Stabbing in the Senate

by Colleen J. Shogan

  Of course, that motive was only credible if Jeff knew Senator Langsford planned to vote against Carter Power in the upcoming committee vote. That decision had been heavily guarded. Jeff hadn’t attended every meeting with Senator Langsford and Senator Regan when crucial discussions took place. Despite Senator Regan’s contention that Langsford was going to vote to support Carter Power, all the meetings had showed my boss was skeptical at best. Had Regan told Jeff that Langsford was going to sabotage the vote? If so, did Jeff want to work in the Senate so badly that he killed Langsford to ensure Regan’s reelection and the continued prosperity of Carter Power? My next line of questioning for Jeff would aim to determine if he knew about Senator Langsford’s intentions.

  “Are you going to be working on defense issues for Senator Regan?” I tried to smile sweetly at Jeff, but it was a pathetic effort. On my best day, I couldn’t hold a candle to Meg. Added to that, even when I was single, I was terrible at flirting. It was a miracle I had found Doug, except that he was as nerdy as I was clumsy. In that sense, we were a perfect match.

  It must have been my lucky day, or Jeff was simply feeling good after his glass of wine. “That’s what it looks like. I’ll be staffing him on defense appropriations. You know—all the good stuff.”

  I decided to try to keep the conversation rolling. “The first big issue will be the contract with Carter Power, right?”

  Jeff agreed. “That’s part of the reason Senator Regan wants to hire me. He knows I understand that issue inside and out, and he needs to get a win on it.”

  I kept pushing. “I’m curious. What was your plan of action with my former boss?” I winced slightly at the term “former boss,” but I needed to get over it and keep grilling Jeff about what he knew. “If he’d voted against Carter Power, that provision wouldn’t have made it out of committee.”

  Jeff didn’t miss a beat. “It’s a moot point now, so there’s no reason why we can’t talk about this. We knew Langsford might not vote for Carter Power.”

  “If that was the case, then how did you think you were going to win the committee vote?”

  “We may not have had the votes there, but Senator Regan was confident that if the issue went to the Senate floor, we’d be able to get enough senators to amend the bill and put Carter Power’s funding back in. That’s where I was going to work my magic. I have contacts with almost all the Senate offices, and it was going to be my job to secure the necessary votes later on if Langsford screwed us over.”

  It was a plausible explanation, but something bothered me about it. Losing in committee was never a desirable outcome. Putting it to a floor vote was risky because the outcome was unpredictable, especially in times of budgetary hardship. Senators from both parties ran away from votes that added more dollars to the ballooning federal deficit.

  “Weren’t you concerned your strategy might fail? It seems like a high stakes game to play.”

  “You’re right, but we don’t have to worry about that, since your boss isn’t going to have the chance to vote in committee now. I don’t mean to be insensitive, but whoever murdered Lyndon Langsford made my life a lot easier.”

  Now it was Meg’s turn. “That’s a nasty thing to say, Jeff. Senator Langsford might have just been a vote on a committee to you, but we liked our boss, and we’re sad he’s dead. Just because he wanted to save the taxpayers some money didn’t mean he deserved to die.” She stared pointedly at Jeff.

  “Ah, jeez. I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. You know I didn’t want Senator Langsford to get killed. But the fact that he was giving us so much trouble on this vote …” his voice trailed off, then he finished his thought, “Let’s just say Langsford was going to make Regan’s reelection unnecessarily complicated. You can understand that, right?”

  Meg didn’t give Jeff the courtesy of an audible reply. I had to step in and salvage the rest of this conversation if we were going to learn anything else from Jeff. Meg was charming, but she had a short fuse. Jeff had pushed her buttons.

  Acting as if nothing had happened, I asked Jeff, “Was Regan positive that Langsford was going to vote against Carter Power?”

  Jeff seemed happy to avoid the awkwardness brewing with Meg. He turned back to me. “He had a pretty good sense from those meetings, although he would never admit it. But I had my own sources.”

