(1976) The R Document

by Irving Wallace

  ‘It’s true,’ said Susan Radenbaugh. ‘How did you know that?’

  ‘From Mrs Baxter - Hannah Baxter - who suggested I visit your father in Lewisburg. She felt he might know something about the matter. I did go to Lewisburg two days ago, only to learn of your father’s death. Then I heard you were the one person your father had stayed in touch with. It occurred to me that your father might have spoken to you about the matter I’ve been investigating. I decided to track you down and see you.’

  ‘What do you want to know?’

  He took a deep breath, and he posed the question. I wonder if your father ever spoke to you about something called The R Document?’

  She looked blank. ‘What’s that?’

  Collins’ heart sank. ‘I don’t know. I had hoped you would.’

  ‘No,’ she said firmly, ‘I’ve never heard a word about it.’

  ‘Dammit,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘Forgive me. I guess I’m disappointed. You and your father were my last

  bets. Well, I tried and that’s that.’ He came wearily off the ottoman. I won’t bother you anymore.’ He hesitated. ‘Let me say just this. Colonel Baxter believed in your father. In fact, before his stroke he was working on getting your father a parole. Since then I’ve reviewed his case, and I agree with Colonel Baxter. Your father was a fall guy. I too planned to work on his parole. I promised Mrs Baxter I’d discuss the parole with your father when I went to see him about The R Document. Hannah Baxter told me she would write your father to expect me, to cooperate with me.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Well, I guess I’m always too late.’

  He saw the girl’s eyes widen and her hands go to her mouth, as she looked past him, and suddenly there was a third voice in the room.

  ‘You’re not too late this time,’ someone said from behind Collins.

  He whirled around and found himself confronted by a stranger standing under the archway leading from the living room to the dining room.

  The older man seemed vaguely familiar, yet was unknown to him.

  The man walked toward him and stopped. ‘I’m Donald Radenbaugh,’ he said quietly. ‘You wanted to know about The R Document? What do you want to know?’

  *.”Ś*_*

  It was more than a half hour before The R Document was mentioned meaningfully again.

  First, there had been Collins’ incredulity to deal with. Radenbaugh dealt with it briefly. ‘Radenbaugh risen from the dead,’ he had said. I am dead, but in name only. Otherwise, I’m very much alive. We’ll get into me when I know more about you, and how you got to me.’

  Then, there had been Susan’s incredulity to deal with. Her father dealt with it early. ‘You can’t understand how I took the chance of revealing myself, Susie? Especially to someone from the Department of Justice? It’s because I need someone, besides you, whom I can trust. I think I can trust Mr Collins. He sounded sympathetic even when he didn’t

  know I was here. I need help, Susie. Maybe if I do something for him, he’ll do something for me.’

  Finally, there had been Radenbaugh’s own incredulity to deal with. He had dealt with it by demanding to know how Collins could possibly know about The R Document or suspect that Radenbaugh knew anything about it. ‘You may have explained to my daughter. I couldn’t hear anything you were telling her at first. I was hiding in the kitchen. Later I came closer, to listen. Before we can go any further, you had better tell me how you got here.’

  They had settled down facing each other on the daybed, backed by the cushions piled against the wall of Susan’s living room.

  Collins had spoken carefully, slowly, frankly, in full detail, of the events that had occurred since the night of Colonel Baxter’s death. Finally, he had talked about seeing Hannah Baxter. While she had disclaimed any knowledge of The R Document, she had thought that if Noah had confided its contents to anyone it might have been to Donald Radenbaugh.

  ‘Yes, she wrote me to expect a visit from you,’ Radenbaugh had said.

  ‘And I went to visit you,’ Collins had said. “The warden told me you were dead. But here you are.’

  ‘Now I know how you got here,’ Radenbaugh had said. ‘Now let me tell you how / got here. And how lucky I am to be here. It’s quite a story. You’ll have to suspend disbelief completely.’

