Chapter 35: The Center of Power

Tom and John spent three days riding around the city of Washington. Tom quickly determined that the Northeast area held the homes of the powerful. Many of them were as large as the hotel, with wide sweeping drives for carriages. John was not impressed, but Tom knew that if he was to impress these people he had to live among them.

They found a few that were for sale, but the one that intrigued Tom was one of the largest ones in the area, but it had a sign that stated 'For Inquiries see Eugene Snelling, at the Bank of Washington'. Tom wondered why a bank would own a house like that. He decided that he would see this Mr. Snelling.

As they rode back into the heart of the city Tom said, "I know that you don't like it here, but at least living in a place like this will be easier to keep everybody safe."

John snorted as he looked around him, "The real fear isn't keeping anybody safe; it's stopping them from becoming what everybody around here is. And this area has more of that kind than the others we have looked at."

Tom looked at John for a minute, "Are you concerned that I will fall under the spell of these people?"

John didn't answer immediately, and that in itself was a sort of answer to Tom. "You might be right, but you are here for a reason, and that reason has always kept you safe from things like that. But the temptation for the others bothers me, especially Ben. He jumps into everything whole hog. Sometimes it's hard to keep him with his feet on the ground. The only time that I don't have to worry about him is when he is watching out for you. He knows that is his main job, and he does take it seriously. Maybe it is the only thing that he takes seriously. He also has a taste for the whiskey. If it was anybody but Ben, he would have already been dead."

Tom nodded his head as he thought about John's words. There was the possibility that the others would fall under the spell of the rich and powerful, but he didn't believe that it would be a problem if he could keep control of the gold. "From now on I will have Ben travel with me. It will keep him working and out of trouble. I want you to watch the others and keep an eye on the gold. They can't fall under the spell, if they don't have a lot of gold."

John grunted and nodded his head, "I would rather keep an eye on you myself, but I can see that it would be better in the long run. Make sure that you keep Ben focused on his job and not on his mouth running. He gets distracted if he talks too much."

Tom grinned, "Don't we all?" John frowned at him before he saw the smirk on his face, then they both broke out laughing.

It was a little later that john asked, "So, where are we going now? I thought that you wanted to find one of these castles to move into."

Tom smirked again, "We are going to see one Mr. Eugene Snelling, at the Bank of Washington."

John groaned, "That huge hotel? Are you just going to ride in there and say 'how much is that hotel on the hill?' Aren't you even going to talk to anybody to see what it is worth? That doesn't sound like you."

Tom thought about it for a minute. He realized that he had fallen into a trap of sorts himself. Since money didn't really mean anything to him, he saw that he had been wasting it. It was also a form of the same thing that John had been talking about. He saw that it was an easy spell to fall under. He shook his head slowly and resolved to put an end to his childish behavior.

"You are right as usual, John. I think that we should seek out a lawyer and set him to work on the problem." John looked at Tom strangely, "I thought that you were a lawyer?"

Tom laughed. "Not me my friend. I might know a lot about the law, and maybe even more than a lawyer does. But one that works and lives here, he knows how to find out the information that we need. I could do the same thing, but it would take longer and in the end it would cost us more in money and time." John grunted his understanding, but obviously reserved judgment on the issue at hand.

As they rode back to the center of town John pointed out a number of lawyer's signs. Tom looked at each and shook his head. When John pointed out a small sign at the entrance of an alley, Tom smiled and nodded his head. John couldn't understand why he chose this one instead of the others.

John inquired, "So, why this lawyer instead of the others that we passed?"

Tom grinned and shrugged his shoulders, "Small place, probably a kid just getting started. The other places were big, or looked expensive. They wouldn't care about a little job like this, no money in it for them. A kid just getting started needs the money, if he wants to eat. So, I thought it would be a good place." John grunted and nodded his head.

Tom had been right. The young man sitting at the desk looked younger than Tom. He looked at the two men warily, "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

Tom smiled, "We are looking for a lawyer. We have need of your services."

