Stabbing in the Senate

by Colleen J. Shogan

  Her whiny voice was now a menacing snarl. “Don’t tell me what I can or can’t get away with. I killed the dealmaker of the United States Senate this week, and the police have no idea it was me.”

  I kept backing away until I was in the corner, with nowhere else to go. “Slow down there, Mandy. I emailed Detective O’Halloran right before I came to the Capitol. He’s expecting me any moment now at the office. When I don’t arrive, he’s going to put it together and come looking for me.”

  She took a swipe with the scissors, which came way too close to my arm. I dodged out of the way in the nick of time.

  “Nice try, Kit. But O’Halloran thinks you’re a fool. He’ll conclude that you and your sidekick decided to blow him off for happy hour instead. He won’t give a second thought to your disappearance tonight.”

  With that pronouncement, Mandy raised her arm high in the air and swung downward in an attempt to stab me in the chest. I ducked down low, and when she missed me and hit the subway seat cushion behind me, I seized my chance and barreled my head into her midsection. Mandy might have the strength of the insane, but I had the definite weight advantage here. For once, those pounds were put to good use. The sheer force of my body and the fact that I projected my head from a crouch was enough to knock Mandy all the way to the other end of the small car.

  At that exact moment, the doors flung open at the Capitol stop. I hurled my body outside the car to escape and landed right at the feet of several Capitol Hill police officers, whose guns were pointed directly at Mandy Lippman. My attack had knocked her upside-down, and I was pleased to see her behind was in the air so that everyone could see her Spanx underwear. No wonder her butt was so perfect.

  Without a second thought, I grabbed my BlackBerry out of my purse and took a picture. This time, it wasn’t going to be my photo gracing the front pages of every newspaper in town.

  Chapter 26

  Meg, Kyle, Trevor, Detective O’Halloran, Matt, Doug, and I sat together in a circle. We had just enjoyed a splendid catered dinner at our condo, courtesy of a neighborhood establishment with the reputation for the best barbecue ribs, chicken, and baked beans in the Washington environs.

  Clarence was curled up next to me, happy to be part of the evening’s festivities and content with his canine portion of the feast.

  Doug had just served after-dinner drinks, which included a selection of port, sherry, and cognac. He brought coffee for Detective O’Halloran, who insisted he must restrict his alcohol consumption due to important work assignments the next day. Meg sighed contentedly and put her hand on Kyle’s knee. Evidently, things had gotten serious, or at least more serious than Meg’s typical transitory affairs of the heart.

  Several weeks had passed since Mandy had been apprehended. The whirlwind following a national media blitz focused on the full story of Senator Langsford’s murder had recently subsided. Despite determined attempts to avoid the media, I had been thrust into the limelight, my face predictably appearing on every network, cable news, and newspaper across the country. The story had been analyzed in every possible way, and interest in it had diminished only a few days ago. Only then did Doug and I feel it was safe to invite those most closely involved to our condo for a dinner to celebrate the life and career of Senator Langsford, a man we all missed terribly. Our grief for Senator Langsford had intensified since we permanently closed the doors to his Senate office this past Friday. For the time being, the Langsford clan had joined the ranks of the unemployed.

  As expected, the governor had appointed Representative Jessop to serve the remainder of the Senate term. Before relinquishing the Senate office to Jessop, Matt and I convinced Lucinda we should leak the memo I had written on Carter Power to the press. Lucinda didn’t want to hurt Vivian, but decided it would be best in the long run to make Senator Langsford’s last wishes public. With Senator Langsford’s death hot on the media’s mind, it was a breeze to get the major newspapers to run front-page stories on Carter Power and Langsford’s final policy decision. For the time being, Jessop had no choice but to follow Senator Langsford’s lead. Shortly after assuming office, he announced that he wouldn’t support the immediate renewal of Carter Power’s military contracts.