  Fortunately for us, Jeff seemed unable to keep his big mouth shut. Who had told him Langsford had settled on a final position? It hadn’t been me. “I don’t recall that we ever discussed Senator Langsford’s decision on the Carter Power issue.”

  Jeff smirked. “Sorry to disappoint you, Kit. You played that card close to the vest. I knew I wasn’t going to get any information out of you. But you weren’t the only person in the office who knew about Langsford’s plans.”

  I thought quickly. The only other people in the office who knew were Matt and Lucinda. I mentally crossed Matt off the list. He had sworn me to secrecy and counseled me about keeping Senator Langsford’s intentions unknown until the last possible moment. That left Lucinda.

  I wanted to confirm that Lucinda was the leak in the office. If Senator Langsford had been killed because of his upcoming vote on Carter Power, it was critical to have an accurate list of everyone who knew that Langsford planned to throw Senator Regan under the bus.

  Before I had a chance to ask him about it, Meg took the reins again. She turned the charm back on and smiled at Jeff. She knew the leak had to be Lucinda. First, she patted Jeff’s hand and grabbed his wine glass, which was empty. Then she motioned for our server to come over and promptly ordered Jeff another glass of wine. Jeff seemed to like the fact that Meg had taken charge and returned the favor by ordering her another drink. If this had been purely a social outing with no murder investigation in mind, I would have been steamed at Jeff’s willingness to ignore me when it was convenient. Since we needed information from him and Meg seemed to have a talent for extracting it, I was perfectly satisfied to let her take another swipe at him.

  The drinks arrived quickly, and they both took a sip. Meg inched closer to Jeff in the booth and said, with a slight purr in her voice, “Now, what were we talking about again?” She paused for a second and then kept going before he could get a word in edgewise. “I know. You were saying Lucinda told you about Senator Langsford’s Carter Power decision.” Meg looked at Jeff innocently.

  She had caught him off guard, but he didn’t slip up. He laughed nervously. “I don’t remember saying it was Lucinda.”

  Meg twirled a lock of her short hair around her finger. Did guys really go for this stuff? It seemed so obvious.

  “Of course, silly. I know you didn’t mention Lucinda specifically, but we both know it was her, right? She was the only person who knew about Senator Langsford’s intentions besides Kit. Isn’t that right, Kit?” Meg was bluffing. Matt also knew. This wasn’t the time for the unvarnished truth, though.

  “You’re absolutely right, Meg,” I said. “Only Lucinda had that information.”

  Meg turned back toward Jeff. “It had to be Lucinda. Don’t worry. We won’t tell anyone, and it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?” For good measure, she batted her fake eyelashes at Jeff.

  Jeff’s wine was almost gone. He had to be feeling rather loose by now. “Yeah, what the heck. You guys guessed it. You’re pretty good at this stuff, you know? It was Lucinda who told me which way Langsford was leaning. It confirmed what Senator Regan suspected all along. His good buddy Lyndon Langsford was going to sell Carter Power and his reelection prospects down the river.”

  I could tell by Jeff’s cutting remark he was losing patience with this conversation. I still needed to get a crucial piece of information out of him before calling it a night. I glanced at my watch. Almost an hour had gone by, and Lounge 201 was filling up. Soon, the place would be replete with Senate staff, and Jeff would recognize acquaintances. Even Meg’s alluring presence wouldn’t keep his attention when key contacts arrived for happy hour. I decided to plunge forward and go
for broke.

  “Jeff, where were you yesterday morning, between seven and eight o’clock?” I shot my question at him, hoping to catch him off balance.

  He stared at me for several seconds, then burst out laughing. “Do you think I killed Senator Langsford? Is that what this interrogation is all about?” He shook his head in apparent disbelief. “I guess the Capitol Police are desperate to solve this case. Have you decided to join their ranks now that you might be out of a job in a few days? Or are you afraid the police might not find another suspect and will decide to pin the murder on you?” He belted down the rest of his wine and signaled the waitress to bring him another drink.

  I didn’t let Jeff rattle me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m confident the police will find out who did this.” I straightened in my seat and looked him squarely in the eye, hoping he didn’t call my bluff.

