My Honorable Brother

by Bob Weintraub

  The Herald did not endorse either Richie Cardella or Doug Fiore on the Republican side. “This is the first time in our newspaper’s history, since we began supporting one candidate over another that we have failed to take a position. The unusual circumstances facing us demand such a result.”

  Still, the editorial felt the need to point out that Cardella’s condition remained critical. “His doctors will not even venture a guess as to when he might be released from intensive care. Obviously, any recovery will take an unknown and indefinite amount of time. It’s a foregone conclusion that he’d be unable to campaign any further, were he to win the primary. Moreover, were Cardella somehow to be successful in both the primary and general elections, the citizens of Rhode Island must realize that whoever is elected to the office of lieutenant governor might well be at the helm of State government for an extended period of time.”

  The fairness and statesmanship Fiore showed by essentially terminating his own campaign as soon as Cardella was struck down was remarked upon in the piece. The editorial also emphasized that based on Fiore’s stated positions, there was no issue of prime importance to the people of the State on which the Herald editors would speak against his election.

  Cyril Berman was elated when he finished reading the commentary. The polls had tightened up in the last few days, as they normally did. News analysts on both radio and television, referring to the margin of error in the different results, were saying that the race was virtually a dead heat. Berman felt that the substance of the Herald’s non-endorsement was an effort to encourage Republicans to throw their support behind Fiore in the primary. The newspaper clearly hoped to have a candidate who was in a position to wage an all-out battle against Bruce Singer for the governorship of the State. He expected it to be enough to tip the election their way.

  Berman started to dial Fiore’s telephone number, to let him know how good he felt about the latest development. Halfway through he stopped, realizing that Doug would probably respond by saying that he hoped Cyril was right. Despite the praise heaped on Fiore in the editorial for discontinuing the campaign when he did, there would be no recognition of the good advice Cyril gave him. Instead, Doug was sure to say that if he lost, they would have only Berman to blame for not taking advantage of Cardella’s disability. It was too nice a day to let it get spoiled that way, Berman thought. He hung up the phone and got ready to go to breakfast.

  64

  IT RAINED HARD THROUGHOUT the State on primary day, and the turnout of voters was affected to a greater degree than usual. All of the candidates had their sign carriers out in force. They stood in raincoats and other foul weather gear on the sidewalks in front of the polling places. They were spotted at any number of strategic locations, including highway overpasses, bridge crossings and main street intersections. There, they waved at passing automobiles and solicited votes for the candidates they supported from anyone within earshot.

  The media did whatever exit polling it could. Its members discovered, however, that few voters were willing to take the time to discuss their choices once outside the election site. Instead, they ran off to their cars or the closest place they could find to stay dry. The limited response was deemed insufficient by radio and TV reporters to risk predicting the primary results of the governor’s race prior to the closing of the polls.

  Berman and Walsh spent the morning putting the final touches on the victory speech they drafted for Fiore after the Herald published its Sunday edition. They knew they had to include a short prayer for Cardella, and finally made up their minds to insert it at the end.

  Berman decided not to spend any time working on a full-blown concession statement. But he noted a number of items he would want Fiore to mention if it unexpectedly came to that. He knew that in a certain number of key precincts the votes would be counted within an hour of the poll closings at 8:00 p.m. If Cardella bested Fiore in those locations, Cyril would still have time to put together an appropriate statement for Doug to read to his disappointed campaign workers and supporters.

  The critical factors in the election turned out to be those that Berman had predicted. They were the uncertainty of Cardella’s physical condition and the “good guy” image Fiore picked up by refusing to campaign after his rival was hospitalized. The inclement weather that lasted throughout the day also aided their cause. Fiore’s organization made thousands of phone calls and drove hundreds of his supporters to local school buildings, veterans’ halls and senior citizen centers where the election machinery was set up. They did whatever it took to get out the vote.

  By 9:30 at night, the TV election coverage on several networks showed Fiore ahead by just 51 to 49 percent. Political analysts were telling viewers that the outcome was still “too close to call.” But Berman knew they had won. The entire last hour was spent taking telephone calls from campaign representatives around the State. He compared the vote counts he was being given from the most important precincts with the numbers he and Walsh worked out much earlier—numbers that spelled triumph or disaster, depending on the support the candidate was receiving. A blackboard was set up in Berman’s suite, and Walsh constantly updated the figures as Cyril called out the reports he was given on the phone.

  While that was taking place, Lester Karp handled the barrage of telephone calls from supporters and news agencies that came in on the other line in the suite. Karp’s wife was there also, and when not joining Grace Fiore on the sofa to watch the news, she stayed busy serving drinks and snacks to everyone there.

  As the euphoria built, Berman became anxious. “We may have to wait until close to midnight for a concession,” he told Walsh. “I suspect Cardella’s wife will be at their headquarters at the Marriott to handle it.”

  Walsh was more optimistic. “If they’re getting the same information from their polling place spotters that we are, they know it’s all over. It makes no sense for them to drag it out for hours.”

