by Lis Wiehl
“Well, it’s enough to take to the Ethics Committee. They can move to expel, censure, or admonish him.”
“So what would it take for you guys to get rid of this creep?” Fate demanded. “I mean, it has reached critical mass. Wouldn’t you say that most decent human beings would have resigned by now, with all the stuff that we know about him? We’re talking corruption of a minor, statutory rape, and crossing state lines to have sex with the girl.”
Schneider said, “Right now those things are only rumors. They have not been substantiated. If someone came forward with proof, then we could deal with it. We don’t make decisions based on what people are saying on TV. There’s a process. There’s the Constitution. You can’t just get annoyed with someone and kick him out.”
“What about Katie Converse?” Fate demanded. “Did she have any rights in the matter? Who sticks up for her rights, Senator?”
There was a half-second pause. Schneider had just begun to answer when Fate overrode him. “I’m afraid we are out of time, Senator. Senator Schneider, thank you for joining The Hand of Fate.”
Dryly, Schneider said, “The pleasure has been all mine, Jim.”
MYSPACE.COM/THEDCPAGE
A Very Personal Level
October 10
At my regular high school, I was always the smart one. It would be a lot harder to be the smart one in this group. But sometimes I think that maybe I don’t have to be the smart one here. I could be the funny one. Or maybe the pretty one.
Since there are only thirty Senate pages, you get to know everybody on a very personal level. You work together all day long & live in the same dorm. You do pretty much everything together. So certain people that you would rather not see any more, you see every single day—at meals, in class, at work & on weekend trips. Some people just don’t understand that there’s real love & then there’s things that aren’t real love, but more just fooling around.
The funny thing is, I think I might have found real love. Maybe some people would say I’m too young to know what real love is. But how do they know what I’m feeling? How can they see the thoughts swirling around in my head? Just b/c I’ve never been in love before doesn’t mean I can’t find real love now. It doesn’t mean I have to wait until I’m older, like in college.
What if I’ve already met my true love?
CHANNEL FOUR
December 30
Cassidy, I’ve got some news.” It was Jerry, the station manager.
“Huh?” Cassidy barely heard him. On her computer, she was rearranging the order of the questions she would ask tonight. Senator Fairview and his wife had agreed to be interviewed by her. By Cassidy Shaw. Live. On prime-time TV. The interview would be carried nationally. This was it at last—her big break.
Everyone in the station was rushing around madly. They had been running a promo nonstop for the last three days, one that showed the by-now infamous clip of Katie Converse handing Senator Fairview a poster board at a Senate hearing. Over it, the graphic designer had laid a specially designed logo—WHERE IS KATIE? in jagged-edge type.
Jerry hesitated so long that Cassidy finally looked up.
He gave her an anxious twist of a smile. “Madeline is flying in. The Katie Converse story just keeps growing. It’s national news now, not just local. It’s going to be on the cover of People. So Madeline wants in on the action.”
Cassidy’s head jerked up. “Oh no. I will not be bigfooted.”
Madeline McCormick anchored the nightly news for the network that owned Channel Four.
Despite Cassidy’s words, she and Jerry knew that bigfooting happened all the time. A junior reporter would get a lead, do all the work, and then before it could go to air, the more senior reporter would take the story and claim it as his—or in this case, her—own.
“You don’t have a choice,” Jerry said, twisting his hands. “We can’t afford to make Madeline angry.”
“You can’t do this to me. This is my story. I broke it, and I’m the one making it happen.”
“And Maddy appreciates that,” Jerry said, as if he and “Mad Maddy” were now best buddies.
Cassidy was sure he had probably spoken only to the woman’s assistant.
“No, you don’t understand. You know all the good leads I’ve been getting? Well, the sources I have inside this investigation are my sources, and my sources only. How do you think I broke the story about Katie’s blog? How do you think I knew before anyone else that the blood on Jalapeño was the dog’s and not Katie’s? You give this story to Madeline and that will be the last we hear from any of my sources, I can promise you that.”
Jerry stared at her. They both knew Cassidy was telling the truth.
She allowed herself a small smile. “Tell you what. Madeline can do the intro and bring viewers up to date. But this is my interview. And mine alone.”
That evening, a calm descended over Cassidy as she waited for a signal that they were on air. Until then, it seemed that the senator and his wife were in no mood for small talk. They sat together on a blue love seat, facing her, but not looking at her or each other. They both wore pained expressions. It was clear that the only reason Senator Fairview was here was to make a last-ditch effort to save his reputation.
What they didn’t know was that Cassidy had instructed one of the cameras always to be on them, even now, before the program officially began. You never knew when an outtake might be the most valuable piece of film you shot. Senator Fairview looking bored, or shifting his eyes from side to side, or ignoring his wife—all of it could be used to make a point in later coverage.
The story had gotten so big that it was now drawing crackpots. Twice now Cassidy had gotten voice mails ordering her to stop asking so many questions about Katie, warning her that it was none of her business. She was hoping that the next call would be even juicier so she could play it on the air.
The cameraman counted down with his fingers, and they were on.
