The Mormon Candidate - a Novel (26 page)

“
I agree. But what about this
case? It could be explosive.
”

“
Not really. Who cares
if
Joe
Morgan
got into a bath in his underwear and
acted out being
baptiz
ed for
dead guys?
”

“He’s running for president!”

“And
other
candidates go
to
their
church
es
and
participate
in
their unique
rituals
, which might seem weird to outsiders
. Wasn’t George Washington a Freemason? And
Nixon a Quaker?”

“Do you want another Nixon?”

“I don’t see Morgan going bananas. It’s not his style.”

“Being well-groomed and earnest doesn’t mean he’s not harboring ugly secrets. Don’t they teach in police academy that con
artists are the most charming, upstanding, trust-inspiring people?”

Fran laughed. “They teach that about politicians too.”

“Morgan’s beyond the pale.”

“Why?
Everyone’s
enti
tled to
a few
religious illusion
s.
”

“Baptizing the nation’s heroes
after stealing their personal info from government computers
?
”

“There’s no proof of that
.”

“How about
p
robable
c
ause
? A
ren’t you supposed to investigate reasonable suspicions of a possible crime?”

“I run the
Hate Crimes
Section
. Not the Hate-mongering Section.
”

“Wow!”
Ben watched her
for a moment
. “Are you afraid?”

“I’m not afraid, but I’m not suicidal either, professionally speaking. Any investigation of
c
andidate Joe Morgan would
become national news instantly. Starting something like this
require
s
a
really
solid basis
.
I
would
have to go to the top for approva
l before doing anything, or I’d
get fired on the spot.
”

“Why don’t you?”

“G
o
to
the
c
ommissioner with
what
?
With your suspicions? The
journal on the
iTouch
, which might be complete fiction, the grumbling of a
disgruntled
and confused
man
who can’t even ride his motorcycle safely
?
”

“
And what if it’s true? What if Morgan did do what Zachariah said?
”

“
What if?
T
he sta
tute of limitation
s
has run
out
several
times already
, so we couldn’t prosecute Morgan even if
it’s true.
A
nd
according to
the
journal,
Zachariah
stole the data, not
Morgan.”

“
Morgan only stole
souls
.
”

“
Woo
ooo
!
” Fran made like she was scared. “The souls are angry! They’re coming after Morgan!”

“It’s not a joke.”

“
Isn’t it?
Do you believe
sloshing around in water
while
chanting incantations and yelling names
actually
do
es
anything to souls of dead people
?”

“Of course not
.
”

“Then
nothing happened.
It’s meaningless.
”

Ben
approached
the window and looked out. No one stood by his motorcycle now, and the rain
had
resumed. “Don’t you care about poor
Zachariah,
getting railroaded by Morgan
and his
s
aints
?”

“
It’s
a free country.
He
could have
quit
the Mormon C
hurch.”

“
And lose
his wife and kids?”

“You’re exaggerating.”

Ben leaned on her desk.
“We’re no
t talking about the Protestant C
hurch here, or the Lutheran,
or even Catholic,
where an unhappy customer can
leave and
go worship Christ in another church down the street. Mormons live
all-inclusive
denominational
lives
. Their spiritual past, present, and future depends on
serving
the
LDS C
hurch in good standing. The
ir livelihood depends on fellow
Mormons. Their children’s daily activities are
run by Mormon volunteers
. Their underwear
is
holy, their diet is righteous, their family relationships are celestial, and their social circle
is
joyously Mormon
. E
very aspect of
their lives
is totally intertwined with
other Mormons and is strictly governed by
the LDS Church
,
its rules, and its authority.
How could
Zachariah Hinckley
leave
?
T
he
journal
shows how he
was trying to
remain a good Mormon and
do the right thing
at the same time
!”

“
By
enforc
ing
a
supposed
revelation from God
?”