  Fiore was too excited to sit still. He walked back and forth across the living area of the Biltmore suite like a tiger in a cage, his head turned to the TV from wherever he stood. Occasionally, he shouted out a “Yahoo” or slapped Berman’s shoulder when a particularly gratifying vote count was announced. He stopped a few times behind the sofa where Grace was sitting, resting his hands on her shoulders and rooting himself on. As the percentages began to increase in his favor, he massaged his wife’s neck with his fingers. “You’re halfway to becoming the ‘First Lady’ of Rhode Island,” he told her. At Berman’s suggestion, he went into the bedroom shortly after ten o’clock and practiced delivering his victory speech.

  An hour later, Fiore finally got to direct his remarks to a Biltmore ballroom jammed with his family, friends and campaign workers. What required just twelve minutes to get through each time he rehearsed it, took more than twice as long when he stood in front of the cheering throng. At times it seemed as if the young volunteers hollering “Fi-o-re, Fi-o-re” over and over again would never let him reach the end. At the completion of his speech, he told the audience that he wanted everyone to be silent while he said a prayer for Richie Cardella. When he asked God’s blessing for his opponent, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, and probably the same in any home throughout the State still tuned in to the coverage on TV.

  The final election figures, excluding about two thousand mail ballots that would take several days to count, were tabulated by three o’clock Wednesday afternoon. They showed that Fiore received almost 54 percent of the vote. The negative side was that only 18,000 registered Republicans cast ballots. That was almost 17 percent less than the number that was predicted on the basis of the usual turnout.

  On the Democratic side, Bruce Singer picked up a very comfortable 58 percent of the vote in defeating June Bates. Thanking the voters and his campaign workers for their support, Singer got a resounding applause when he announced that his campaign for governor wasn’t taking a single day off. He promised to be out greeting the busloads of commuters as they arrived in Kennedy Pl
aza early the next morning.

  In the post-election-day study of all the returns that he made on Wednesday, Berman noted that the drop-off among registered Democrats from the number expected to vote was only four percent. He felt certain that a similar result among Republicans would have meant defeat for Fiore. The conclusion he reached was that the huge number of Republicans who stayed home preferred to see Cardella represent their party in the general election. They were smart enough, however, to know that the fates had conspired against his being able to do so.

  Berman complimented himself on managing a good campaign to that point. Walsh and Karp came by his room and praised him for a job well done. Each brought a bottle of Cyril’s favorite Scotch. Sandy Tarantino called to congratulate him and offer continued support in the weeks ahead. By the time Berman pulled the drapes closed in his bedroom in midafternoon and lay down for a nap, he still hadn’t heard a word from Fiore.

  * * *

  When the people of Rhode Island woke up on Thursday morning and turned on their radios and TV sets as they got ready for work, they learned that Richie Cardella passed away during the night. Only then did the doctors who treated him reveal the full extent of the bullet wounds to his chest. The general consensus among them was that only a miracle let him survive for over nine days.

  Saddened by the news, Berman had two thoughts when he heard the announcement. The second one was that legislation of some sort should be introduced to require a candidate’s physician to submit a written report of the status of that individual’s health when the candidate entered a race for any statewide or federal office; that such a report should leave out nothing that was even potentially life threatening and be made available to the public through the media; and that it be immediately updated in the event of any accident or illness suffered by the candidate that came to the doctor’s attention prior to the election.

  His first thought was that he should arrange for Fiore to be a pallbearer at Cardella’s funeral.

  65

  THE POLICE INVESTIGATION INTO the shooting of Al Niro at Chi-Chi’s was going nowhere. Since Niro was just a bookie, that fact was not of much concern in the City of Providence until the same incident also claimed the life of Richie Cardella. Suddenly, it became an “outrageous crime,” as the nearby Woonsocket Star began calling it.

  About a dozen people who were in the bar at the time were brought to police headquarters and shown mug shots of hundreds of ex-convicts. None, however, saw a face that made them believe, even for a moment, that they were looking at a photograph of the killer. Each of the potential witnesses sat down with a police artist and described what he or she remembered from a quick glimpse of the young man as he strode past their booths. The composite drawing that resulted from the information was all that Providence’s finest had to go on.

  Jenna Richardson spoke to Dan McMurphy about working on the story on the very first day. He was quick to refuse. “You’re writing political stuff, Jenna, you’re not on the crime beat. It’s Cohen’s jurisdiction. One reporter on the story is enough.”

  She was back in McMurphy’s office the day Cardella died, pressing her case again. “You’ve got to let me chase down this story, Dan. Cardella was running for governor. That puts it in my territory.”

  “I don’t see it that way,” he said. “It’s just an accidental connection, not a political story on its own.”

  “Not so,” she shot back. “His death affects the whole race. There’s going to be a lot of ‘what ifs’ right through the election and even after it’s over.” Jenna got up and stood next to Dan’s desk. “I’ll make a deal with you,” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “If the police don’t come up with a substantial lead in one more week, and if Nate Cohen can’t produce any new information to justify keeping the story in the paper, I get a crack at it.”

