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Ella's father had been as well.
How he escaped getting caught up in the scandal, I didn't know.
Frankly, I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.
What happened was old news. Garner did his time in a cushy prison for white collar criminals, and then lawyer Emmet Carlson went on to do very well in state politics.
Finished. End of story.
Except... not.
There was some reason Emmet himself wasn't charged. There was no record of him being charged and pleading down in exchange for his testimony against Garner. He just was never even a target of the investigation. That didn't make sense to me. He was the man's business partner. They'd invested together but for some reason, only the partner was charged.
I wracked my brain trying to figure out why Carlson escaped justice, but Garner didn't.
What I came up with was nothing. Zip. He was just never a suspect or charged with any crime in connection to Garner's financial wrangling so he either was innocent, or there was another reason he got off scot-free.
I should have just let it go at that. Justice was se
rved. The state had its chance to charge Emmet Carlson and had not chosen to do so.
That was it.
But it nagged at my brain...
I sat staring at the computer screen and then typed a response in to Ted, one of the lawyers who worked for MBS.
JOSH: Why did he get off when Garner didn't? Any thoughts?
TED: Your guess is as good as mine. The insider trading had to do with stocks from a foreign corporation. Either Carlson had a friend in the justice department, or he was somehow working at a higher level and got immunity in return for his evidence. It's unclear how Garner got caught. Who can say?
JOSH: I don't suppose I can just ask Governor Carlson why. Wouldn't that be a great topic of dinner conversation the first weekend I meet my soon-to-be in-laws...
TED: I wouldn't recommend it. Something was up with this case. Either Carlson is a mole working for the Fed's FinCEN network, or the system itself is corrupt and he paid someone off and Garner took the fall. I can ask around and see what turns up if you'd like.
JOSH: Hold off on that for a while. I'm not sure I want to turn over this stone at this time.
ED: You're the boss. I can make very discreet enquiries in case you're worried.
JOSH: How about we put this on hold until after the holidays and revisit in the new year?
ED: Sounds good. Let me know.
JOSH: I will. Thanks for your discretion and have a great holiday.
ED: You as well.
* * *
I exhaled and rubbed my eyes, feeling like I'd stumbled into something I probably should have just ignored for my own personal good, but I couldn't. I worked in military intelligence when I was in the service and my mind worked in a way that I couldn't just shut down at will. My biggest concern was how I would broach the issue with Ella. I didn't want to say anything to her about my suspicions before I knew more because it would really upset her for no reason if there was no 'there' there. If there was any substance to my doubts about the case, I would tell her the truth. Until then, discretion was the better part of valor, or so they say. I had to hope that I would find nothing out about Emmet Carlson that might make me regret looking in the first place.
I had only wanted to be able to explain things to him about MBS's coverage of the scandal. I hadn't wanted to open up a whole new can of worms...
Ella called from the living room and I knew I had to shut down my mind for the rest of the evening and spend it with my bride-to-be. She deserved my complete attention when I was with her, so I closed the documents I'd been reading, shut off my email and Skype window, and I took in a deep breath. I'd blank the whole matter from my mind and focus on the movie. It was a perennial favorite of my brothers and of course, one of my own favorite movies and Christmas traditions.
It felt good to be including Ella in that tradition. I hoped we would make new traditions of our own that we could pass down to our children and them to theirs.
Smiling to myself as I thought about it, I went to the living room, hopped over the back of the sofa and landed beside Ella. I grabbed the popcorn and started to eat, pretending like all was right with the world. She would only find out about my suspicions when there was some substance behind them and not until.
