Marti: A Romance with an Enigma

"What do you have to offer, Ms Hopkins?"

"Thank you for letting me speak. There are several things but they are all predicated on something that Ms. Henderson hasn't said and might prefer that it not be said. At her meeting that morning, she reported her activities as was expected. Unfortunately, she offended someone and she was put on probation by her superior. She came to me in tears because she didn't know what that meant or what she should do. You must understand that in her six years with the state, Ms Henderson has never been written up for any infraction of any kind and has only received exemplary evaluations by four previous superiors. I was as shocked as she was. In short, I suggested that she take a couple of weeks of vacation while we investigated this charge and determine what action should be taken. She took my suggestion and went to the Gulf where I understand that she went on a sailing cruise for a week coincidentally with my cousin. It took us two days to discover that putting her on probation was because of an error in her supervisor's judgement and was dropped. There is nothing pending against Ms. Henderson at all. I sent her an e-mail telling her this but she did not receive it because they were on the water."

"I understand but that still does not explain the absence of the data she brought back."

"For this, I can only tell you the facts as I know them. In her absence, we found a retiring manager with sufficient rank to act as department manager in her absence. Apparently, someone advised him that some inaccurate information was provided on this case and that the data entry should be stopped and the documents destroyed. The interim manager gave the data clerk these instructions. She felt that something inappropriate was going on since she had worked with Ms Henderson for three years and knew that she didn't make these kinds of mistakes. She brought the documents to our office and quit. As of this morning, the documents are still in our safe. We have been waiting for Ms Henderson to return and hire a new data clerk. We will return the documents to her in a timely manner."

"This complicates things tremendously. We all hear about improprieties in government but many of them are simply misunderstands and so forth. But this sounds somewhat more ominous. What is being done?"

"The people involved are political appointees and not regular staff. Our office has no control over these people. We have submitted our findings to the appropriate people in the Governor's Office but have not been notified of any further action."

"I think that we need to recess until after lunch. I need some guidance on how to proceed. Mr. Bannister, does that meet with your approval?"

"Yes sir; that is a wise decision."

"Ms. Henderson, thank you for your testimony. We may have further questions later. However, it would be best if you do not have any contact with your office or Mr. Bannister until I can get some resolution on this matter." Marti just nodded in acceptance as she was still numb from this disclosure.

The judge left through the door he had entered. When Marti looked up, Jeff was gone as was everyone else but the security guard and Sarah.

Marti looked at Sarah and broke out in tears again. Her friend came and put her arms around Marti. "Come on girlfriend; let's go find some lunch. You need break."

"Dammit Sarah, I screwed things up for you and Jeff and everyone else."

"Oh; shut up. You most certainly did not. Jeff told me that this is what he was afraid of. You are the innocent middle person in a complex situation that you know nothing about. He was proud of you this morning. You handled things perfectly."

"He said that?"

"He said that to Marge and also said for she and Megan to stay away from you until the hearing is over. He feels that you and I together are safe."

"Why did he say that?"

"Honey, if you didn't figure it out earlier, Marge is Jeff's sister. Megan is both of their cousin. That may come out later. I am not related so he thinks that we won't be targeted. This may get even uglier this afternoon."

"Crap; I have never been in the middle of something like this."

"None of us have. That is why Jeff was so cautious up there and today. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt, especially you, but they have dumped on you anyway. Come on let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

The two spent two hours together as Marti picked at her lunch while Sarah tried to bolster her spirits. By the time they headed back to the hearing room, Marti had regained some of her spirit but still felt very vulnerable. Jeff was back in his place and Sarah rejoined Megan and Marge. Marti was left alone on the state side of the room.

Shortly after they were settled, the judge returned to the room looking somber. "I was tempted to postpone this hearing until some of the issues that came up this morning were resolved. It appears that the resolution may take some time but due to the deadline on this particular issue, we will continue. Unless something significant arises, we will accept the testimony of Ms Henderson as amended by Ms Hopkins. I do have one further question for Ms. Henderson though. You may answer from your seat. Before the hearing began today, were you contacted or did you discuss this with anyone?"

"No sir. I was sailing for a week. When I got back, I got the e-mail from Ma...Ms Hopkins telling me that the probation was rescinded. I got home yesterday afternoon and spoke to no one. This morning, the only contact I had was a moment with my boss."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he was sorry for the misunderstanding two weeks and that this was my opportunity to make amends and to not blow my chance. That was all he said."

"I see. How did you take that?"

Suddenly, Marti felt rage course through her. "I took that as a threat; a threat to me professionally and personally. I have never been put in a position where I was expected to guess what needed to be done and then punished for not reading someone's mind. That is insulting, demeaning, and frankly, abusive. I never thought that I would experience that in my life but now I have and I now see that it has happened before and will probably happen again. If this is the way government is run, then no one with any professional pride or conscience will ever want to be part of it." She virtually spit that last statement out.

"I regret that you feel this way, Ms Henderson. All government is not this confused and convoluted even if it may appear to be so. I hope that you will see the good side again. Now, Mr. Bannister, if you will take the podium, we will continue."

