Plastic Gods, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 2
Page 46
Chapter 28
Paula, Bill, Roxanne, and I met Senator Goss and two staff members, George Mathias, three other reporters, and a camera crew at the local NBC studio. Bill had Roxanne tell them about her relationship with Frank Hill, explain the Day-Timer and the secrets that were recorded in it, as well as what she personally knew about Hill’s plan to set up Matt for the bankruptcy fraud charges. When she was done, he let the others question her.
Senator Goss was impressed with her testimony but indicated it still wasn’t enough to convince the Senate Banking Committee to reopen the investigation against MidSouth. I had anticipated this would be the case, so I brought another witness. He was very reluctant to cooperate until I told him Hans Schultz was dead.
“Senator,” I said. “I’ve got another witness that can corroborate Roxanne Witherspoon’s testimony.”
“Really? You didn’t mention that in your phone call.”
“I didn’t have a definite commitment at the time, so I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t pan out.”
“I see. Well, do we get to talk to this mystery witness?”
I nodded and motioned for Paula to bring him in.
Paula brought Tom Hartsfield into the conference room and he took a seat at the end of the long conference table. I introduced him and told them he was once Matt’s office manager for the Debt Relief Center. The court reporter swore him in. The cameramen filmed the interview.
“Mr. Hartsfield,” I said. “Were you contacted by a Hans Schultz while you were employed by the Debt Relief Centers?”
“Yes.”
“What was the purpose of the contact?”
“To give me instructions on how I was to set up Matt Coleman so that he could be implicated in a bankruptcy fraud case.”
“Why did he think you would participate in such a scheme?”
“Because he said he would kill my son if I didn’t.”
“And why are you coming forward now after Matt has already been convicted?”
“Because the man who threatened me, Hans Schultz, is dead and you convinced me it was safe to speak out now. You said I would be provided protection.”
I turned from the witness and addressed Senator Goss and his staff. “So you see, Martha Simonton has linked Hans Schultz to Frank Hill. She testified Schultz was his errand boy, enforcer, or whatever you want to call it. Now Tom Hartsfield has tied Hans Schultz to extortion, perjury, and fraud. And we are confident that further investigation will link Hans Schultz to the murders of five women and a boy, Lori Keys, Lynn Coleman, Martha Simonton and her son, Michael, and Monica Sommers. We are certain each one of these murders was orchestrated by Frank Hill and we implore you to do something about it before Frank Hill kills again.”
“What concerns me,” Senator Goss replied, “is that Roxanne Witherspoon never really saw Hans Schultz with Frank Hill. She only believed he was working for him. This is a critical link in your evidence and it’s very weak. I don’t think I can ask the committee to reopen the investigation just on speculation that Hans Schultz was working for MidSouth or Frank Hill.”
“Don’t you think it’s enough to warrant further investigation?” I asked.
“Yes, and I will forward this evidence to the FBI for further development but I can’t recommend the committee to convene hearings at this time.”
The meeting broke up and Senator Goss agreed, off the record, he would present the evidence to the committee and try to get them to reopen the investigation, but he was doubtful they would grant his request.
I warned him that Frank Hill had contacts in the FBI so referring the case to them might be a waste of time. The Senator assured me, however, he would go above anyone who could possibly be in bed with Frank Hill. In the meantime, we were told to stay in Washington for a few days in case he got lucky and was able to set up a hearing. The members of the press were asked not to go public with what they had heard for seventy-two hours, at which time they were free to run any stories they liked.
I wondered how we could prove Hans Schultz was working for Frank Hill. Roxanne had told Senator Goss that Hill had a discretionary advertising account which he drew upon to fund his operations. Whenever he needed money, she would cut a check for cash and expense it to radio or TV advertising. Everyone knew the advertising account was Frank’s spending money, so no one ever questioned how the money was used. Frank often gave money to Doug Barnes, and she believed it ended up in Hans Schultz’ pocket. I needed to find someone who could link Hans to Doug Barnes.
Jason called later that afternoon to let us know that Matt had been released from prison. He told us they had been followed and were worried about making it to the airport safely. I told him we had come up short on evidence and so far hadn’t convinced Senate Banking Committee to reopen the MidSouth investigation. He said they were on their way to South America and would call again when they arrived. I wished him good luck.