  Collins had listened, mouth agape, often unable to susŤ pend disbelief. Vernon T. Tynan’s secret nocturnal meeting with Radenbaugh, and his offer of freedom in exchange for three-quarters of a million dollars, had been a stunner. It had also raised the question of why Tynan required a large sum of money so badly that he would take such a risk, but Collins had not interrupted with the question. He had continued to listen, as Radenbaugh had related his story to the moment of the destruction of his hotel room where his alter ego, Herbert Miller, had been neatly obliterated.

  At the end of Radenbaugh’s recital, Collins had had no more doubts about what had been happening in California,

  ‘Tynan,’ he had said aloud.

  ‘He’s behind everything,’ Radenbaugh had agreed. ‘It’s simple to see why. I read the 35th Amendment. It’ll make him the most powerful man in America. More powerful than the President. Yet I’d bet there’s not one bit of concrete evidence against him.’

  Collins had thought about it. ‘Not so far as I know. Unless - unless he’s involved with The R Document. Can we talk about that now?’

  ‘We can. But before we do, I want three things from you.’

  ‘Name them.’

  ‘First, I want the plastic surgery completed on my face. The eyes, at least. They would probably be enough. I don’t think I’d be recognized today, but if I were, I’d be dead for sure. Tynan would see to that.’

  ‘No problem. We have a surgeon in Carson City, Nevada, that the FBI doesn’t know about. Both the Cosa Nostra and the CIA use him, if that amuses you. When would you want it done?’

  ‘Immediately. Like tomorrow.’

  ‘Done.’

  ‘Second, I need a new identity. Donald Radenbaugh died in Lewisburg. Herbert Miller died in Miami.’ He had pulled out his wallet, removed three cards, and handed them to Collins. ‘A driver’s license, a car-rental credit card, and a Social Security card - all that’s left of Herbert Miller. No good now. I need new papers. I’ve got to be somebody?

  ‘They have to be prepared in Denver,’ Collins had said. ‘You’ll have them in five days. What else? There was one more thing.’

  ‘Yes. A solemn promise from you.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘That if it is ever possible, one day, to tell the truth about what Tynan did, about my supposed death, you’ll do so - and after I’ve returned my share of the money, you’ll help restore to me my own name and get me my parole or pardon.’

  ‘I don’t know if that will ever be possible.’

  ‘But if it is?’

  Collins had considered his dilemma briefly. Could he, as the nation’s number one law officer, deal with a convicted felon? Collins had known that his legal duty was clear - to make no promises to Radenbaugh, to take him into custody. But he had also known, considering the uniqueness of the circumstances, that he had a higher duty, a duty to his country. That came first. That transcended all narrow legalisms.

  He had had his answer. ‘Someday, if it is possible, I’ll do it,’ Collins had said. ‘Yes, I’ll help you. I swear to that.’

  ‘Now I can tell you about The R Document.’

  All that had transpired in the first half hour or more, and now they had reached what for Collins was the moment of truth.

  Radenbaugh took a cigarette from his daughter, smiled at her as he lit up, and swung around to face Collins on the daybed.

  ‘I don’t know all about it,’ he said slowly, ‘but I do know something. It may be of help to you. The 35th Amendment - The R Document was an unwritten part of it - I mean it was a part not made public - came into being before I went to jail. It troubled Noah Baxter very much. True, he was a conservative, and hard-nosed about many thing
s, but he was a decent man and a strict Constitutionalist. He did not like to misinterpret the Constitution and he did not like to tamper with it. But as crime got worse and worse in this country, and the pressure was on, he was backed into a corner. He had a job to do, and he saw it couldn’t be done, and order in the country couldn’t be restored, unless the laws were changed. He thought the 35th Amendment was too stringent. He had grave misgivings about it. But he went along. I always felt he regretted it. In the end, I suspect, he was in too deep to get out.’

  ‘I think you’re right,’ said Collins. ‘As I told you, in his last breath, he said, “I must speak - they cannot control me now - I am free, I no longer have to be afraid anymore.” Free of whom? Afraid of whom or what?’