  During dinner, we discussed the details of Senator Langsford’s murder. When all the clues came together that night in the Senate office, I wasn’t entirely certain about Mandy’s motive, although I had a good hunch it was tied to Carter Power. Two pieces of circumstantial evidence pointed to Mandy’s guilt, namely the Halloween wig and her error in the video blog. Of course, Mandy had left no doubt in anyone’s mind of her culpability after she chased me down the corridors of the Senate subway. Apparently she’d been eavesdropping on my discussion with Meg at the senator’s vigil.

  It turned out Mandy was deeply interested in the outcome of the Carter Power decision. Months earlier, she had decided she wanted to leave Capitol Hill for greener pastures—that is, a job that paid the big bucks. With her sights set on lobbying and a generous salary on K Street, she started informal talks with Carter Power. Even though Carter Power wanted to hire her, they held back because of the uncertain future of the military contract. Mandy learned that Senator Langsford was leaning against a vote for Carter Power from Lucinda, who’d apparently told everyone with a pulse about Langsford’s leanings. Armed with that information, Mandy tried to change the senator’s mind, to no effect. My belief was that Senator Langsford thought Mandy was a smart press secretary but recognized her zealous defense of Carter Power as self-interested. Senator Langsford could see through smokescreens.

  Somewhere along the way, Mandy took up with Jeff Prentice. He gave her more information about the inner workings of Carter Power and told her that if Langsford voted against Carter Power, the chances of landing her dream job were next to zero. Even if Carter Power ended up getting a renewal on the military contract, the company would never hire a staffer from a senator who had stabbed them in the back … in the proverbial sense. Mandy had started to panic. She wanted to leave Langsford’s office to make more money, and her best job prospect seemed to be fading away. Jeff Prentice, who had tentatively accepted an offer to work in Senator Regan’s office, was likewise under pressure. If Regan couldn’t guarantee the contract renewal, his reelection prospects were slim to none, and Jeff would soon be out of a job as well.

  Mandy turned to Vivian Langsford, who she learned owned investments in Carter Power. If she couldn’t convince the senator about the error of his ways, perhaps she could persuade the rich wife who had bankrolled many of his successful campaigns for public office. Mandy did succeed in pleading her case to Vivian. In fact, Trevor had overheard Vivian talking on the phone with Mandy—not Lucinda, as we originally thought—about the Carter Power contract. Nonetheless, Vivian had no luck influencing Senator Langsford. Vivian’s pleadings only convinced the senator further that Carter Power’s long relationship with the government had become corrupt. He vowed to increase scrutiny on Carter Power’s dealings and scolded Vivian for her selfishness. This blow-up had driven Vivian further into the arms of her hunky personal trainer, Henrik.

  In the meantime, Mandy concluded that Senator Langsford would not listen to reason. In her twisted mind, the only remaining option was to silence him permanently. Mandy’s window of opportunity was narrow. A United States Senator was rarely alone during the day. He was either in private meetings, raising campaign money, or discharging the official duties of the job. After cozying up to Kara, she discovered a small pocket of time on the senator’s schedule in which he was alone. She decided to make her move then.

  Knowing that security cameras covered every Senate office building entrance, she devised a disguise so she wouldn’t be recognized on the video camera digital tapes, which the police would scrutinize after the murder. Mandy had done a decent job with her camouflage. Only after she was in custody did the police find her on the security footage, dressed as an overweight blond tourist in a Nike tracksuit. No one would ever suspect it was Mandy hid
den under all that padding. Furthermore, she’d entered Hart the evening before the murder, guessing correctly the police would focus on the surveillance tapes from the morning of the murder rather than the previous day. She spent the night inside our office suite, waiting for Senator Langsford to arrive early for work on Tuesday so she could murder him.

  Even though it was her video blog that eventually tripped her up, Mandy thought the blog would give her an ironclad alibi for the murder. She filmed it the day before, since there was no way she would have enough time to murder Senator Langsford and film the blog before showing up for work. After she killed Senator Langsford, using the sharp weapon of the helicopter model inside his office, she left the office suite through the upstairs “secret exit” and raced home to post the blog at the normal time so she would have an alibi for the murder. Mandy’s careful escape explained why I hadn’t seen her that morning. But she hadn’t considered that the information she’d included in her blog the night before might now be incorrect.

