Postage Due -Long Listed ONC2022

Chapter 6

Lawrence Grainger sat slumped, face ghostly white, after hearing the news from his strategist and seeing the material presented. What had begun as a genuine attempt to prevent a harmful bill from passing in the house had transformed into some Kafkaesque nightmare.

"We need to act on this, Lawrence," Rod stated anxiously. "We can threaten to bring the entire government down if they don't accept your proposal to halt the bill."

"Are you mad? Bring the government down? You think there wouldn't be fallout over something as irresponsible as that? We'd all be tarred with the same brush."

"Excuse me, sir," Warren said. "Couldn't you affect a quiet compromise . . . privately?"

"That might have been an option, Mr. Daly, but we are also faced with a murder. There is no compromise for that."

"But if it was someone on their side that committed the murder, maybe they could agree to sacrifice the killer for a face-saving deal."

Lawrence looked at Warren and then Rod, with a pained expression.

"Mr. Daly edits a lot of crime novels for a publishing house." Lynne offered as an excuse for Warren's enthusiasm for drama. "It's how this all came about in the first place."

"All fiction is based on someone's reality, Lynne." He snapped.

The group fell silent, turning over Warren's logic.

"That has a smattering of merit, Lawrence," Rod spoke up. "With a little tweaking we might find a way out of this for all of us."

"How do you propose to tweak a murder?"

"Excuse me, sir." Barely restrained, Lawrence turned and stared at Warren. "There might be something on the audio tape that could be helpful – or at the very least prevent you stepping into something nasty."

"Other than what I'm standing in already?"

"He's right. Let me find a cassette player." Rod shot out of his chair and out of the office.

The remaining trio puffed cheeks, sighed and looked about the room, avoiding eye contact, lest they be obliged to say something. The wait was interminable. At last the door flew open and Rod skidded into his chair, plopping an old Sony Walkman on the desk and digging the tape out of the shopping bag.

"There's only one set of headphones, so I think I should do the first assessment." Rod didn't wait for any arguments, stuffing the plugs in his ears and pushing play. He listened intently, his mouth changing shape occasionally, accompanied by some eye widening and head shaking. After a few minutes, he stopped the player and pulled the headphones off.

"This had to be secretly recorded because the sound is in and out. It was hidden in one spot and only picked up what came close."

"I doubt how it was done is pertinent, what does it say?" Lawrence squeezed his hand into a fist.

"Names. Several names, and all recognizable. Also a lot of X-rated comments and joking. Lawrence, this is Bradford's caucus, or most of them!"

"What about the killing? Did you hear anything about that?"

"Not a word, not a hint. But then it didn't happen at this affair. This isn't from the Shropshire meeting, Lawrence, it's much earlier."

"It's what that dead guy thought he was sending to you, sir. Even though he took part, he must have thought, what they were planning was a step too far even for him." Warren said.

"Lawrence, one word about this to Bradford and he'll pull that bill faster than the roadrunner."

"But there's still the killing."