As Jeff walked to the front of the room, Marti sat feeling totally deflated. She had vented her anger and frustration and felt that she had just been patted on the head like a little girl. At that moment, she found a new direction for her life and it wasn't going to be pushing papers for a bunch of arrogant politicians.

"My first question is important, Mr. Bannister. What has been the extent of your contact with anyone at the State in recent years?"

"That is easy. There have only been two contacts. One was with Ms Henderson, two weeks ago. The other is a little more complicated."

"Please explain."

"My sister is Marge Hopkins, who spoke this morning. We talk on the phone about once a month but not about work. We also see each other at family functions when they arise."

"Why do you not talk about work?"

"Her position in the State means that she can't talk about people and I respect that. I keep most of my activities to myself for personal reasons. So, we just talk about other things. That's all; no other reason."

"I see. But you have had no contact with anyone else?"

"No one. If something needs to be clarified with the State, my attorneys usually handle that. They contacted Ms Henderson about fulfilling the paperwork she talked about this morning. There have been a few other miscellaneous contacts."

"You weren't in contact with the State last week?"

"Uh no. There were two men claiming to work for the state who came to see me last week."

"Claiming to be with the State?"

"That's what I said. Two guys came looking for me. I wasn't available at that moment so they spent half an hour harassing some of the truck drivers who stopped for lunch that their trucks were parked illegally on the highway. They threatened them with prosecution if they came back and found them there again."

"That doesn't sound right."

"That's what I thought too. But when I asked to see their credentials. They pulled out a badge of some sort and flashed an ID card that didn't look like any I had seen before."

"What did they want?"

"To be polite, they threatened to shut me down because I was running a restaurant without the proper permits and allowing truckers to park on the highway right of way. And a couple of other things."

"Do you have the permits to operate a restaurant?"

"Yes. They are from the county including the permit to do business and the health inspection report. The state police have given us a waiver for truckers to park off the highway as long as they are not on the shoulder of the roadway. We graded an area and that was where the trucks were parked. All of the documentation required by the state on our business activities was included in the materials that Ms. Henderson took back two weeks ago."

"Exactly how did they threaten you and how do you know they weren't state employees?"

"Let's just leave it that they threatened to come back with the state police and warrants for my arrest for running an illegal operation. There was nothing professional about their activities or their credentials. I had my lawyers look into it."

"I will look into it also. Do you have their names?"

"Paul Desmond and Raymond Jordan but you don't have to look into it. Ask Marge; she already looked them up."

The judge looked startled and then at Marge. "You looked them up?"

"Yes; his lawyers called to confirm if these people were state employees and wanted to know why they were acting more like gangsters than public officials. I confirmed that they are not employees of the state nor have they ever been. However, they are employees of a security company that has a couple of contracts with the state in a couple of areas. We reported this to the State Police and they are looking into it."

"Mr. Bannister, what do you make of this?"

"In the limitations of this hearing, offering speculation of why and who is fruitless because I don't know. But we both have been around the block and know that this is pretty raw intimidation."

The judge stared at him for a moment and without saying anything further, changed the subject. "Let's move on. You are not a well-known person yet find yourself in the midst of a fairly significant controversy. From this morning's testimony, it appears that you are knowledgeable on a wide variety of business and legal issues. Would you care to advise us of your background?"

"I prefer to work somewhat anonymously although I am recognized by my work in some areas."

"Would you expand on that?"

Marti found herself almost holding her breath. The judge pretty well told him to open the doors to his life.

"Let's say that I graduated from college with a double major in Business and History. While in law school..."

"You went to law school? I have not seen your name on any of the attorney roles in the state."

"That is because I am not listed. I completed my degree but never sat for the bar exams and never practiced law. I found another area that caught my passion."

"You have my interest."

Marti could see that Jeff was uncomfortable talking about his career.

"While in law school, I interned with a firm specializing in corporate law and got involved in forensic investigations involving mergers and acquisitions. I loved the hunt for the hidden details. When I finished my degree, I found Forensic Investigations, Inc."

The judge was smiling and offered, "Yes, I am aware of your company. You did some creative and excellent work by all counts. You sold that company, if I remember right."

"Yes sir, I did. We had grown very nicely but were still regional with little likelihood of expanding outside of our region. A national firm offered me a handsome price for the company and we merged with them. I remained with them as an advisor for the next two years."

"I remember. Then that company was taken over by an even larger one. Did you remain there also?"

"No sir; I wasn't fond of reputation of the new company. They gave me a lot of stock for my shares. When the deal was finalized, I resigned and sold the shares. In hindsight, that proved to be wise since they are now selling at one third of the value when I sold out."

"Ah, yes; that was wise. Am I correct in assuming that this was the source of the money used to buy the land in question?"

"No sir; I invested that money in an account which I consider my retirement fund and that is also what I now live off of."

"Really! The record shows that you spent over a million dollars in cash to purchase these properties. You have also indicated an extensive legal effort and other infrastructure expenditures on this property. There is also no record of any loans outstanding these properties. Did you involve investors in your purchases?"