  Mandy had also managed to swipe my memo from Senator Langsford’s desk in the midst of the confusion after his death. My early arrival at the office had thrown her for a loop. Minutes after I discovered the body, she “arrived” at the office, dressed in her regular work clothes. When she learned I had been inside the senator’s office, she thought I might have been there to deliver my final memo concerning Carter Power and the upcoming hearing. Before Detective O’Halloran arrived, she surreptitiously removed the memo from the senator’s desk and placed it in the recycling receptacle. Without written evidence, there would never be concrete proof Senator Langsford and his staff had wavered in support of Carter Power. That would pave the way for Mandy to secure her dream job and shore up Carter Power’s long-term financial prospects.

  When I started asking too many questions about Langsford’s murder, Mandy became unnerved. She tried to throw me off the trail by making that intimidating phone call, hoping the threat would be enough to stymie our efforts to find the killer. That phone call had the opposite effect. Her threat indicated we were on the right track and strengthened my resolve to find the person responsible for Langsford’s death.

  There was still a big question left unanswered. Now that we were enjoying our after-dinner drinks, Meg and I wanted one last piece of information from Detective O’Halloran.

  “Detective, Meg and I want to know about Jeff Prentice’s involvement in Senator Langsford’s murder. Did he help Mandy hatch her plan?” I sat back in our comfy loveseat and rubbed Clarence’s neck, earning a soft growl of pleasure. Press accounts indicated Jeff had been brought in for police questioning several times, yet no charges had been filed officially against him. Meg and I believed Mandy needed help to pull the crime off, and Jeff likely provided key assistance. Mandy was conniving, but she wasn’t the brightest bulb. Langsford’s murder required the careful timing, strategic planning, and precise execution reminiscent of a military campaign. These facts implied Jeff had been involved. He’d also claimed Mandy as his alibi, which fell apart when she confessed.

  Detective O’Halloran took a long sip of his coffee before saying, “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but why the heck not? Without your help, we might still be trying to figure out who killed the senator. We’re still determining what role Prentice played. Because Mandy almost made mincemeat of you that night on the Senate subway, we got her for attempted murder. It didn’t take long before she sang like a canary about the senator’s death. She contends Jeff Prentice came up with the whole idea and encouraged her to go through with it. According to Mandy, Jeff manipulated her and convinced her to kill Senator Langsford. Obviously, she wants to leverage a deal with the federal prosecutor. Jeff has an altogether different story. He contends that he had no involvement whatsoever in the murder, and he didn’t know she was planning to kill Senator Langsford.”

  “So, it’s her word against his?” Meg asked.

  “For right now, that’s the case. But we’re investigating both stories. The truth is most likely somewhere in between. We’re tracing emails, voice messages, Instant Messages, text messages, Facebook posts, tweets, or any other communication between the two of them to determine what Prentice knew. We have search warrants for their apartments, and if there’s any physical evidence to tie them both to the murder, we’ll find it.”

  I was happy to hear Detective O’Halloran and the rest of the police force were sparing no expense to determine whether Jeff Prentice had been an accomplice to murder. A shiver ran down my back as I recalled the evening Meg and I had spent with Jeff after the murder.

  “If Jeff really did know Mandy killed Senator Langsford, it makes our happy hour with him even more remarkable, huh?” I chuckled uneasily.

  “Quite frankly, Kit, it terrifies me that we spent hours with a person who knew the killer or might have helped her.”

  Detective O’Halloran spoke up. “I need to leave soon since I have an early day tomorrow, but Meg’s comment reminded me of something. I appreciate that both of you,” he pointed at Meg and me, “cared so much about your former boss and wanted to find his killer. From now on, though, you need to stay out of police business. It’s a dangerous game, and we can’t always stop a madwoman from stabbing someone in the dark recesses of the Senate basement. We were darn fortunate one of our officers was watching the live video feed and noticed the struggle.”

