George Chesbro - Two Songs This Archangel Sings

After some exchanging of startled glances, there was a hurried conference, with the microphones shut off. Finally, the microphones were switched back on.

"How did you come by this document, Dr. Frederickson?" Lefferton asked.

"It was left in my room at the YMCA last night."

"You've seen Veil Kendry?"

"No. The letter was in an envelope on the table next to my bed when I woke up this morning. It's from Veil; I recognize the signature."

"Uh, didn't you lock your room?"

"Sure. Veil Kendry's a very sneaky fellow, when he wants-or has-to be."

Suddenly the senators and the marshal seemed decidedly nervous; the senators looked at each other, while the marshal stiffened and squinted into the darkness of the balcony and at the rear of the hall. The marshal unsnapped the flap over his holster, put his hand on the butt of his gun.

Fred Mares, the senator from Michigan, turned in his chair. "Marshal, are the doors to this meeting hall locked, as directed?"

"Yes, sir," the marshal replied with a firm nod. "I locked them all myself, and checked them again just a few minutes before you all arrived."

John Lefferton turned his attention back to me. "Dr. Frederickson, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we can't permit you to finish reading a statement that is not your own. We've heard-and suffered-quite enough from Mr. Kendry, in absentia. If he has more to say, he should be here. This hearing is being held as a courtesy to you and your brother, but we will not allow a killer at large to dictate what this committee will or will not hear."

"Suit yourself," I said as I shrugged and dropped the paper on the table in front of me.

"Pardon me?"

"I said, suit yourself, Senator. If you don't want to hear Veil's statement, I won't read it."

Arlen Smith, the senior senator from Texas, leaned his rail-thin frame forward on the table and looked down at Garth. "Lieutenant, is there anything you wish to say to this committee?"

"My brother speaks for both of us," Garth said in a flat voice, without looking up. He hadn't even bothered to turn on his microphone.

"What is it that you wish to say to this committee, Dr. Frederickson?"

"Nothing."

"I don't understand. Why are you here?"

"I came to read the statement Veil Kendry wanted read, Senator, and-originally-to bear witness to the events he describes. When he wrote this, he couldn't have known what a waste of time this hearing would be. Well, I'm not about to waste my time with you. The fact that Senator Wyndham has been excluded from this little gathering tells me who you are; you're all original members of the committee that heard details of, and passed on, Operation Archangel. Of active members of government involved in the plan, the only person missing here is Kevin Shannon. This has got to be the ultimate in ad hoc committees, and I say you can all go to hell."

That produced some startled glances, a few flushed faces, and another hurried, whispered conference.

"Dr. Frederickson," Lefferton said, "we must caution you to maintain an attitude of respect here. Otherwise, you will be held in contempt."

"Suit yourselves."

"How did you first become involved with Veil Kendry in this matter?"

"It's all explained in Veil's statement. Do you want to hear the rest of it?"

"No, sir, we do not. We want you to answer the question."

"Veil's my friend."

"That's not an answer."

"You know the answer, Senator; you've all been briefed."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're United States senators, from both parties, and you wouldn't have agreed so quickly to what amounts to a most unusual procedure unless Kevin Shannon told you a few things. You may not know the whole Archangel story, or all of what that man sitting to your right has done, but you've been told enough to become convinced that a great deal is at stake here."

Lefferton cleared his throat. "We'd like to hear your version of events."

"No. I pass, Senator. What you want is for me to make certain statements on record, so that you can shoot me down later. Expect to hear from me again in five years or so-or however long it takes me to find the proof to back up what I have to say. When I do put it together, you'll be able to read all about it in the newspapers-along with an account of this hearing."

"Ah," Smith, the senator from Texas, said as he leaned forward and peered down at the stenographer, whose fingers were flying over her keyboard. "Are you telling the committee that you have no proof of the allegations you came here prepared to make against Secretary Madison?"

"I had proof, Senator. What I strongly suspect you weren't told at your presidential briefing is that Kevin Shannon, through his aides, has either destroyed or confiscated all of my evidence. In fact, I.R.S. investigation or not, all of it has probably been destroyed by now."

"That's an outrageous accusation, Dr. Frederickson," John Lefferton said in his most reproving tone of voice.

"Yeah? Well, I thought snatching and destroying the evidence was pretty outrageous."

"Dr. Frederickson-"

"My brother and I would like to be excused, Senator. We have nothing further to say at this time."

"You may not be excused, Frederickson! And if you try to leave before you are excused, the two of you will find yourselves escorted directly to jail for contempt of Congress!"

"You do what you want, Senator."

"Do you know where Veil Kendry is?"

"It looks like he's in Washington, doesn't it?"

"Do you know where in Washington? Do you know where he is staying?"

"No."

"When did Secretary Madison's name first become linked in your mind with the events under review?"

"When I read it in the newspapers."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Are you trying to have fun at the expense of this committee?"

"I wouldn't think of it, Senator."

"You're saying that before you read Secretary Madison's name in the newspapers, you had no indication of any wrongdoing on his part?"

"You've got it."

Lefferton, allowing himself a small self-congratulatory smile, removed his bifocals and cleaned them with a linen handkerchief. "That's really quite an incredible admission, Dr. Frederickson," he said at last.

"I'm glad I'm holding your interest."

"Now, you say that we may hear from you in five years or so, and at that time you may have some kind of incriminating evidence against Secretary Madison. Would you be so kind as to share with this committee how you plan to gather this proof? Will you be reading more newspapers?"

I waited for the laughter on the dais to die down, said, "For openers, I plan to kind of go into the art business."

"What does that mean?"

"The man sitting to your right is a murderer-"

"Dr. Frederickson!" Arlen Smith shouted, pounding his fist on the table. "How dare you make such a statement without anything whatsoever to back you up?!"

"Come off it, Senator," I said wearily. "You love it; the whole purpose of this hearing is to get me to make statements like I just did, so that you can make comments like you just did. It looks great in a transcript. You asked me a question, and I'm trying to answer you. I happen to know that Orville Madison is responsible for the murders of thirteen people. That may never be proved, but what can be proved-with time-is that Madison is a liar when he says he's never heard of Veil Kendry. Once that link is established, other bits and pieces of evidence may well surface. You see, when you passed on Operation Archangel, Madison never told you who Archangel, the centerpiece of the plan, was. Veil Kendry was Archangel."

The aide sitting on Madison's right tapped his microphone with the tip of his pen. "That's preposterous, Frederickson."