Chapter 29

During the next week, things went from bad to worse for Jake Singh and his pals. It seemed as though lobbyists and companies were ratting out and leaving Jake to sink or swim. Mainly sink. The interviews and panels on my show were universally negative. The government was frantically trying to put a positive spin on events. Their party line seemed to be, "we found something wrong and we're trying to fix it." Yeah. It didn't seem to wash with the public.

Whatever the political result, the public relations were terrible. Suddenly, a government with a huge majority and no effective opposition found itself on the defensive. The fallout would be very interesting.

It seemed as though every minister and power broker was constantly calling me wanting to appear on the show. I'd been courted by these people before. But this was different. Much more intense and unremitting. I begged Joe Dudich for help. He understood and temporarily assigned Thora, an associate editor, to answer my phone and open my email.

And there was another development. On Thursday, I had another call from Inspector Robinson. When Thora told me that he was on the line, I was tempted to tell her to say that I was out. But I picked up the phone and said, "Hello."

"Mr. Connolly," Robinson said, "I understand how busy you must be. Thank you for taking my call. One of my colleagues would very much like to speak to you. Here is Superintendent Watkins."

A woman's voice came on the phone. "Mr. Connolly," she said, "this is Watkins. I understand that you know Christine Lau."

"Superintendent," I said, "I have met her and talked to her a grand total of three times. That's all. I'm not her friend, her lover or her father confessor. I am not a conduit to Christie Lau. OK?"

She sounded amused. "I understand. I never assumed that you were her confidant. However, the fact is that we have very little access to this person. Any help you can give us will be greatly appreciated."

I said, "What would you like me to do?"

"The fact is," Watkins said, "Borealis Entertainment is one of the companies implicated in the Jagtar Singh affair. The principal shareholder in that company is, as I'm sure that you're aware, Charles Connacher. And, as you may know, the chief executive officer of B. E. is Mr. Connacher's fiancée, Christine Lau."

I was speechless for several breaths. "I had no idea that Christie was running Charlie Connacher's business. Where did you get this information?"

Watkins again sounded amused. "I'm afraid that it's not because of any sleuthing on our part. It's public record," she said, "if a company's shares are traded publicly, as B. E.'s are, all these offices are known. Why are you surprised?"

I said, "I'm surprised that you'd talk to me about any of this. I have no interest whatsoever in Charlie or his company. And I still I have no idea what you're asking me to do."

"Mr. Connolly," Watkins said, "we simply ask you to keep your eyes and ears open if and when you speak to either Mr. Connacher or Ms. Lau."

"In other words," I said, "I'm an informant."

Robinson's voice came over the phone, "No," he said, "an informant is one who is involved in a criminal conspiracy and gives information concerning his or her coconspirators. In this case, you are simply a concerned citizen giving information to the police."

"A concerned citizen," I said, "who might wind up dead for his trouble."

Once again Watkins sounded amused. "I really think that you're over-dramatizing this affair," she said.

I left the line silent for a while. I could feel the tension building. Finally, Robinson said, "Mr. Connolly, are you there?"

"Yes," I said, "and I wish that I weren't. I wish that I could believe you. But I can't avoid the feeling that there's danger here."

After the Mounties called me, I was depressed as hell.

Thora tapped my shoulder. "Pat," she said, "there's a call from your lawyer. She says that she needs to talk to you."

I picked up the phone. It was Parmela. I asked, "What's up?"

"Pat, it's not a big deal, but we need to meet. I have to explain a few more things to you and ask you to sign more instruments. These are necessary to proceed with the disposition of the estate."

The estate. Moe's estate. That had largely moved out of my mind with all the other events of the past few weeks. "Certainly," I said, "can we meet sometime this weekend? I'm pretty tied up during the week."

We agreed to meet on Saturday. I'd be at her office at noon.

Shauna, as had become her habit, drove us home in her red rocket. I told her of the events of the day. She was actually excited.

