Читать книгу Murder Fit for a King - Larry McCloskey - Страница 9

Dani’s dad, John, stood first on one leg, then the other as he peered over the crowd. “There’s Mayor Perkins and Dustin Fairburn. And, look, here comes Jim Watson, the former mayor. Gosh, girls, standing room only in City Hall tonight. I think it’s great you two are taking an active interest in local politics and your community.”

“Parks, Dad. We’re interested in parks.”

“Right.”

“Order, order!” Mayor Perkins commanded, banging his wooden gavel long after the crowd’s murmuring had faded to silence. When the last bang echoed loudly, the mayor looked briefly embarrassed before speaking. “Well, we have an important vote before us this evening that has to be decided quickly. And since we’ve got an unusually large crowd tonight in the civic chamber, we’d better get started.” The mayor tapped the gavel on his palm almost challengingly.

John leaned down and whispered, “That’s what you call passive-aggressive behaviour, girls.”

“Except for the passive part, I think you’re right, Dad,” Dani whispered back.

“I’d call the mayor’s behaviour aggressive-aggressive,” Caitlin, too, whispered.

Dani and her dad hissed, “Shh!” and attracted the attention of the entire gathering of concerned citizens.

“Now we have this Windsor Park land development motion before council today,” the mayor said, “and lots of folks here have all kinds of feelings about it this way and that.”

Before the mayor could say anything further, a group of citizens unravelled a banner and began to chant, “You CAD you, you CAD you.” The banner said: CAD — CITIZENS AGAINST DEVELOPMENT.

Fuming, the mayor turned seven shades of red before pounding his gavel again. “Silence! Order! Silence!”

Then Jim Watson’s deep voice cut through the mob. “Your Worship, these people have the right to express their opposition to this motion. As spokesperson for CAD —”

The mayor glared. “I know who you are and why you’re here, sir. Let me just say there’s a big difference between expressing opinions and disrupting council meetings. What’s more, the time for meaningless protest has passed. Besides, I was about to make an announcement before I was interrupted by your hooligans, Mr. Former Mayor.”

An anonymous voice floated over the crowd, shouting, “Jim Watson for mayor!”

While a number of other people hooted and laughed, veins bulged in Mayor Perkins’s neck as he said through clenched teeth, “The last council meeting ended in a tie vote regarding the land development motion. I asked council members then to reconsider and vote again, at a later date, on the proposal from the Mitchell Development Company to build ninety-eight townhouses on the land adjacent to the Rideau River in what is currently called Windsor Park. I advised my esteemed fellow councillors to vote in favour of the motion in view of the many obvious financial benefits to our city, especially at a time when we desperately need to cut our deficit and alleviate our current housing crisis. I now urge council members to reassess their municipal responsibility and vote accordingly tonight. However, first I must regrettably make an announcement.”

Silence descended on the crowd, and the mayor relaxed his grip on the gavel, enjoying full control of the boisterous crowd.

“It is with great sadness that I announce that Councillor Gertrude Owens was found dead this morning.”

Gasps and cries filled the civic chamber.

“What?”

“How?”

“When?”

The mayor held up a hand and slammed his gavel to still the crowd. “Such questions aren’t appropriate to this meeting. Funeral arrangements will be made public tomorrow. As you know, Councillor Owens was an outspoken opponent of the motion before us, but I don’t think we can afford to let emotion cloud our judgment on such a critical issue. So, without further adieu, members of council, please raise your hands if you support the motion to allow Mitchell Development to build townhouses in Windsor Park.” The mayor counted quickly, and a half-smile attached itself to the side of his mouth as he asked, “Opposed?” He counted again. “Twelve in favour, eleven opposed. Therefore, the sale of Windsor Park to Mitchell Development will proceed as proposed. The motion is carried. Now, with fourteen million dollars more soon to be in the civic coffers, I gratefully move to the next item on our agenda.”

As the mayor continued with other issues, stunned and suddenly silent members of the crowd began to exit the civic chamber.

“What does this mean, Dad?” Dani asked.

“It means that by next spring Caitlin’s family will have ninety-eight townhouses in their backyard.”

“But, Dad, how could such a dumb thing be decided in five minutes? No one even got to speak.”

“It’s because that councillor died, isn’t it?” Caitlin said, tears in her eyes.

“I’m afraid so,” John said. “The public had its chance months ago. This was the final vote. Councillor Owens’s sudden death broke the deadlock and allowed the mayor’s side to win.

“Isn’t there anything we can do, Dad?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” John said, scratching his forehead and standing on one leg. “Democracy requires that we respect the majority, even if we don’t agree with it.”

“But, Dad, most people don’t want this, even if those councillors and the mayor think so.”

“Well, I’m sorry, girls, but the voters elected them to represent our interests. Look, there’s a washroom. Be right back.”

Caitlin sniffed. “Doesn’t seem right.”

“Caitlin, the councillor’s dead — remember what Mr. King said? We have to watch and listen for clues.”

“How in the world can we find out anything, Dani? And even if we could, it wouldn’t change the vote. Remember, she’s dead!”

“Don’t you see, Caitlin? Maybe she was murdered, just like the person Mr. King was talking about at Kingsmere! This must have something to do with what he was telling us.”

“How in the world could building townhouses in a park, which hasn’t even happened yet, have anything to do with a dead prime minister and murder?”

“It’s a mystery,” Dani said, stroking her chin. “All I know is that Mr. King has been a ghost for an awful long time and an awful lot of people don’t want this development to happen ...”

The girls heard a toilet flush inside the men’s washroom.

“And we don’t want all their efforts to go down the toilet,” Caitlin added.

The girls grinned at each other as John opened the washroom door.

“Oh, I see we’re all feeling some relief,” John said, clearly clueless about why the girls were smiling.