Chapter 11: Blackmail in Little Rock

Mistress Jennings woke me at ten o'clock, saying that she was about to call her husband. By now, I was feeling much more myself. I even started humming to myself as I got dressed. When I went downstairs, I found Goodman Jennings was somewhat bleary eyed. However, he brightened up after a sumptuous breakfast.

I asked him, "What can you tell me about this person who is blackmailing you?"

"His name is Frederick McCarthy. I think he is a relative of that Joseph McCarthy who instituted those witch-hunts against the Polish in the last century. This one is a man of much lesser ability and he is a bully. He rides roughshod over his victims, of which I know several. He knows that we are or were friends of the Governor-General and his family."

"What form does his blackmail take?"

"He knows of our friendship with the Clintons and suggests that there have been improprieties in both our business dealings and in our private lives. He extorted money and political support out of me by suggesting that he would go public with his accusations. I couldn't let that happen to my friend, and especially not to my wife."

"Your letter to the Governor-General indicated that he had the Talent and was stopping you from telling anyone?"

"That's right, but as I seem to be capable of telling you, perhaps he is not as talented as he thinks he is. Can you help us?"

"Probably. Who is he and how can I meet him so that it seems an accidental meeting?"

"He is in the construction business, and is not easy to meet as though by chance. There is one possibility, though. It seems that he has political ambitions, and there are rumors that he is running for local government. You could go to one of his election meetings. I believe there is one on for tomorrow evening.

And so it proved. Goodman McCarthy was standing as an independent in the county elections. His public meeting was well attended and I was able to make myself relatively inconspicuous. He was the sort of man who was always thumping the fist of one hand into the open palm of the other. After a while I managed to contact his mind in a listen-only mode. His thoughts were illuminating if not very charitable.

It was obvious that his victims were in the front rows of his audience. His gaze kept going to them. This prompted them to lead the applause as he made his points. I could sense that their behavior satisfied him at the same time as he despised his victims. I could also sense that he believed in his Talent, but that it was nowhere near as strong as he thought. It was also clear that he had either not heard of the Three-fold Law or was blatantly ignoring it. He was going to deserve all the attention that I could give him.

Leaving the mind of Goodman McCarthy, I scanned his victims. I managed to identify five of them, thinking that, with Goodman Jennings help, I would conscript them into my campaign against Goodman McCarthy.

When I returned to the Jennings home, I asked Bruce about the other victims of Goodman McCarthy.

Goodman Eric Lipton ran a small chain of hardware stores in the Little Rock area. He was generally well liked, but in recent months had gained something of a reputation for being slow to deliver to construction projects other than those being built by Goodman McCarthy's company.

Goodman Alan Roche kept one of the better French Restaurants in Little Rock. It was renowned for its calm and peaceful atmosphere. Rowdy behavior resulted in the culprits being asked to leave. Recently, the dinner parties of Goodman McCarthy had been raucous and wild.

Goodman George Sears had been trained as a healer. However, he had become a successful stock broker, but of late he seemed to be dealing a lot less. There had been a serious loss in his client base.

There were also two others, but Goodman Jennings knew them only slightly. I decided, therefore, to concentrate on these three. To make a start, we thought to go out to dinner at the Bravo Nuevo, Goodman Roche's establishment. Mistress Jennings said that she was all in favor of this sort of investigation. Goodman Jennings smiled; the first smile I had seen on his face since I had known him.