Halfway to the Truth Read Free

and pulled to the side of the road to receive the inevitable.
    The police car followed suit, coming to rest behind her; lights still flashing.
    She looked into her review mirror again to see the recently familiar figure of Chief Daniels getting out of the squad car.
    He approached the driver's side and knocked on her window.
    She automatically rolled down the window and started to fish in her purse for her driver's license. Before he even spoke, she was preparing for the worse.
    Chief Daniels removed his sunglasses. "I'm guessing that you're practicing for the Daytona 500 because you got my envelope."
    " You're envelope? You sent me that diagram?"
    "Yep. I knew it would get your attention. The Mayor wants me on his side so, he gave this diatribe about the new subdivision and shared that paper with me. I'd like to have it back though, in case he asks for it. I sent it to you because you probably know what's really going on with his plans more than I do. And, I don't want to know."
    "Well Chief Daniels, you surprise me — I thought you had it in for me. And I'll bet you know more than you care to admit about those plans. But that's okay, I'm halfway to the truth and expect I'll be able to expose the Mayor soon."
    "Look, my interests are purely selfish,” he said. “I like New Harmony just the way it is. We don't need to invite more people here because they'll just bring trouble, and I don't like trouble. I'm no fan of the Mayor, he's dirty, but I work for the man. I’m only asking that whatever you have to do, to do it legal."
    Reese continued fishing through her purse.
    "You won't need that," he said, donning his sunglasses, "I'm just giving you a warning — this time. See that I get that diagram back." He tipped his hat and went back to the squad car.
    During the next few weeks, Reese stayed busy researching public records and interviewing as many people as she could find to talk about Aegis, the Mayor, and anything else that would shed light on the city project. Eventually, she was satisfied she had all the answers needed and now only had to put them on paper.
     
    When the day came to present her story to the editor for his approval, she met some resistance. The editor was skeptical of some of the sources Reese had used for her piece and therefore was reluctant to publish it. He also thought it was an over-the-top investigative piece rather than just locally newsworthy.
    Reese persisted, providing him irrefutable proof that the Mayor was nothing more than an out-and-out crook.
    "Maybe it's time for me to retire," he said. "I liked it better when you wrote simple pieces about what the ladies auxiliary was up to. I guess I've lost that spark that keeps a good newsman in the hunt. There's no telling how this is going to be received by the citizens of New Harmony, but they have a right to know, so I'll print it. But this is big city stuff and not what a small newspaper should be about."
     
    Reese's story came out in that Friday’s edition of New Harmony Press . By noon, Reese, half the citizens of New Harmony, and all the city's councilmen tried to cram into the spaces at city hall to engage the Mayor on the article. He was nowhere to be seen.
    Working his way through the crowd, Chief Daniels entered the boardroom. "May as well start the impeachment process," he boomed due to the noise of the crowd. "I saw the Mayor's van leaving town and it was packed as tight as a sardine can. I don't think he's coming back."
    The Chief worked his way further next to Reese. "That was quite an explosive article you wrote Miss Summers. I guess I won't be needing that diagram back after all. With all the suggestions of impropriety by the Mayor indicated in your article, I didn't see anything he could have been arrested on. So I let him leave."
    Wrestling to get her notepad back into her briefcase she said, "Guys like him cover their tracks pretty well. He'll just move on to somewhere else until he's successful in pulling off those million