Jeffrey Archer - Sons of Fortune

Once again, the stacks were counted and recounted, before being checked and double checked. This resulted in the discovery that three piles contained 101 votes, while another had only ninety-eight. The chief clerk did not confirm the result until he was sure that the calculators and the hand count were in unison. Then he once again passed a piece of paper to the mayor with two new figures for him to announce.

The mayor read out the revised result of 3,021 for Cartwright to 2,905 for Davenport, which cut the Democrat’s overall lead to two votes.

Tom immediately requested a further recount, although he knew he was no longer entitled to do so. He suspected that as Fletcher’s majority had fallen, the mayor would find it difficult to turn down his request. He crossed his fingers as the chief clerk briefed the mayor. Whatever it was that the chief clerk had advised, the Mayor simply nodded, and then made his way back to the microphone.

‘I shall allow one further recount,’ he announced, ‘but should the Democrats retain an overall majority for a third time, however small, I shall declare Fletcher Davenport to be the new governor of Connecticut.’ This was greeted by cheers from Fletcher’s supporters, and a nod of acquiescence from Nat as the counting procedure cranked back into action.

Forty minutes later, the piles were all confirmed as being correct, and the battle looked to be finally over, until someone noticed one of Nat’s observers had his hand held high in the air. The mayor walked slowly across to join him, with the chief clerk only a pace behind and enquired what the query was. The observer pointed to a pile of one hundred votes on the Davenport side of the table, and claimed that one of the votes should have been credited to Cartwright.

‘Well, there’s only one way of finding out,’ said the mayor as he began to turn the ballots over, with the crowd chanting in the unison, one, two, three...’

Nat felt embarrassed and muttered to Su Ling, ‘He’d better be right.’

‘Twenty-seven, twenty-eight...’ Fletcher said nothing as Jimmy joined in the counting.

‘Thirty-nine, forty, forty-one...’ And suddenly there was a hush; the observer had been correct, because the forty-second ballot had a cross against Cartwright’s name. The mayor, the chief clerk, Tom and Jimmy all checked the offending ballot and agreed that a mistake had been made, and therefore the overall result was a tie. Tom was surprised by Nat’s immediate response.

‘I wonder how Dr Renwick voted.’

‘I think you’ll find he abstained,’ whispered Tom.

The mayor was looking exhausted, and agreed with his chief of staff that they should call for a recess, to allow the counters and any other officials to take an hour’s break, before the next recount at two o’clock. The mayor invited Fletcher and Nat to join him for lunch, but both candidates politely declined, having no intention of leaving the hall or even straying more than a few feet from the centre table, where the votes were stacked up.

‘But what happens if it remains a tie?’ Nat heard the mayor ask the chief clerk as they made their way towards the exit. As he didn’t hear the reply, he asked Tom the same question. His chief of staff already had his head buried in the Connecticut State Elections Manual.

Su Ling did slip out of the hall and walked slowly down the corridor, remaining just a few paces behind the mayor’s party. When she spotted LIBRARY printed in gold letters on an oak door, she came to a halt. She was pleased to find the door unlocked and stepped quickly inside. Su Ling took a seat behind one of the large bookcases, leaned back and tried to relax for the first time that day.

‘You too,’ said a voice.

Su ling looked up to see Annie sitting in the opposite corner. She smiled. ‘The choice was another hour in that hall or...’

‘... or lunch with the mayor, and further epistles of the apostle Paul on the virtues of Madison.’ They both laughed.

‘I only wish it had all been decided last night,’ said Su Ling. ‘Now one of them is bound to spend the rest of his life wondering if he should have canvassed another shopping mall...’

‘I don’t think there was another shopping mall,’ said Annie.

‘Or school, hospital, factory or station come to that.’

‘They both should have agreed to govern for six months each year, and then let the electorate decide who they wanted in four years’ time.’

‘I don’t think that would have settled anything.’

‘Why not?’ asked Annie.

‘I have a feeling this will be the first of many contests between them that will prove nothing until the final showdown.’

‘Perhaps the problem for the voters is that they are so alike it’s impossible to choose between them,’ Annie suggested, looking carefully at Su Ling.

‘Perhaps it’s just that there is nothing between them,’ said Su Ling, returning her gaze.

‘Yes, my mother often comments on how alike they are whenever they’re both on TV, and the coincidence of their shared blood group only emphasizes that feeling.’

‘As a mathematician I don’t believe in quite so many coincidences,’ said Su Ling.

‘It’s interesting that you should say that,’ ventured Annie, ‘because whenever I raise the subject with Fletcher, he simply clams up.’

‘Snap,’ said Su Ling.

‘I suspect if we combined our knowledge...’

‘We would only live to regret it.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Annie.

‘Only that if those two have decided not to discuss the subject, even with us, they must have a very good reason.’

‘So you feel we should remain silent as well.’

Su Ling nodded. ‘Especially after what my mother’s been put through

‘And my mother-in-law would undoubtedly be put through,’ suggested Annie. Su ling smiled and rose from her place. She looked directly at her sister-in-law. ‘Let’s just hope that they don’t both stand for president, otherwise the truth is bound to come out.’

Annie nodded her agreement.

‘I’ll go back first,’ said Su Ling, ‘and then no one will ever realize this conversation took place.’

‘Did you manage to get some lunch?’ asked Nat.

Su Ling didn’t have to reply as her husband was distracted by the reappearance of the mayor clutching a piece of paper in his right hand. He looked far more relaxed than when last seen disappearing in the direction of his office. On reaching the centre of the room, the mayor gave an immediate order that another recount should commence. The satisfied look on his face was not the result of good food and even better wine; in fact the mayor had forgone lunch to phone the justice department in Washington and seek the advice of the attorney general’s office on how they should proceed in the event of a tie.

The tellers were, as ever, thorough and meticulous, and forty-one minutes later came up with exactly the same result. A tie.

The mayor reread the attorney general’s fax, and to everyone’s disbelief, called for a further recount, which, thirty-four minutes later, confirmed the deadlock.

Once the chief clerk had reported this to his elected representative, the mayor began to make his way towards the stage, having asked both candidates to join him. Fletcher shrugged his shoulders when he caught Nat’s eye. So keen were the onlookers to discover what had been decided that they quickly stood aside to allow the three men to pass, as if Moses had placed his staff on the Madison waters,

The mayor stepped up on to the platform with the two candidates in close attendance. When he came to a halt in the centre of the stage, the candidates took their places on each side of him, Fletcher on his left, Nat on his right, as befitted their political persuasion. The mayor had to wait a few more moments for the microphone to be returned to its original position before he could address an audience that had not diminished in size despite the hold-ups.