  Meg interrupted, “If you have an alibi for the murder, Jeff, then why not tell us? There’s no harm in sharing that information, is there?” She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms.

  The server came with his refill, and he took a sip. “Since none of this matters one bit, I don’t mind telling you I have an ironclad alibi for yesterday morning.”

  I asked, “Which is?”

  “I was sharing the company of a woman, if you must know. In fact, I believe the police have already verified my whereabouts.”

  This piqued Meg’s interest. She couldn’t resist a follow-up. “Who were you with, Jeff? I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

  He sighed. “I don’t have a girlfriend, Meg. Don’t be naïve. But believe me, my alibi is rock solid, and my acquaintance has already attested to that.” He smirked at his attempt at a dirty double entendre.

  As far as I was concerned, that was too much information, and it signaled an end to happy hour. We had discovered several pieces of valuable intelligence, and I wanted to head home and process what we had learned.

  I seized on the lull in conversation and said, “On that note, I think it’s time for Meg and me to take off. It was nice seeing you again.” I cringed at the word “nice,” but I made myself say it. Jeff’s penchant for divulging information could come in handy in the near future. Meg and I each threw down a twenty for our drinks and gathered our purses to leave the booth.

  Jeff grabbed Meg’s arm as she was trying to leave. “One more thing, ladies. I suppose neither of you is thinking about staying on board when Senator Langsford’s replacement is named, right?”

  I replied, “I seriously doubt it, Jeff. You know the governor will pick someone who shares his beliefs, and I doubt our services are going to be required when a senator from the other party is appointed.”

  “I thought I would offer my recommendation if either of you decided you wanted to stay on board as a Senate staffer and not hit the unemployment line.”

  I stopped dead in my tracks. “And just who would you be giving this recommendation to, exactly?”

  Jeff put his hands behind his head and leaned back. “I believe the next senator from the great state of Massachusetts is going to be none other than Jordan Jessop.”

  Meg and I both bristled at Jeff’s brazen announcement, even though it was no surprise. Having been on the campaign to reelect Senator Langsford and keep Jessop out of the Senate, it was a bad political nightmare to see our boss’s former adversary rise to that office.

  I stated emphatically, “No, Jeff. I don’t think Meg or I will seek employment from Jordan Jessop. How do you know for sure he’s going to be selected by the governor for the appointment?”

  Jeff shrugged. “It’s not official, but let’s just say that in certain circles, we know Jessop is on the short list, and the governor’s only considering one candidate.”

  I didn’t want to continue this conversation any longer. “Well, good luck with Senator Jessop, I guess. You’ll need it.”

  “Oh, I look forward to a beneficial partnership with Jessop. He’s sympathetic to Carter Power, and I’m sure his vote in committee will be much appreciated by Senator Regan.”

  Ugh. I could hardly stand it. Our boss was dead, Meg and I were losing our jobs, and we were going to be replaced by a repugnant politician we had worked hard a few years earlier to defeat. Politics could be a killer—no pun intended.

  We needed to leave now. Meg and I fled Lounge 201 without speaking to anyone else, although we knew half of the staffers who now filled the bar. We hurried up the stairs and huddled outside.

  “Well, that’s ninety minutes of my life I’ll never get back.”

  She smiled. “I know you don’t like Jeff, but you have to admit we learned some valuable stuff from him, right?”

  I gave her a quick hug. “You were great, by the way. I loved how you reeled him in by batting your eyelashes.”

  Meg beamed. “He was an easy mark. He hardly put up a fight.”

  I giggled. “I’ve got to run. Doug will wonder what happened to me, and Clarence is probably yowling for dinner. We’re an impressive team, aren’t we?”

  Meg’s eyes glistened with moisture. “We are. I’m sad this might be the end of our time working together. What’s going to happen to us?”

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen to us, but let’s try to see if we can’t tackle this one last challenge together and find out who killed Senator Langsford. Wouldn’t that be the best way to leave the Senate?”

  We gave each other a quick fist bump to seal the deal.

