‘Isn’t someone going to remind him who it was in that classroom with his son?’ asked Jimmy.
‘He doesn’t need reminding,’ said Fletcher.
‘One more question,’ said Anscott, ‘and it will have to be quick, because we’re running out of time.’
The plant in the second row rose from his place bang on cue. Elliot pointed at him in case Anscott was considering anyone else.
‘How would the two candidates deal with the problem of illegal immigrants?’
‘What the hell’s that got to do with the governor of Connecticut?’ asked Fletcher.
Ralph Elliot looked straight at the questioner and said, ‘I’m sure I speak for both of us when I say that America should always welcome anyone who is oppressed and in need of help, as we have always done throughout our history. However, those who wish to enter our country must, of course, abide by the correct procedure and meet all the necessary legal requirements.’
‘That sounded to me,’ said Fletcher, turning to face Annie, ‘over-prepared and over-rehearsed. So what’s he up to?’
‘Is that also your view on illegal immigrants, Mr Cartwright?’ asked David Anscott, a little puzzled as to what the questioner was getting at.
‘I confess, David, that I haven’t given the matter a great deal of thought, as it has not been high on my priorities when I consider the problems currently facing the state of Connecticut.’
‘Wrap it up,’ Anscott heard the producer say in his earpiece, just as the questioner added, ‘But you must have given it some thought, Mr Cartwright. After all, isn’t your wife an illegal immigrant?’
‘Hold on, let him answer that,’ said the producer. ‘If we go off the air now we’ll have a quarter million people phoning in to find out his response. Close up on Cartwright.’
Fletcher was among those quarter of a million who waited for Nat’s reply as the camera panned across to Elliot, who had a puzzled look on his face.
‘You bastard,’ said Fletcher, ‘you knew that question was coming.’
The camera returned to Nat, but his lips remained pursed.
‘Wouldn’t I be right in suggesting,’ continued the questioner, ‘that your wife entered this country illegally?’
‘My wife is the Professor of Statistics at the University of Connecticut,’ said Nat, trying to disguise a tremble in his voice.
Anscott listened on his earpiece to find out how the producer wanted to play it, as they had already overrun their time slot.
‘Say nothing,’ said the producer, ‘just hang in there. I can always run the credits over them if it gets boring.’ Anscott gave a slight nod in the direction of the head-on camera.
‘That may well be the case, Mr Cartwright,’ continued the questioner, ‘but didn’t her mother, Su Kai Peng, enter this country with false papers, claiming to be married to an American serviceman, who had in fact died fighting for his country some months before the date on the marriage licence?’
Nat didn’t reply.
Fletcher was equally silent as he watched Cartwright being stretched on the rack.
‘As you seem unwilling to answer my question, Mr Cartwright, perhaps you can confirm that on the marriage licence your mother-in-law described herself as a seamstress. However, the fact is that before she landed in America, she was a prostitute plying her trade on the streets of Seoul, so heaven knows who your wife’s father is.’
‘Credits,’ said the producer. ‘We’ve run out of time and I daren’t break into Baywatch, but keep the cameras running. We may pick up some extra footage for the late night news.’
Once the monitor on the stage showed credits rolling, the questioner quickly left the studio. Nat stared down at his wife sitting in the third row. She was pale and shaking.
‘It’s a wrap,’ said the producer.
Elliot turned to the moderator and said, ‘That was disgraceful, you should have stopped him a lot earlier,’ and looking across at Nat added, ‘believe me, I had no idea that...’
‘You’re a liar,’ said Nat.
‘Stay on him,’ said the director to the first cameraman. ‘Keep all four cameras rolling, I want every angle on this.’
‘What are you suggesting?’ asked Elliot.
‘That you set the whole thing up. You weren’t even subtle about it — you even used the same man that questioned me on the Cedar Wood project a couple of weeks ago. But I’ll tell you one thing, Elliot,’ he said, jabbing a finger at him, ‘I will still kill you.’
Nat stormed off the stage and found Su Ling waiting for him in the wings. ‘Come on, little flower, I’m taking you home.’ Tom quickly joined them as Nat put an arm around his wife.
‘I’m sorry, Nat, but I have to ask,’ said Tom. ‘Was any of that garbage true?’
‘All of it,’ said Nat, ‘and before you ask another question, I’ve known since we were first married.’
‘Take Su Ling home,’ said Tom, ‘and whatever you do, don’t talk to the press.’
‘Don’t bother,’ said Nat. ‘You can issue a statement on my behalf saying that I’m withdrawing from the race. I’m not having my family dragged through any more of this.’
‘Don’t make a hasty decision that you may well later regret. Let’s talk about what needs to be done in the morning,’ said Tom.
Nat took Su Ling by the hand, walked out of the studio and through a door leading into the parking lot.
‘Good luck,’ shouted one supporter as Nat opened the car door for his wife. He didn’t acknowledge any of the cheers as they drove quickly away. He looked across at Su Ling, who was thumping the dashboard in anger. Nat took a hand off the steering wheel and placed it gently on Su Ling’s leg. ‘I love you,’ he said, ‘and I always will. Nothing and no one will ever change that.’
‘How did Elliot find out?’
‘He’s probably had a team of private detectives delving into my past.’
‘And when he couldn’t come up with anything about you, he switched his sights on to me and my mother,’ whispered Su Ling. There was a long silence before she added, ‘I don’t want you to withdraw; you must stay in the race. It’s the only way we can beat the bastard.’ Nat didn’t reply as he joined the evening traffic. ‘I just feel so sorry for Luke,’ Su Ling eventually said. ‘He will have taken it so very personally. I only wish Kathy had stayed on for another day.’
‘I’ll take care of Luke,’ said Nat. ‘You’d better go and collect your mother and bring her back to our place for the night.’
‘I’ll call her just as soon as we get in,’ said Su Ling. ‘I suppose it’s just possible that she didn’t watch the programme.’
‘Not a hope,’ said Nat as he pulled into the driveway, ‘she’s my most loyal fan and never misses any of my TV appearances.’
Nat put his arm around Su Ling as they walked towards the front door. All the lights in the house were off except for one in Luke’s bedroom. Nat turned the key in the lock and as he opened the door, said, ‘You phone your mother, and I’ll pop up and see Luke.’
Su Ling picked up the phone in the hallway as Nat walked slowly up the stairs, trying to compose his thoughts. He knew Luke would expect every question to be answered truthfully. He walked down the corridor and knocked gently on his son’s door. There was no reply, so he tried again, saying, ‘Luke, can I come in?’ Still no reply. He opened the door a little and glanced inside, but Luke wasn’t in bed and none of his clothes were laid out neatly over the usual chair. Nat’s first reaction was that he must have gone across to the shop to be with his grandmother. He turned out the light and listened to Su Ling talking to her mother. He was about to go down and join her when he noticed that Luke had left a light on in the bathroom. He decided to switch it off.