Cassidy took a deep breath. TV viewers sometimes complained that women couldn’t do serious news, not with their tendency to half smile even when announcing horrendous death tolls. Not with their singsong, high-pitched voices. She was careful to keep any hint of a smile from her lips as she spoke in a low-pitched, even voice.
“Senator Fairview, Mrs. Fairview, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Senator, I would like to ask you what everyone in Oregon—and in the nation—is wondering. Do you know what happened to Katie Converse?”
Even as the words left Cassidy’s mouth, Fairview was already answering. “No, I do not.”
Now he looked at her steadily. Next to him on the navy blue love seat, Nancy held her husband’s hand. Her expression had changed to one of concern.
“What was your relationship with Katie, Senator?”
He looked up and to the right, as if he were searching his memory instead of trotting out another carefully rehearsed answer. Cassidy was sure Fairview had practiced every word, every expression, every turn of phrase. Just as she had.
“Well, I met Katie Converse last spring when she applied to be sponsored by me as a Senate page. Which I agreed to do. And then in September she became one of dozens of young people who work as pages in the House and the Senate.”
“Did you have anything to do with Katie’s disappearance?” Cassidy kept her pacing quick. She wanted to get to the good stuff, to the topics that might knock Fairview off balance.
“No, I didn’t.” His answer was smooth. Concern with just a hint of anger.
“Did you kill Katie Converse?”
“I did not.”
She decided to switch it up a bit and project sympathy. “Have all the rumors and speculation been hard on you and your family?”
Fairview turned to Nancy, and they exchanged a glance that appeared private and that Cassidy bet had also been rehearsed a dozen times.
Then he turned back to her. “The media have tried to go through my wife’s medical records, and the tabloids have chased my children. But the fact of the matter i
s, this is not about the Fairviews. This is about the Converses. And what we’ve experienced is minor pain compared to what Mr. and Mrs. Converse are going through. Our hearts go out to them.”
“Nancy, how are you coping with the media onslaught?” Cassidy asked. “Do you read everything? Do you listen to everything? Or are you tempted to put your hands over your ears and not take it in?”
Nancy’s mouth crimped. “They have completely lost sight of Katie. Instead, they want to make it about innuendos and half-truths and out-right lies about my husband.”
Fairview shook his head. “It’s ridiculous that we are even being asked these questions. Katie is a troubled young woman, and I have tried to help her. And this is the payback I receive? To be accused of her murder?”
Was this the first crack in the façade? Cassidy felt like she could levitate out of her seat. “Troubled? What do you mean by troubled?”
He sighed. “When you first meet Katie, she seems older than her years. I mean, how many people her age want to talk about how bills are made? But the longer you know her, the more you can see how lonely and insecure she is.”
Cassidy shook her head. “But Katie has gotten straight A’s, she was president of several clubs at her high school, and she got into this competitive page program that takes only a handful of students from across the nation. By every account, Katie is a success.”
Fairview made a gesture with his hands as if he were brushing all that aside. “A lot of these young people look successful on the surface. But inside they’re hollow. Inside they are filled with turmoil and weakness and self-loathing.”
Cassidy suddenly knew that Fairview was talking about himself as much as he was Katie. Nothing was hidden from her, there were no shadows, everything sparkled. And it wasn’t just the studio lights. She was in the zone.
“So you are saying—what? That Katie was . . . depressed?”
“Katie was a very troubled young woman. And seeing a friendly face from home, she reached out to me. I was afraid to turn her away. Afraid if I did, she might do something rash.”
“Rash? What do you mean by rash? Do you mean you were worried she might run away? Do you think that’s what’s happened?”
“I have no idea what’s happened to Katie. But yes, Cassidy, I was worried that she might run away.” Fairview’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Even that she might possibly go further and choose the ultimate method of running away.”
Cassidy let her eyes widen. Her mind and her mouth were operating on two separate planes now. She was weighing her next words, searching through her mental data banks, anticipating the senator’s response, while her mouth and tongue simultaneously shaped the words she had chosen a second earlier. “Are you saying Katie was suicidal?”
“I’m not a professional counselor. All I know is that Katie is a very troubled young woman. She can be in tears one moment and then bouncing with happiness the next.”
“But doesn’t that describe a typical teenager? You yourself have a fifteen-year-old son and a thirteen-year-old daughter.” Cassidy watched the skin around Fairview’s eyes tighten. She only hoped it showed on camera. “As a father, don’t you feel that these types of mood swings are common to every teen?”
She hoped the viewers caught the unspoken corollary: As a father, can’t you see that you wouldn’t want an old guy like you hanging out with his daughter?
“These moods of Katie’s were more than that. A few times, she talked about how she didn’t feel like she could go on. I tried to get her to go to a counselor, but she adamantly refused. She said I was the only one she could talk to. And I was afraid if I forced her, she might act on her threats. Frankly, I got caught up in the intensity of it.”
“Senator, excuse me, but I have to address this.” Cassidy drew a deep breath. “There are rumors that your relationship with Katie was sexual.”
It was clearly the question Fairview had been waiting for. His practiced answer flowed out of him as if she had just pulled a cork from a bottle.
