his head. “This county is a mess. You heard the nonsensical press conference the Governor had with poor Beulah Grum next to her?”
We nodded.
“I don’t like Mrs. Grum, but it was sad they made her stand up with the governor. She just lost her son. None of it made any sense. Even I know the election was stolen.”
“How so?” Scott asked.
“Arithmetic.”
“Arithmetic?”
“Yep. Totals don’t add up. Look at every county in the state. You get the average turnout for the election, nearly fifty percent. So the average turnout in Harrison County would be about a hundred thousand votes. Amazingly, in a few key precincts the turnout would have had to have been over seventy-five percent. It will be as far over that as they need it to be.”
Scott frowned. “They expected to get away with this? Can’t someone check?”
“So far they have gotten away with it. And who’s going to prosecute? The Republicans control every office in the county. Statewide they stripped the Secretary of State of all oversight of elections. The Attorney General in the state is a Republican.”
He pointed to a gentleman with swept back silver gray hair walking up to the front door. “See him?”
I nodded.
“Buster Fanning. He’ll stay about four minutes. He’s not here for Veronica. He’s here to be seen by the Grums. Once he realizes there are no major Grums, powerful, influential Grums, he’ll leave.”
The front door opened a few mintues later and, as predicted, Buster Fanning hurried down the walk.
“No one knows this stuff?” I asked.
“Someone probably knows the truth. I’ve never seen that someone come forward, and by this time the truth would be so twisted, it wouldn’t be recognized as the truth.” He stood up. We followed suit. “You’re right. It’s just sad. I know once when we were little we found this old fort about two miles from here. We rode our bikes. Someone had nailed stuff poorly together, used rope to tie stuff together. Edgar used an old knife to cut the ropes. Used the edge of the knife to rip out all the nails he could. He did all the destruction, and I admit I didn’t stop him. The cops were called. It was his word against the kid who built it. Some kid our age. Not in our social set. Not as rich as us. I backed up Edgar’s story. I still feel awful for that. The poor kid didn’t have much, just this crummy fort, and Edgar had to ruin it. And I lied for him. I was a shit. I’ve tried to be better.”
“Why are you telling us all this?”
“The last time I saw Edgar, he said there was something funny about this election.”
Scott said, “He confided in you even though you weren’t close any more?”
“Edgar and social nuances didn’t go well together. It isn’t likely that he noticed our relationship had changed. No, that time we talked, Edgar kept hinting he could really screw things up for a lot of people. And they’d better watch out, and he better get some respect. We were at some annual country club charity event. His brother, Barry, eventually corralled him and shut him up.”
“It doesn’t bother you that the election could be stolen?”
“I’m not political. They so desperately care about who is in charge so they could make more money. I went to medical school, which is not as respectable to them as making fountains of money off the backs of hard-working Americans.”
“What could Edgar do to screw things up?”
“Edgar was big on using veiled threats, always was even as a kid. He never followed through on them. Whether or not he was serious this time, I have no idea.” He shook his head. “As an adult I pretty much kept away from his family and mine. I met Veronica before they got married. She’s a good person. I think Edgar genuinely loved her. She seemed to be a good influence on him, but I was only her doctor. Today, I was worried when I heard she was out of
We nodded.
“I don’t like Mrs. Grum, but it was sad they made her stand up with the governor. She just lost her son. None of it made any sense. Even I know the election was stolen.”
“How so?” Scott asked.
“Arithmetic.”
“Arithmetic?”
“Yep. Totals don’t add up. Look at every county in the state. You get the average turnout for the election, nearly fifty percent. So the average turnout in Harrison County would be about a hundred thousand votes. Amazingly, in a few key precincts the turnout would have had to have been over seventy-five percent. It will be as far over that as they need it to be.”
Scott frowned. “They expected to get away with this? Can’t someone check?”
“So far they have gotten away with it. And who’s going to prosecute? The Republicans control every office in the county. Statewide they stripped the Secretary of State of all oversight of elections. The Attorney General in the state is a Republican.”
He pointed to a gentleman with swept back silver gray hair walking up to the front door. “See him?”
I nodded.
“Buster Fanning. He’ll stay about four minutes. He’s not here for Veronica. He’s here to be seen by the Grums. Once he realizes there are no major Grums, powerful, influential Grums, he’ll leave.”
The front door opened a few mintues later and, as predicted, Buster Fanning hurried down the walk.
“No one knows this stuff?” I asked.
“Someone probably knows the truth. I’ve never seen that someone come forward, and by this time the truth would be so twisted, it wouldn’t be recognized as the truth.” He stood up. We followed suit. “You’re right. It’s just sad. I know once when we were little we found this old fort about two miles from here. We rode our bikes. Someone had nailed stuff poorly together, used rope to tie stuff together. Edgar used an old knife to cut the ropes. Used the edge of the knife to rip out all the nails he could. He did all the destruction, and I admit I didn’t stop him. The cops were called. It was his word against the kid who built it. Some kid our age. Not in our social set. Not as rich as us. I backed up Edgar’s story. I still feel awful for that. The poor kid didn’t have much, just this crummy fort, and Edgar had to ruin it. And I lied for him. I was a shit. I’ve tried to be better.”
“Why are you telling us all this?”
“The last time I saw Edgar, he said there was something funny about this election.”
Scott said, “He confided in you even though you weren’t close any more?”
“Edgar and social nuances didn’t go well together. It isn’t likely that he noticed our relationship had changed. No, that time we talked, Edgar kept hinting he could really screw things up for a lot of people. And they’d better watch out, and he better get some respect. We were at some annual country club charity event. His brother, Barry, eventually corralled him and shut him up.”
“It doesn’t bother you that the election could be stolen?”
“I’m not political. They so desperately care about who is in charge so they could make more money. I went to medical school, which is not as respectable to them as making fountains of money off the backs of hard-working Americans.”
“What could Edgar do to screw things up?”
“Edgar was big on using veiled threats, always was even as a kid. He never followed through on them. Whether or not he was serious this time, I have no idea.” He shook his head. “As an adult I pretty much kept away from his family and mine. I met Veronica before they got married. She’s a good person. I think Edgar genuinely loved her. She seemed to be a good influence on him, but I was only her doctor. Today, I was worried when I heard she was out of
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