The pundits and pollsters might not realize it, but Mayor John J. Wilson did. And it worried him. In a place and time when leadership was in precious short supply, Mitchell Kincaid looked like he was born to the job. And now it wasn’t going to happen.
“I noticed the books,” Kincaid said. “Cicero, Caesar, Sophocles.”
“Something I picked up when I was young.”
“I read a bit myself. Don’t recall that much, but I do remember Oedipus Rex. And a thing called fate.”
“Fate, destiny. Free will.”
“Exactly. I was sitting here, looking at my picture in Time magazine, surrounded by all your books, and thinking about that very thing.”
“Sir?”
“This life we lead. The decisions we think we make. Is it all predetermined? All our accomplishments and failures? Locked and loaded when we’re born? Or is it up to us?”
“You’re asking me if I believe in fate, Mr. Kincaid?”
He tipped his chin my way. “I guess I am. Are we fated to lead the life we do? Or do we really chart our own path?”
“I think we’re all given different tools,” I said. “Capable of great good and great evil. What we do after that is up to us.”
“So you believe in a hybrid?”
“I guess.”
“And these tools, they vary from person to person?”
“I think a lot of us spend our lives trying to find out exactly what these tools are and how best to use them.”
“People give that a lot of thought?”
I shrugged. “Probably not.”
“How about responsibility, Mr. Kelly?”
“How about it?”
“People should hold themselves personally responsible for things that go on in their lives. Good and bad. Regardless of consequence. Agreed?”
“Things they can control? Yes.”
“You have introduced the notion of control. A slippery concept.”
“Especially in politics, sir.”
“Touchй, Mr. Kelly. I wish we had met under different circumstances. I think it might have been fun.”
“We need to talk, sir.”
“I got a phone call last night from someone I respect and admire.”
“Let me guess. A judge named Rachel Swenson.”
“She speaks highly of you, Mr. Kelly.”
I didn’t offer a response. Kincaid stood up and found his way to a window.
“My security chief, James J. Bratton. He’s a good man. Sometimes confused, but a good man. I’ve talked with him. I know what he’s done. I know that he has, directly or indirectly, tried to gain certain documents he felt might cause great embarrassment to our mayor. He has used whatever means he saw fit to gain those documents, including breaking into your home, the use of force, and physical threats.”
Kincaid turned on his heel and walked his eyes across the room.
“I’m here to apologize for that. I was not aware of the existence, or supposed existence, of the Chicago Fire documents until recently. You can believe me or not, as you choose. I’m here to tell you I never endorsed Mr. Bratton’s actions. I do, however, accept full responsibility. That is a personal responsibility. With consequences. For myself and my career. As it should be.”
Kincaid pulled an envelope from his jacket and slipped it onto my desk.
“This is a copy of a letter I will post after I leave here. To the mayor. With copies to the Sun-Times and Tribune.”
I looked at the envelope but didn’t touch it.
“It’s my withdrawal from the mayoral race. The reasons I give are personal and undisclosed.”
“You don’t have to withdraw, sir.”
“Yes, I do, Mr. Kelly. Responsibility without consequence is, in fact, no responsibility at all. If I am to be of use to anyone, including myself, in the years to come, I must withdraw. I must reflect. And I must get better. If I am to lead at all.”
I picked up the envelope and wondered at its cost.
“What I ask from you, Mr. Kelly, is one thing and one thing only. But it is significant.”
“Go ahead.”
“I want your silence about this entire matter. Not for my protection. Although I admit, it does help me. But if the story about the fire and this alleged letter was ever given any credence, it would be embarrassing for Mr. Bratton and for the families concerned. Especially, of course, for the mayor.”
“And you would have effectively smeared him?”
Kincaid dropped his head a fraction. “Exactly what I’m trying to avoid.”
“No one will hear a thing from me, Mr. Kincaid. There is, however, the problem of murder.”
Kincaid opened his mouth to speak again. This time I beat him to it.
“I don’t believe your aide had anything to do with the death of Allen Bryant or anyone else. No worries there, sir. But there is someone out there who’s willing to kill.”
“In order to gain control of these documents? To be honest, I just don’t buy it.”
“Why not?”
“There would be some political advantage to obtaining the fire documents,” Kincaid said. “If they exist. But seriously, murder?”
“This isn’t about politics, Mr. Kincaid. And it’s not about the Chicago Fire. At least not in the way you’re thinking.”
“Then what is it about, Mr. Kelly?”
“It’s about money, Mr. Kincaid. A boatload of money.”
I pulled out a copy of Josiah Randolph’s diary from 1871. One more present from my friend Teen.
“This is what your aide was after. Except he didn’t know it.”
Kincaid took the diary in his hands and opened it. “What is this?”
“Pages from a diary. An account of the Great Chicago Fire, written in 1871 by the curator of the Chicago Historical Society.”
Kincaid slipped on a pair of tortoiseshell reading glasses and began to skim. I fixed up a pot of coffee and continued to talk.
“His name was Josiah Randolph. His great-grandnephew runs the society today.”
“Did you get this diary from him?”
“Not exactly. Most of the diary was in the public archives. Some of it was a little harder to get a handle on.”
“Go ahead,” Kincaid said, and kept reading.
“There was no agreement between John J. Wilson and Charles Hume regarding the fire. No evidence I could find that they conspired to start anything.”
Kincaid glanced up. “You know that for a fact?”
“I’ll tell you what I know and you decide. Josiah Randolph writes in his diary of the moments just before the fire bore down on the historical society. Sit down, Mr. Kincaid. This might take a while.”
Kincaid sat. I poured us some coffee.
“The historical society was supposed to be one of the city’s ‘fireproof’ buildings,” I said. “On the night of the fire, according to Josiah, most of Chicago’s money was lined up outside his basement door, jewels and furs in hand.”
“Looking for a place to store their valuables?”
“Exactly. Names like Pullman, Palmer, and Ogden. A real Who’s Who. Josiah Randolph took in as much as he could. Then, he heard what sounded like a freight train coming down the block.”
“The fire?”
“According to Josiah, heat from the fire began to melt the inside of the society’s walls. The flames themselves were still blocks away. That’s when Josiah Randolph realized his building wasn’t fireproof. In fact, it was anything but.”
I found a pack of cigarettes, shook one out, and lit up. Kincaid declined. I shrugged. It went well with the coffee. Then I cracked the window, leaned my heels against the sill, and found the line of my story.
“Josiah figured he had maybe ten minutes to get out of Dodge. After that, the building was going to be gone. So he ran back down to the basement and looked around.”
“Trying to figure out what he should save?” Kincaid said.
I nodded. It was good to talk it through out loud. Let me hear how it played, where the holes might be.
“There was one item in particular he tried to take with him.”
I flipped open the diary pages and pointed to a section of underlined text. Now that we had gotten down to it, I noticed just a bit of a shake in my hand. That was okay. Fear keeps most men honest. I was probably no exception.