  Radenbaugh shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I only know he got into it deeper than he wanted to, and he was much troubled, and had no one to confide in except me. So he

  would tell me what he wanted to, when he was in the mood. It was under those circumstances that he first mentioned The R Document. He brought it up several times after that. He wished Tynan hadn’t got him involved with the 35th or The R Document.’

  ‘Tynan?’ said Collins with surprise. ‘I thought President Wadsworth instigated the 35th Amendment and everything connected with it?’

  ‘No, it was all Tynan. He was the author and creator of the 35th and The R Document. He sold the bill of goods to the President, and the Congress. At least, he sold them the 35th. I don’t know if anyone besides Tynan and Baxter -and me, of course - ever heard of The R Document.’

  ‘Mr Radenbaugh, tell me what it is.’

  ‘The R stands for Reconstruction - The Reconstruction Document.’

  ‘Reconstruction of what? The United States?’

  ‘Yes, exactly. The R Document was a secretly conceived plan to supplement and implement the 35th Amendment. It was a blueprint for reconstructing the United States, turning it into a crimeless country under the 35th. The document fell into two parts. Baxter knew of only one part. The second, he told me, was then still being worked out by Tynan. The first part was the pilot program.’

  Puzzled, Collins said, “The pilot program? What’s that?’

  ‘I was just getting to it. I told you Tynan conceived the 35th Amendment. Here is how he conceived it. In trying to develop new laws to recommend to the President and Congress, new laws that might reverse the rapidly escalating crime rate in the nation, Tynan hit upon the idea of making a study of crimeless or near-crimeless communities in the United States. If cities could be found that had remarkably low crime rates, then what were the elements in the structure of those communities that made this possible?’

  ‘So far, sensible,’ admitted Collins.

  ‘So far,’ said Radenbaugh. ‘Well, Tynan’s aides fed the computers, and they whirred, and they came up with a handful of almost crime-free communities. In every case, each of those communities was a company town.’

  ‘A company town?’

  “The United States is full of them. Usually it’s a community built and operated solely to support a single company. Typically, let us say, Morenci, Arizona, where Phelps Dodge has its open-pit copper mines. Every home, store, business building is owned by Phelps Dodge. Public utilities are provided by Phelps Dodge. The life of the community is controlled by the company. Now, not all company towns are crimeless. I don’t know if Morenci is. But in certain other selected towns, crime was almost non-existent. These were usually small, remote communities, where a single company or person dominated the life of the town.’

  ‘A dictatorship.’

  ‘In a sense. At least, a place where there were powerful and tight economic and social controls. Among these communities that Tynan found to be near-crimeless, there was one that fascinated him. It had the best longtime record. It suffered virtually no crime or disorder. It was called Argo City, and it was owned entirely by the Argo Smelting and Refining Company of Arizona. Tynan made a thorough investigation of that community. He found the secret to Argo City’s record. He found that in this community the Bill of Rights, most of the freedoms under the Bill of Rights, had been suspended. The inhabitants did not seem to object. They were satisfied so long as they were economically and physically secure. Using the legal structures of this town, Tynan developed his idea for the 35th Amendment. He decided that what could work in Argo City, Arizona, could work throughout the United States of America.’

  ‘Fascinating,’ said Collins. ‘And diabolical.’

  ‘Even more diabolical was what Tynan did to this town. He had to be positive that every aspect of the 35th Amendment would work in real life. So he used the people of Argo City as his guinea pigs. How was he able to move in his agents and do this? He investigated the company that had been running the town, and he found that Argo Smelting and Refining had been getting away with tax fraud for years, Tynan put pressure on the board of directors, and they were quick to make a deal. If Tynan would not report his findings to the Justice Department, they would give him and his aides a free hand in running the community. So Tynan, as he

  might run the Committee on National Safety under the 35th Amendment, ran a prototype safety committee in Argo City. It was his proving ground to see how the 35th would work in action.’