  Chapter 13

  I walked several blocks to Union Station to take the Metro home. The rush hour traffic had subsided, and I pulled out my iPhone and listened to upbeat pop songs during the ride. After a few minutes, I could feel the tension leave my body as I let myself get lost in the music. My mind drifted back to the conversation with Jeff Prentice. What had we learned? Was this whole idea of solving our boss’s murder a pipe dream? Maybe we should leave the sleuthing to the professionals.

  Visions of prison jumpsuits flashed before me. Although those women on the Netflix series didn’t look bad, orange wasn’t my new black. Rationally I knew I wasn’t a credible suspect, but until the murderer was found, the fear remained. With a renewed focus, I pulled an old-fashioned paper notebook from my purse and created a written inventory of what we knew about the case.

  First, who were our suspects? Certainly, Senator Regan and Jeff Prentice had motives to kill Senator Langsford. Jeff claimed he had an alibi; I wasn’t sure about Regan.

  Who else? Senator Langsford’s wife, Vivian, earned a spot on the list. She didn’t want Senator Langsford to run for another term, she disagreed with his position on Carter Power, and she had recently increased the insurance policy on her husband. However, Vivian also had an alibi. Perhaps she hired someone to kill her husband. That possibility preserved her status as a suspect.

  Could I add anyone else to the list? I couldn’t rule out Lucinda. After all, it was curious she had told Jeff Prentice about Senator Langsford’s position on Carter Power, when Matt had made it crystal clear the decision was extremely hush-hush. Was that a motive for murder? Perhaps it was, particularly if Lucinda had wanted to leave her job in the Senate and secure a lucrative job as a lobbyist, maybe in the defense industry. Lucinda remained on the list, at least for now. She’d been clearly upset yesterday when she’d learned of Senator Langsford’s death—or had that been clever acting on her part?

  Matt didn’t have a discernible motive, and neither did Trevor or Kara.

  Mandy was a downright nasty individual, yet a plausible motive for why she would want Langsford dead escaped me. She had secured a job with Senator Regan already, but she could easily have quit her job and gone to work for Senator Regan without resorting to murder. Hill staff bounced from office to office as opportunities arose, and her departure would have been nothing but a momentary blip in the long string of Senate staffers employed by Lyndon Langsford over the years.

  That left Representative Jordan Jessop. He certainly had the motive to kill Langsford. After getting his
ox gored by Langsford in the last election, he knew beating him in a one-on-one rematch was unlikely. If Langsford had decided to retire, Jessop would have been free and clear to run for the Senate seat, but word on the street was Langsford was gearing up to run for another six-year term. That would have ruined Jessop’s chances of ever becoming a United States Senator, since he wasn’t getting any younger. Did Jessop take matters into his own hands and kill Langsford so he could receive an appointment to the Senate? It wasn’t far-fetched. The campaign four years earlier between Jessop and Langsford had been acrimonious. Perhaps Jessop had gone over the edge and murdered Langsford so he could move from the House to the Senate.

  As the subway arrived at my home station, I tucked away my notebook and boarded the long escalator to the street. I definitely knew more about the murder now than when I woke up this morning, but was I any closer to figuring out who had killed Senator Langsford? What was my next move?

  These questions weighed heavily on my mind as I strolled toward our condo building. Even though it was past eight, the oppressive heat of the summer persisted. The nice part about this time of year was the plentiful daylight, even when I got home later than expected from work. For the remainder of the walk home, I pondered whether the sticky weather was a fair trade for the longer days.

  In the lobby, I greeted my doorman and pressed the elevator button for the fourth floor. We lived in a twenty-five-story “high rise” in the heart of trendy Arlington. We would have preferred a condo closer to the top, since the view of the Washington Monument was outstanding from those units. Nothing else had been available when we moved to D.C., so we’d had to settle for the fourth floor. With the ongoing housing recession and mortgage crisis, we could now afford two condos next to each other on the 25th floor, but Clarence the beagle wouldn’t have appreciated living so high up. Lofty living meant a longer ride on the elevator, which already made him nervous.