"No sir. I did not. I paid for this with my own funds."

"You haven't indicated the source of these funds. I assume that you didn't take up robbing banks as a hobby."

"No sir, I did not. May I have a word with my advisors for a moment?"

"If it will help the clarity of these proceedings, by all means."

Jeff rose and walked towards the audience. He was met by a man who appeared to be an attorney and Marge. Marti wondered what they might be discussing. Whatever it was, the conversation lasted for only a minute when all three nodded and Jeff returned to the podium.

"That was short. Well?"

Jeff took a deep breath and let it out. "Perhaps you have heard of a book called "Yesterday is the New Tomorrow."

The judge laughed. "I think that it is safe to say that almost everyone has heard about it. It has been on the best seller lists for over two years and virtually all of the television talk shows talk about it regularly. I assume that this had a great influence on you."

"That is correct."

"That still doesn't answer the question about the source of the money to purchase the land in question."

"True. You see...well..." Marti had not seen this uncomfortable side of Jeff before. "I sort of wrote it after I left the company."

Someone in the back of the room muttered, "Oh shit!" Several others gasped. The judge just stared at him. Marti couldn't decide whether it was a look of respect or intimidation.

"You are JR Boykin?"

"Jefferson Randle plus Boykin is my mother's maiden name. Until now, only my lawyer and sister know that I wrote it. I preferred to remain personally anonymous. We all knew that this would come out sometime but hoped that it wouldn't be until the community was more established. But today was the day that fate decided that it should happen, I guess."

"The book has sold millions of copies. That is the source of the money you bought the land with?"

"Yes sir."

"This information changes things significantly. The state believes that there is only minimal support for the activities going on at this property. Would you expand on the rationale behind it and the plan for the future?"

Marti was still in shock as were some of the others in the room. Jeff wasn't just a nice guy trying to make the world a better place; he was a giant trying to prove one of the core theses of his book could work. She had read it and was impressed by the logic and focus. Like many other Utopian dreams, this one sounded beautiful and also somewhat idealistic. But here and now, Jeff's dream was taking shape and was proving its practicality. She had been there and seen it. Then her reverie was broken when he began talking again slowly and still carefully.

"This is awkward for me because I do not have a detailed plan. The goal was to show that a vibrant community could work in the real world. It started with the land. My grandparents owned and farmed the 300 acres on the far north side. When they died, they left it to my sister and I. Marge was focused on her family and career and knew that I had spent much of my time growing up helping and working on the farm. She simply told me to do what I wanted with it and she would support me. Soon after she said that, we were approached by a real estate developer who made an offer that was too good to be true."

"Excuse me; would you state when this happened so I can see a timeline. It may be important."

"Let's see. Our grandparents died about five years ago. The book had been released and I was kind of at loose ends. The probate of the will took place that year and by the end of it, the property was retitled in our names. This offer was made within weeks of the closing. I suspected that the developer has seen something about the ownership change and made the offer to test the water about us selling. As I said, the offer was ridiculous."

"May I ask why you say this? People pay a high price for land and other things these days."

"True but you have to understand the land and the offer. The land is basically flat farmland with a few patches of woods and an uninspiring river running through the property. The adjacent properties which I later bought are pretty much the same. At various times, my grandparents had the land evaluated and the result every time was that was really good farmland. There are no significant minerals or oil or anything except that it was very fertile farm land. The land in that area sells for between $1500-2000 per acre depending on water availability and the market has been stagnant for almost twenty years. No one wants to be a farmer anymore. The offer was for us to put the land up valued at $5000 per acre and that he would develop exclusive ranchettes for rich people and build large houses on the lots. The properties would be offered for sale for around a million dollars each. We would get $5000 per acre when each property sold."

"And that wasn't a viable plan?"

"Picture what I just described; flat farm land, no scenic value to speak of, no viable water sport potential, and add that to the fact that property was over an hour away from two medium sized towns on a two-lane state highway that is not in good repair. How are you going to attract wealthy people to buy small ranchettes for a million dollars each?"

"I see. It doesn't sound like this would have been a viable plan for the area. Do you know who was selling this idea?"

"I know his name and that he claimed to be a close relative of the Governor. Actually, at the time he wasn't the governor yet. He was one of the elected state officials who was elected Governor at the next election."

"Claimed to be a relative?"

"That is what he said. I checked and found no one with his name listed anywhere on the Governor's family tree. My lawyer has one of his prospectus in my file. He was the one who suggested that I dig deeper into this and see if there wasn't something going on behind the scenes. I had nothing better to do, so that is what I did."

"I take it that you did a thorough job. What was the result of this search?"

"I am not sure that the specific details are germane to this hearing but in summary, there was popular real estate scam going around in many places. It involves promising someone a high price for their land because of a pending big deal of various descriptions. But nothing was put in writing. Sometime later when the owner had gotten excited about the prospect of getting rich, the scam artist would return and apologize that the deal had fallen through. He would say that he felt bad and offered them about 50% of the true value for their land so he wouldn't feel guilty. Many of these people were already prepared to move and often accepted this offer."