“Well, Cassidy, I have not been a perfect man, and I’ve made my share of mistakes. But I’ve been married for twenty-four years, and I intend to stay married to this woman as long as she’ll have me.”
He and Nancy looked at each other, and Nancy even managed to squeeze out a smile for the cameras.
Fairview turned back to Cassidy. “But out of respect for my family, and out of a specific request from the Converse family, I think it’s best that I not get into those details. That’s not what matters now. What matters is that Katie is missing.”
“So you are denying that you had an affair with Katie Converse?”
“Let me just say this. I may have made some errors in judgment, but I have done nothing illegal. I never touched a hair on Katie’s head. But the fact of the matter is this. I’ve been married twenty-four years, I’ve made some mistakes in my life, and I’m not a perfect man. But out of respect for my family, and out of a request, a specific request from the Converses, I will not go into the details of my relationship with Katie Converse.”
There they were. All the messages in one breath. Again. Practically word for word.
“What exactly did the Converses ask you to do?” Cassidy hadn’t heard anything about it. In fact, as far as she knew, the Converses and the Fairviews were no longer speaking to each other.
He shifted. “A couple of nights ago on one of the TV shows, uh, they said they did not want to hear about the details of the relationship, how I feel about Katie, or how she feels about me. So I’m trying to honor that. I think the American people understand that people are entitled to some privacy. I’m entitled to try to retain as much privacy as I can. The Converses are entitled to retain as much privacy on behalf of their daughter as they can. So I’m going to honor that.”
That was the best his lawyer and the media coach could come up with? That the Converses had made some offhand remark on TV that Fairview was now treating as a specific request made directly to him?
Cassidy put on a stern look. “But, Senator, you are protecting your privacy at the expense of a young woman who is missing.”
A hint of anger crept into his voice. “Well, that’s not correct. That’s not correct at all. Because I have cooperated with law enforcement. I mean, I have not been part of the media circus if, if that’s your point. No, I haven’t held a news conference, and no, I don’t do talk shows. But I have cooperated. I have worked with law enforcement at every step and given up a lot of my civil liberties to make sure that they have all the information that they need.”
“Don’t the people of Oregon deserve the truth? The people who elected you to this office?”
Fairview jutted his chin. “They deserve the truth. And the truth is that I have done everything asked of me by the people who are responsible to find Katie Converse. It’s not the news media’s responsibility to find Katie Converse. It’s law enforcement’s. And I have worked with the authorities to do just that.”
Maybe Nancy was the weaker link.
Cassidy softened her tone. “What toll does this take, Nancy? I mean, when you’re the wife of a public official and you hear these whispers and you have law enforcement coming to you and asking you questions about your most intimate relationship, how do you handle that as a wife?”
Nancy managed a half smile. “I don’t listen to rumors. I know James Fairview. I know about our relationship, and I feel very secure in it. And I don’t need other people to tell me what they think about it.” She put on a sad expression. “Instead of focusing on finding Katie, or talking about the good things my husband has accomplished, the media are trying to make something out of nothing.”
Out of nothing? Either this lady was in denial, or she was completely heartless. Cassidy couldn’t wait to see how they reacted to what she said next.
The words hurried off her tongue. “I’m going to turn to another area. A young woman, a cook at the Senate cafeteria named Luisa Helprin, has told me that she had a relationship with
you, Senator. And that you asked her to lie about it. True?”
For a second, Fairview and his wife exchanged a glance. Cassidy wished she could read that glance. Did Nancy already know? Guess? Choose not to know?
“I didn’t ask anyone to lie about anything,” Fairview stuttered. “I did not ask Luisa not to cooperate with law enforcement. That’s an absolute lie.”
Just the way Fairview said Luisa confirmed the whole thing. Obviously, his lawyer and his media coach had not prepared him for this. Cassidy would bet that the two of them were watching this on TV and having a heart attack—and that Allison would be on the phone as soon as the program was over, demanding Luisa’s contact info.
Inside, Cassidy was grinning, but she kept her expression grave. “We have a statement that your lawyers gave to Luisa, and it says, ‘I do not and have not had a romantic relationship with Senator Fairview.’”
He shifted. She could see the sweat shining on his forehead. Nancy was no longer smiling. Her mouth was half open, her expression stunned and frozen.
“Well, uh,” Fairview stuttered, “that’s a statement that a lawyer sent to another lawyer. I did not have anything to do with that.”
“But why would your lawyer write up the draft of something without your authorization? Why would you want her to say that she didn’t have a relationship with you?”
Fairview found his footing. “Because she didn’t.”
He managed to sound like he meant it. How good was he at compartmentalizing? Had he told so many lies that he sometimes believed them himself? Or was he one of those people who could parse a sentence (“I did not have sex with that woman” came to mind) so narrowly that he sincerely believed it was true?
“Why would this young woman make it up?” Cassidy emphasized the word young.
Fairview pursed his lips and nodded as if he was agreeing with something she had said. “You know, Cassidy, I’m puzzled by people who take advantage of tragedy.”
“Are you saying that Luisa completely fabricated this?”