“
Mormons believe in
revelation
s
,” Ben said. “A revelation for a Mormon is like an order from the
p
olice
c
ommissioner for you.”

“No commissioner would order an officer to pressure Joe Morgan to make a confession that could derail his run for president.”

“But it’s the truth!
Don’t we
have a moral obligation to finish what Zachariah started
?
”

“Why
sh
ould voters
be told
about
rituals
Morgan
m
ight
have conducted as part of his religious duties
many
years ago
?” Fran waved
her hand
in dismissal. “
Your biker dude was
having a
midlife crisis, manifested as a
religious spat
with his
former
bishop
. Maybe he was jealous of Morgan
?”

“Jealous?”

“
Of Morgan’s
wealth, of his
ris
e
to the top
, of his
running for president while
Zachariah
remained a lowly government employee.
Maybe the divine revelation was inspired by
envy
, and
Morgan
was right to blow
him off
, which left
Zachariah
depressed
, causing him to ride
his Harley
off the cliff
.
”

“It’s a theory,” Ben said
,
“
that doesn’t fly when you factor in the Ducati.
”

“It doesn’t exist
.
”

“And if I find it?”

“
You won’t.
It’s a ghost.
And this
whole
baptizing stuff
w
ill
never
be
come
big news
and
make you lots of money.
”

“It’s not about money.”

“Fame. Whatever. I’m telling you that
his
journal is not enough evidence to go on the air, and even if it does
come out
,
people will see it as political smear
and religious bigotry
.”

“I can defend my integrity. I’m an independent freelancer, and
Ray
will vouch for it. My job is to bring out the truth so people know about it.”

“It doesn’t matter.
Joe
Morgan has neutralized the whole
Mormonism factor
.
People already know he’s a
‘
Saint
.
’
T
hey accept his different way of worship,
including the
Mormon baptizing of the dead. It’s a curiosity,
an oddity,
that’s all.
Voters want to know that Morgan
can be an effective president—
run the country, deal with Congress, fix the economy, defend America—these are the real issues
voters want to know
about
, n
ot his
personal
religious practices.
N
obody cares.
”

“Well,” Ben said, “I care.”

In his office, Porter plugged Zachariah Hinckley’s iTouch into a wall outlet using a universal USB cable and adaptor. He let it charge for a few minutes, turned it on, and waited for it to boot up. When it did, he unplugged it and slipped it into a glass of water. The screen twitched and several applications opened rapidly before it died.

Through the window he saw
the reporter
walk across to his
black-and-yellow
motorcycle. He put on a matching
yellow
riding jacket, helmet and gloves, and mounted the bike. Porter was ready with his binoculars as
he
rode off, and jo
tted down the license plate number. Signing into the Motor Vehicle Department database, it took less than a minute to obtain the address.

Using
a non-police pager, he copied Ben Teller’s address and sent it as a text message. The reply came seconds later:

Already t
raced him yesterday after news/photos came out.

Lives w.
a negro
dancer/med student.
Vulnerable.

Porter smiled. It was a pleasure to work with
a
professional. He typed a reply:

U R efficient.

Make him go away.

Chapter
34

Ben didn’t expect Palmyra Hinckley to answer the
house
phone herself
so soon after her husband’s death, but h
e
hoped
someone else
would
answer
.
Instead,
there was
a
recorded
message in a man’s voice
:
“God’s blessing upon you. This is the Hinckley residence. If you are calling about funeral arrangements, please check again later. If you wish to offer your prayers, please join us at the
Silver Spring Ward
today
at
noon. Thank you.”

It was
1:10
p.m., and Ben had stopped at a Subway for a quick sandwi
ch, which he almost finished. Dumping the rest in the trash, he got back on the
GS
and headed down to Rockville, taking
Rt.
29 South to the new
Interc
ounty Connector
t
o
ll road—a luxury he allowed himself only due to the brief window of time he had to catch Palmyra in a prayerful and, hopefully, talkative mood.