  Doug raised his glass and said, “Thank you for those words of wisdom, Detective O’Halloran. This has been an exciting few weeks, but I’m happy Kit’s investigative days have come to an end. Let’s toast to leaving police work to the police.” Doug smiled broadly.

  Meg and I both remained silent. Although neither of us wanted to admit it, we had both enjoyed our brief foray as sleuths. No need to ignite unnecessary tension between Doug and me by saying so.

  I chose my words carefully. “I’d like to thank Detective O’Halloran for his patience, and I’d like make a toast to never having another murder to investigate.” Everyone heartily agreed, and we clinked our glasses. After all, even though we enjoyed sleuthing, we certainly didn’t want another person to die.

  Detective O’Halloran gave Meg and me hearty bear hugs before leaving. Standing at our door, he said, “I know this might be impolite, but I hope we never have a reason to meet again.” He saluted us with his two fingers and waved goodbye to the others.

  Trevor cleared his throat. He’d been quiet this evening, yet it seemed as though he’d smiled more during the course of our dinner than the last four years combined. “To build on what Detective O’Halloran recently said, I want to thank our hosts for the evening.” He offered a brief toast to Doug and me. “For the record, I know I was not the most sociable or friendly person to work with in Senator Langsford’s office.” Meg cleared her throat, and Matt Rocker rolled his eyes. Matt had received numerous complaints about Trevor’s rudeness, which was how they’d interpreted his reticence.

  Trevor went on, “Now I know I made a mistake during my time in the office. I should have accepted the occasional invitation for a happy hour.” He looked pointedly at Meg, whose overtures he had rebuffed consistently. “I could have also been a more pleasant colleague in general.” Trevor paused for a moment to take a sip of his drink. “However, that’s all water under the bridge. Even though I wasn’t Mister Congeniality, I did accomplish a great deal in my several years as a Senate employee. To this end, I’m happy to announce I’ve been named the new government relations liaison for Carter Power!”

  Trevor looked at the crowd with a triumphant expression. Five blank faces stared back at him. For several seconds, no one said anything. Finally, Matt broke the silence. “I guess congratulations are in order, Trevor. I must say this announcement is quite shocking. I think I speak for all of us.”

  Meg looked at Trevor incredulously. “That’s an understatement, Matt. Senator Langsford was murdered over a contract with Carter Power, and now you’re going to work for them?”

  Before giving Trevor a chance to rep
ly, I said, “Did you take the job Mandy wanted?”

  Trevor calmly looked at us and smoothed the crease on his pants before speaking. “I thought there might be some consternation over my decision to accept Carter Power’s generous offer, so I decided to break my usual habit of declining invitations for evening events and accept Kit’s offer for dinner to explain my decision to all of you. This might seem appalling, but you must consider the whole story. Yes, I’ll be taking the job slated previously for Mandy, although I’ll do a much better job than she. Furthermore, what better way to preserve Senator Langsford’s legacy on defense appropriations matters,” he motioned toward me since I covered that issue for the senator, “than to have one of his former aides working for Carter Power? I will ensure Senator Langsford’s sacrifice isn’t soon forgotten. I’ve already led preliminary discussions for Carter Power’s eventual endowment of a generous scholarship fund at his alma mater in Boston. I have numerous ideas for how Carter Power can move forward as a successful company, even if they don’t continue to receive the same level of government contracts as in the past. Lastly—and even though this is none of your business—Carter Power offered me a deal so lucrative, no rational person could refuse.” He took another sip of his drink and sat back in his chair.

  Trevor made a good case for Carter Power. He would do a better job than Mandy, and he would be in a powerful position to secure Senator Langsford’s legacy through generous company donations. While it was unorthodox and altogether awkward for a former Langsford staffer to work for the company that indirectly caused our boss’s demise, Trevor was well suited for the job. Before I could speak, Matt said, “Trevor, you’ve been a challenge to supervise. Yet your talent and work ethic are unparalleled. I wish you the best at Carter Power.” He lifted his glass in an informal toast. Everyone followed suit.