  ‘My God, incredible,’ said Collins. ‘You mean that city, without a Bill of Rights, exists today.’

  ‘As far as I know, it does.’

  ‘But that can’t be done in a democracy. It’s illegal.’

  ‘It’ll be legal once the 35th passes in California,’ said Radenbaugh. ‘Anyway, the results of that experiment represent the first half of The R Document.’

  ‘And the second half of The R Document?’

  Radenbaugh threw up his hands. I don’t know.’

  Collins pondered what he had heard. I can’t believe this has been going on. What about the results? Did it work in Argo City?’

  Radenbaugh stared at Collins. ‘You’d have to see for yourself.’ He paused. ‘Would you like to?’

  ‘You’re damn right I would. I want to get to the bottom of Tynan’s plot. There’s a lot at stake. Is it safe?’

  ‘There aren’t many visitors to that town. At least, there weren’t, the last I heard. But just the two of us won’t be conspicuous.’

  ‘There might be three of us.’

  ‘Three?’ said Radenbaugh. ‘That could be dangerous.’

  ‘It would be worth the risk,’ said Collins.

  *

  The moment that Chris Collins had returned to Washington, D.C., he had instigated a crash research project to investigate company towns in the United States - company towns in general and Argo City, Arizona, in particular.

  The research had gone forward silently and swiftly, and now, four days later, he had the manila folders containing the basic facts fanned out on the blotter of his huge desk in the Department of Justice.

  He began to review the facts. He saw at once that the American company town was a natural and innocent phenomenon connected with the nation’s growth. If a company

  opened a mine in a remote area, it required men to work the mine. To lure employees to some out-of-the-way section of the country, these companies had to provide a city for families to live in. To make a city, the company had to build houses, establish businesses, provide recreational facilities and medical care. The company also had to provide local government and police protection. In the end, the company did everything for the people, and in return the people submitted to control by the company and belonged to it.

  Collins read the record. There had been Pullman, Illinois - ten miles outside Chicago - buiit by George M. Pullman, the millionaire who had held a monopoly on railroad sleeping cars. Pullman housed his 12,000 employees in his own city. According to a photocopy of a turn-of-the-century clipping taken from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine: ‘The Pullman companies retain everything. No private individual owns today a square rod of ground or a single structure in the entire town. No organization, not even a church,
can occupy any other than rented quarters. Certain unpleasant features of social life are soon noticed … bad administration … favoritism and nepotism … the all-pervading feeling of insecurity. Nobody regards Pullman as a real home. The pov/er of Bismarck in Germany is utterly insignificant when compared with the power of the ruling authority at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Pullman. Every man, woman, and child in the town is completely at its mercy. Here is a population where not one single resident dares speak out openly his opinion about the town in which he lives.’

  Because George M. Pullman gouged his dependents by levying higher utility charges and rents than neighboring communities, his inhabitants revolted. They sued and eventually they broke his hold on the privately owned community.

  But Pullman, Illinois, had been an exception. Most modern company towns seemed decent enough. There was Scotia, California, owned by the Pacific Lumber Company. There was Anaconda, Montana, owned by Anaconda Copper. There was Louviers, Colorado, owned by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. There was Sunnyside, Utah, owned by the Utah Fuel Company. There was Trona,

  California, owned by the American Potash and Chemical Corporation.

  And then, in the final folder, there was Argo City, Arizona, owned by the Argo Smelting and Refining Company - and Vernon T. Tynan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

  The material available on Argo City was skimpy - suspiciously skimpy. The research made instantly clear the difference between Argo City and the average company town elsewhere. In the average company town, not everything was possessed by the company and not all the people were dominated by the company. Sometimes people could buy and own their homes. Sometimes outsiders could open businesses. Usually, persons not working for the company could live in the community. Not so with Argo City. Apparently, everything - every home, every commercial enterprise, every public and Government facility - was owned and regulated by the company. There was not a shred of evidence that any outsider - a person not working for the company -had ever been able to acquire a house or open a shop in the city’s history.