The Evening News (49 page)

Rita reminded him, "Except for Teddy's idea
.”

Sloane said sharply, "What idea? I haven't heard it
.”

"Best let Teddy explain
,”
Partridge said. He nodded to the young
Englishman, also seated at the table, and Cooper brightened as attention
focused on him
.”
It's a possible way to find out where the snatchers had their hideout, Mr
.
S. Even though by now I'm sure they've scarpered
.”

Chippingha
m
asked, "If they've gone, what good would that do us
?
”

Sloane gestured impatiently
.”
Never mind that. I want to hear the idea
.”

Despite the intervention, Cooper answered Chippingham first
.”
Traces, Mr
.
C. There's always a chance people leave traces, showing who they are, where
they came from, maybe even where they've gone
.”

Including the others in his remarks, Cooper repeated the proposal made to
Partridge and Rita earlier that day . . . described the kind of property
and location he visualized as the kidnappers' headquarters . . . his belief
the kidnappers could have obtained their base by responding to newspaper
advertising . . . the plan to examine classified ads appearing over the
past three months in newspapers within twenty-five miles of Larchmont .
.
. Objective of the search: to match the theoretical HQ description . .
.
The detail work, in libraries and newspaper offices, to be done by bright
young people hired especially . . . Later, the same group, under
supervision, would investigate possible locations the search produced .
. .
Cooper ended, "It's a long shot, I admit
.”

"I wouldn't even put it that high
,”
Chippingham said. He had been frowning
during the recital, his frown deepening as the hiring suggestion emerged
.”
How many people are we talking
?
”

Rita said, "I've done some checking. In the area we're speaking of, there
are approximately a hundred and sixty newspapers, including dailies and
weeklies. Libraries don't carry back numbers of more than a few of those
,
so mostly it would mean going to publication offices and searching
through files. Doing that, reading back through three months of ads and
making notes, would be a monumental job. But if it's to be of value, it
will need to be done fast . .
.”

Chippingham cut in
.”
Will someone please answer my question. How many
people
?
”

"I estimate sixty
,”
Rita told him
.”
On top of that, some supervision
.”

Chippingham turned to Partridge
.”
Harry, are you seriously recommending
this
?
”

His tone conveyed, You couldn't be that crazy
!
Partridge hesitated. He shared Chippingham's doubts. This morning, during
the drive back from White Plains, he had mentally labeled Teddy's notion
a harebrained scheme; nothing since then had changed his mind. Then he
reasoned: Sometimes taking a stand was a good idea, even with a long
shot
.”
Yes, Les
,”
he said, "I'm recommending it. It's my opinion that we ought
to try everything. Right now, we aren't overburdened with leads or fresh
ideas
.”

Chippingham was unhappy with the answer. He felt apprehensive at the
thought of employing sixty extra people, plus their travel and other
expenses, for what could turn out to be several weeks-to say nothing of
the supervisory help Rita had mentioned. That kind of hiring always added
up to horrendous sums. Of course, in the old free-spending days of TV
news he wouldn't have thought twice about it. No one did. But now, Margot
Lloyd-Mason's edict about the kidnap task force echoed in his mind: "I
don't want anyone . . . going wild about spending money . , . No activity
exceeding budget is to be embarked on without my advance approval
.”
Well, Chippingham thought, as much as anyone else he wanted to find out
where Jessica, the Sloane kid and the old man had been taken and, if he
had to, he'd go to bat with Margot on the money crunch. But it would have
to be on behalf
of something he believed in and not this piece of idiot shit from the arrogant Limey
.”
Harry, I'm going to veto that one, at least for the time being
,”
Chippingham said
.”
I simply don't think it has enough possibility to
justify the effort
.”

Even now, he supposed, if the others knew the part of
his thinking that included Margot, they would call him craven. Well, never
mind, he had problems
including hanging on to his own job-they didn't know
about. Jaeger began, "I would have thought, Les . .
.”

Before he could finish, Crawford Sloane said, "Norm, let me
.”

As Jaeger
subsided, the anchorman's voice sharpened
.”
When you talk about not
justifying the effort, Les, aren't you really saying you won't spend the
money
?
”

"That's a factor; you know it always is. But mostly it's a judgment call
.
What's been suggested isn't a good idea
.”

"Perhaps you have a better one
,”

“
Not at this moment
.”

Sloane said icily, "Then I have a question and I'd like an honest answer
.
Has Margot Lloyd-Mason put a spending freeze on
?
”

Chippingham said uneasily, "We've discussed budget, that's all
.”