"That's great," she said, "I can come along and spend some time with Robbie. Oh, did I tell you? She has a boyfriend. She says that he's really special. Maybe we could stay over Saturday night and do something with them. What do you think?"

What I thought was that I didn't really understand what was happening, but if Shauna wanted to meet Robin's boyfriend I'd go along with it. The next day, I had a phone call to make that I was dreading.

The phone was answered on the first ring. I didn't recognize the voice. "Connacher residence," she said.

"Is Ms. Lau in?"

"Yes sir. May I ask who's calling?"

"It's Pat Connolly."

"Thank you, sir. Just one moment."

In a very short time, Christie's voice came on the line. "Pat," she said, "how positively lovely to hear from you. How are you?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not great. To cut to the chase, can I see you for a few minutes tomorrow?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. What time?"

"Well, I'll be meeting with my lawyer at noon. I'd guess that I'd be free around 1:30 or so. How about you?"

"That sounds stellar! Please come here whenever you finish with the legal person. I'll be delighted to see you."

I wasn't sure how delighted I'd be to see Christie. However, it might well be necessary.

I made the travel arrangements and hotel booking for Shauna and me. At least we'd have a way to get there and a place to stay.

The time passed all too quickly. We flew to Toronto. We checked into the Crowne Plaza. Shauna took a cab to Robin's apartment, and I walked to the Toronto Dominion Centre.

When I arrived at the TD Centre, the security guard made her requisite call to Parmela's office and escorted me upstairs in the elevator. Parmela greeted me at the elevator and took me to her office.

The legal papers were completed and signed very quickly. To me, they seemed routine and perfunctory. I wondered about the real reason for this meeting. Parmela soon enlightened me.

"Pat," she said, "to be honest, the real reason that I wanted to meet with you has little to do with the estate matters."

"Tell me more," I said.

"Well, as you know, my uncle has been under considerable pressure lately."

I thought that was quite an understatement. But I agreed with her.

"Uncle Jake would like to talk to you."

"He can appear on my show any time he's ready."

"No. He'd like to talk to you privately."

"For what reason?"

Parmela sighed and looked at her hands. "He wants to tell you some things that may make you see matters differently. Please, Pat. At least agree to talk to him."

"I'm not the cops," I said, "I think that your uncle really should be talking either to the Mounties or to the Parliamentary committee. I can't help him."

"Yes," she said, "you can. You can make people listen to what he has to say. You know that you can."

"I'm not going to say yes or no. But if I want to talk to him, how should I go about it?"

Parmela wrote down a number. She folded the paper and handed it to me. She held her finger to her lips. "There's a way. I think that you can talk to him."

I put the paper in my pocket. "I'll think about it," I said. "In the meantime, do you have everything you need from me concerning the estate?"

"Yes, I do. Thanks for coming on such short notice. I'll show you out."

Parmela took me down in the elevator. In the lobby, she turned to me with tears in her eyes. "Thanks, Pat," she said. "Uncle Jake really screwed up. But it wasn't all his fault. If you talk to him, you'll see what I mean. He may be silly and naïve. But he's not really a bad guy."

I hugged Parmela and took my leave. I suspected that her loyalty to her uncle was misplaced, but I'd given my word. I'd talk to him, and I'd do what I could.

The meeting with Parmela had taken less than an hour. It wasn't even one o'clock. I decided to walk to Charlie Connacher's place. It was about ten or twelve blocks, and it was a nice day.

The walk gave me a chance to see Toronto. Most people who live and work in the city never really see it. That's why they're constantly amazed by tourists who tell them what a wonderful city it is. Driving around the city or riding in a cab while preoccupied with business, you never look at the cityscape. I learned a lot during that walk. I experienced the amazing towers and the gardens between them. I saw the vistas down the avenues. All the things I'd never really seen before. Finally, I arrived at the harbourfront condominium tower.