawked about the lack of fairness. In a couple of months, Justice Fisk would be on the big bench and most folks would forget the campaign that put him there.
Barry was moving on, negotiating with other clients. An appellate judge in Illinois had been ruling against the insurance industry for many years, and it was time to take him out. But they were haggling55 over Barry's fees, which had jumped dramatically after the Fisk victory.
Of the $8 million funneled56 through various routes by Carl Trudeau to Barry and his related "units," almost $7 million was still intact, still hidden.
Thank God for democracy, Barry said to himself many times a day. "Let the people vote!”
收听单词发音 |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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offshore
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| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
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dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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karate
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| n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术) | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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hustled
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| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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activist
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| n.活动分子，积极分子 | |
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knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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ovation
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| n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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stomped
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| v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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numbing
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| adj.使麻木的，使失去感觉的v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的现在分词 ) | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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supervisors
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| n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 ) | |
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registration
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| n.登记，注册，挂号 | |
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tariff
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| n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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44
tallied
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| v.计算，清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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45
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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47
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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48
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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51
contentious
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| adj.好辩的，善争吵的 | |
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52
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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53
donors
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| n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者 | |
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54
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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55
haggling
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| v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 ) | |
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funneled
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| 漏斗状的 | |
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