  McMurphy sat back in his chair, clasped his hands behind his neck and stared up at the ceiling. The time seemed like an eternity to her. When he agreed, the proviso he extracted was that she continue giving him a good column, three days a week, on the general election.

  66

  AT FIRST CYRIL BERMAN gave Fiore three days to rest up after the primary. He intended to revise their schedule, he said, and indicated that they would plunge into the general election campaign on Saturday. But when Cardella succumbed and his funeral mass was scheduled to take place the following Monday, Berman called on the telephone and informed Fiore that they wouldn’t get started until Cardella was laid to rest.

  It was the first time they spoke to each other since Doug left Cyril’s suite at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, after shaking hundreds of hands in the Biltmore ballroom.

  “We’ll have exactly six weeks to go to the election. Expect to work very hard, and don’t do anything you might regret afterwards.”

  Fiore laughed. “Didn’t I hear that once before in a big black limousine?” he asked.

  “I have a tendency to repeat myself,” Berman answered. “I’ll try and avoid that when I write my ‘How to Run for Governor and Win’ book. Meanwhile, Doug, you’re going to be a pallbearer at the funeral and I’d like you to spend as much time as you can at the wake both days. A lot of important people are going to be passing through that funeral parlor. We want Cardella’s supporters to be there for you in November, not sitting on the sidelines again. Remember, they feel cheated because they’re sure he’d have won if nothing happened to him. It’s going to be harder than usual to get them interested in coming over to your side, as much as they might hate Singer. So shake as many hands as you can, but be diplomatic. Don’t say anything about the election unless they bring it up.”

  “I’ll do whatever you say, Cyril. In case it hasn’t hit you yet, I want to win this thing. As of Tuesday night, Bruce Singer became the biggest sonofabitch in the world.” A moment later he asked, “Will you be there Monday?”

  “Probably not. I’m not too comfortable in a church.”

  “Then maybe you ought to make sure ahead of time that I get to hold the casket up front, preferably with my left hand. The photographers usually start shooting as soon as the pallbearers come out the front door. That way, everyone who reads about it will know I was there.”

  “Good thought,” Berman said. “I’ll make a call.” He waited a few seconds, giving Fiore a chance to remember to thank him for the ideas that won the primary for them. But there was nothing more said. He hung up and smiled. At least his ungrateful student was beginning to understand the course.

  * * *

  Despite Berman’s warning, Fiore used some of the time off to socialize.

  On Friday night, after spending almost two hours alone in his office working on a speech, he drove to the Hilton near Green Airport to meet Carol. He parked at the rear of the building, entered by the side door and walked up the stairs to the third floor. Carol reserved the room under a false name, paid for it in cash when she checked in, and informed him earlier where she would be. When he hung up his jacket in the closet, Doug took four 20-dollar bills out of his wallet and slipped them into the pocket of her raincoat.

  He learned during the course of their affair that her mood was usually unpredictable. “How do you feel?” he asked. It struck him that the question was beginning to sound like a broken record.

  “Like maybe killing myself,” Carol said. But her words weren’t followed by the burst of tears normally expected after an answer of that kind. In fact, seeing that she was in complete control of herself, he tested the waters to see whether her disposition was unalterably gloomy and sex was out of the question. “I think that if you’ve made up your mind to stop seeing me, it would be a shame not to make love one last time.”

  Doug was sitting on the side of the bed, Carol in the chair farthest from him. Her answer came as a welcome relief. “I didn’t say anything about not having sex. But I’ve been asking myself all week how I could possibly be in this stupid predicament. I’m married to one man running for governor and having an affa
ir with his opponent. It’s ridiculous, Doug. It’s like something you’d read in a trashy romance novel and never believe. But here it is happening to me. I just don’t know if I can cope with it. Maybe I ought to take a leave of absence from the firm and go live on the Cape until the election’s over.”

  Carol turned toward the window as she finished speaking. Fiore waited for her to look back at him. “How are things going at home?” he asked.

  “A little worse every day,” she said. “Sometimes it’s his fault, usually it’s mine. Bruce thinks everything will get back to normal between us after the election, whether he wins or loses. He’s convinced that he can keep our marriage from going on the rocks. He never thinks about holding my hand, only shaking every other one in Rhode Island. I’m sure he doesn’t even let himself consider the idea of a divorce. Do you think he’d believe me if I told him I was sleeping with someone else?”

  If the mood were lighter he would have said, “Only if you don’t shower before you go home.” But Fiore had thought about what would happen to their relationship if he became governor, and knew that this part of it would be over. He hoped that in that case she’d be able to straighten things out with Bruce.

  “This is Bruce’s mountain, Carol,” he said. “You can’t just turn him around and point him in another direction.”

  She understood the analogy. “I know I can’t, but I don’t have to stay with a man who’s ready to risk my happiness every time he feels he has to go climbing. If he ever gets to the top, he can stay there alone as far as I’m concerned. I can’t breathe the air up there.”