He added
,
"Can you and I talk privately
?
”

"No
!”

Sloane roared, jumping to his feet, glaring at Chippingham
.”
No
goddamn privacy for that cold-hearted bitch! You answered my question
.
There is a money freeze
.”

"It's not significant. For anything worthwhile, I'll simply call Stonehenge
. .
.”

Sloane stormed, "And what I'll call is a press conference
right here
,
tonight! To tell the world that while my family is suffering in some
hellhole, god knows where, this wealthy network is huddling with
accountants, reviewing budgets, haggling over pennies . .
.”

Chippingham protested, "No one's haggling! Crawf, this isn't necessary. I'm
sorry
.”

"And what the hell good does that do
?
”

The others around the table could scarcely believe what they were hearing:
In the first place, that a spending freeze had been applied secretly to
their own project, and second, in the 277

present desperate situation, not to try all possibilities was in- conceivable
.
Something else was equally incredible: That CBA should so offend its most
illustrious citizen, the senior anchorman. Margot Lloyd-Mason had been
mentioned; therefore it could only be concluded she represented the
ax-wielding hand of Globanic Industries
.
Norman Jaeger stood up too, the simplest form of protest. He said
quietly, "Harry thinks we should giv
e Teddy's idea a chance. So do I
”
Karl Owens joined him
.”
Me too
.”

"Add me to the list
.”

Iris Everly
.
Rita, a touch reluctantly, caring about Chippingham, said, "I guess
you'd better count me in
.”

"Okay, okay, let's cut the histrionics
,”
Chippingham said. He realized
he had been guilty of
misjudgement
, knew that either way he was the
loser, and silently cursed Margot
.”
I reverse myself. Maybe I was wrong
.
Crawf, we'll go ahead
.”

But he wouldn't, Chippingham, decided, go to Margot and ask for
approval; he knew too well, had known from the beginning, what her
response would be. He would authorize the expense and take his chances
.
Rita, practical as always and seeking to defuse the scene, said, "If
we're moving on this, we can't afford to lose time. We should have
researchers working by Monday. So where do we begin
?
”

"We'll call in Uncle Arthur
,”
Chippingham said
.”
I'll speak to him at
home tonight and have him here tomorrow to begin recruiting
.”

Crawford Sloane brightened
.”
A good idea
.”

Teddy Cooper, seated beside Jaeger, whispered, "Who the hell is Uncle
Arthur
?
”

Jaeger chuckled
.”
You haven't met Uncle Arthur
!
Tomorrow, my young
friend, you are in for a unique experience
.”

"The drinks are on me
,”
Chippingham said. Mentally he added, I brought
you all here to bind up any minor wound&
He and the others had adjourned to Sfuzzi, a restaurant and
bar near Lincoln Center with a nouveau-Ancient Roman d6cor. It was a regular rendezvous for TV news people. Though Sfuzzi's was crowded on a Saturday night, they managed to squeeze around a table supplemented by extra chairs
.
Chippingham had invited everyone who had been at the task force meeting
,
including Sloane, but the anchorman declined, deciding to go home to
Larchmont with his FBI escort, Otis Havelock. There they would wait
through another night for the hoped-for telephone message from the
kidnappers
.
When everyone had their drinks and with tensions eased, Partridge said
,
"Les, there's something I think needs saying. At the best of times, I
wouldn't want your job. But especially right now, I'm certain that none
of us here could juggle the priorities and people that you're having
to-at least, not any better
.”

Chippingham looked at Partridge gratefully and nodded. It was a testament
of understanding from someone Chippingham. respected and was a reminder
from Partridge to the others that not all issues were straightforward or
decisions easy
.”
Harry
,”
the news president said, "I know the way you work, and that you
get a 'feel' for situations quickly. Has that happened with this story
?
”

"I think so, yes
.”

Partridge glanced toward Teddy Cooper
.”
Teddy believes
our birds have flown the country; I've come to that conclusion too. But
something else I have an instinct about is that we're close to a
breakthrough---either through our doing or it will happen. Then we'll
know about the kidnappers: who and where
.”

"And when we do
?
”

"When it happens
,”
Partridge said
.”
I'll be on my way. Wherever the break
leads, I want to be there fast and first
.”

"You shall be
,”
Chippingham
said
.”
And I promise you'll get all the
support you need
.”

Partridge laughed and looked around the table
.”
Remember that, everybody
.
You all heard
.”