The young man promptly smiled and offered his hand. "Welcome, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"

Tom smiled and told him about the property on the hill and the sign directing the inquiries to Mr. Snelling. The young man listened and nodded his head. When Tom was finished explaining that he wanted all the information about the property the young man was quick to answer, "I'll have to charge you twenty dollars for work of that kind."

Tom smiled and shook his head, "Just because I am interested in property on the hill, doesn't mean that I am stupid. If you don't want the job all you have to do is say so."

The young man frowned. He had hoped that it would be easy money, but it didn't look like it now. He even feared that he would lose the job all together. "Okay, I can do the job for Ten dollars, plus expenses."

Tom shook his head slowly, "Five dollars, plus reasonable expenses."

The young man frowned again, "Who determines what a reasonable expense is?"

Tom looked him in the eye and said, "I determine what a reasonable expense is. And anything unreasonable you will pay for out of your Five dollars."

The young man frowned deeper, "But you can claim that any expenses are unreasonable."

Tom nodded his head, "Yes I could. If I was unwilling to pay expenses I wouldn't have agreed to pay them. But I'm not going to allow you to call anything an expense and not question it. You had better make sure that your expenses are reasonable and required. I want it as soon as possible, and I want you to be sure of your facts. If there is a rumor, you can include it, but I want it explicitly documented that it is a rumor, and not a fact."

The young man nodded his head and held out his hand to shake. "Stop by at noon tomorrow, and we'll see if what I have come up with will be enough." Tom shook his hand, and then put Five dollars on the desk. The young man smiled as the two men left his small office.

Tom was restless the rest of the day. He sent the warriors to different parts of the city to see what news they could gather. His expression made it clear that he wouldn't be as tolerable of mistakes as he had been in the past. Ben and Luke quickly exited the room.

The girls did everything they could to get him in a better mood, but he still resisted their charms. They were getting frustrated at his lack of progress on the personal front, and especially their personal fronts.

Tom was surprised at the amount of news to be had simply by sitting and listening, or even asking complete strangers about their business. He didn't understand a lot of what had been gathered, but he listened to each piece of information. 'Maybe someday all of this will make sense, ' he thought.

At noon the next day Tom and Ben were at the office of Arron Brown, Attorney at Law. Tom was surprised at the amount and quality of information. Each page was neatly printed with a new type writing machine. One of the expenses was for four cents per page, for type writing. Tom suspected Arron did the type writing himself, but couldn't complain at the results, or the cost.

He didn't know where Arron had gotten all the information, until he found the three pages of reference pages at the end of the report. He then noticed that each entry noted a reference entry. He was impressed with the work of Mr. Arron Brown.

Reading through the report, Tom was encouraged about the prospect of acquiring the property. He noted the items that would assist him in his negotiations, and the areas that might be a problem. He decided that with the information on hand he was ready to meet with Mr. Snelling.

Tom looked at the bill and decided that Three dollars and fifty cents was a reasonable expense charge. He placed five more silver dollars on the desk and thanked Mr. Arron Brown for his services. Tom and Ben left the office heading for the Bank of Washington.

Tom had to wait for fifteen minutes to see Mr. Snelling, as he didn't have an appointment. He didn't think that the wait was excessive, as it gave him more time to read through the report. The older man that was Mr. Snelling's secretary showed the two men into the private office and left quietly and closed the door.

Mr. Snelling was a bald and seriously over-weight man, dressed in fine clothes. His bushy eye brows were the most striking thing about him, they pushed up and out in every direction. Tom was captivated watching them as the old man spoke; they would move and waggle and bounce around as he spoke and Tom found it distracting. He suddenly realized that the man knew that he was distracted and it was probably the reason that he had the things. He suddenly set his attention on looking at the man's eyes and listening to every word.

Once Tom explained the reason for the visit, Mr. Snelling studied Tom closely and shook his head. "Young man, I am sure that you think that you know what you are doing, but I assure you that you can't afford a house like that. I doubt seriously that you have the capital required, and a loan would be out of the question, unless you have sufficient collateral."