"Eight Can Play at This Game"
Later that afternoon, Bill telephoned Mountie Headquarters to get approval for Gabe Kinslow come to Hope Valley. Gabe was placed on assignment from Brookfield to Hope Valley immediately and was expected first thing in the morning.
Mr. Cathcutter followed Mr. Walden into town to the Queen of Hearts Saloon. "I'll introduce you to Lucas Bouchard. He owns the saloon as well as Gowen Petroleum. He'll take good care of you," said Walden. "Mr. Bouchard, good to see you this afternoon. I would like to introduce you to Mr. Ernest Cathcutter. We've known each other for years. We've been catching up on old times. He's passing through and was looking for a place to eat and stay a couple of nights. I told him that you would take good care of him."
"Mr. Cathcutter, it's a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Hope Valley. Would you prefer to check into your room first and then have some dinner with us? Our special today is salmon. It just came in this morning from the coast," said Lucas.
"That sounds just fine. I think I'd like to rest a bit before I have some dinner if you don't mind."
"Yes, by all means, please do. I'll be sure to save you some salmon. Take your time. I'll show you to your room myself."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Bouchard."
"Please call me Lucas. If you need anything at all during your stay, please let me know. My Chef, Gustav, is quite good, and I'm sure he would be glad to make you anything you like."
"Thank you, Lucas. Walden, will you set up that meeting we discussed for tomorrow?" Mr. Walden had agreed to see Judge Avery and schedule a meeting. "Good man. If you'd like to come by here in a couple of hours, we can have dinner together."
"That will be fine. I'll see you then."
Lucas took Mr. Cathcutter to his room and ensured he had everything he needed. Mr. Walden then drove to Judge Avery's Office. "Good afternoon, Judge Avery."
"Mr. Walden, good to see you. How are you on this fine afternoon?" asked Bill. Walden just looked at Nathan sitting in his rumbled work clothes.
"Bill, I think I'm going to head home. Thank you for your help today with the firewood. I'll be off tomorrow. I've got some personal matters to attend to." Nathan left by the front door, and walked around to the back of Bill's office to listen in on the conversation.
"Judge Avery, I have an old and dear friend visiting from Calgary. He asked if he could set up a meeting with you for tomorrow."
"Do you know what it's about?"
"He's looking to purchase some investment property in the area. I told him he should talk to you, being that you're the town's judge."
"You haven't bought enough land already, Mr. Walden? Now you're bringing people from out of town to buy property too?" asked Bill. "He's not looking to buy my office building here, is he?"
"No, no, nothing like that. He's looking at land. He's a businessman, but he's also a philanthropist. He'd like to buy a nice, large, scenic parcel and donate it to the Canadian government for a national park. They're doing that in the United States—setting aside hundreds of acres for parks to be enjoyed by visitors."
"Well, that sounds like a nice addition to our little town. If he wants to talk to me about it, I'll be glad to see him. Why don't we say 11 o'clock here in my office. I have some earlier commitments, but if that time is good for your friend, we can meet then. I would be glad to help facilitate the legalities of a transfer if you like. I look forward to your friend's visit. By the way, what's your friend's name?" asked Bill.
"It's Cathcutter. Mr. Ernest Cathcutter," said Walden.
"Fine. I'll see you both tomorrow." Mr. Walden left, and Bill looked to be sure he had driven away. He opened the back door to his office, and found Nathan there.
"We're set for 11 o'clock tomorrow. Were you able to hear everything, Nathan?" asked Bill.
"Every word. I'm glad you made it for late morning. Gabe will be here in plenty of time. Is he coming directly to your office from Brookfield?"
"Yes, and I think he should stay here. Most of the town knows him. I don't want to tip off Walden or Cathcutter. That was perfect telling Walden you're on a day off. He probably thinks he'll have no resistance. We're going to make sure neither of them do anything to hurt to Hope Valley, Nathan."
Bill was in his office first thing in the morning, and Gabe arrived promptly at 8 o'clock. "Gabe, good to see you. Thanks for coming here on such short notice," said Bill.
"It sounded important."
"It is. Sit down. I have some coffee, and there are muffins from the café on the table. Please help yourself." Bill briefed Gabe on what had been happening in Hope Valley over the past few days.
"I can't say I've ever heard of Cathcutter," said Gabe.
"Here's all the information Nathan and I have collected on him."
"If you don't mind, I'll stay here and read all this, Bill."
"Thank you, Gabe. I have a feeling this is going to be big. It started out that we really didn't want Cathcutter building a refinery in Hope Valley, but I just have a feeling that there is so much more to it. I think Cathcutter also has a contact in the Canadian government who is helping him. We want to do this right, so we can catch everyone involved if this is what I think it is. Nathan will be out back before Cathcutter gets here. I'd like the two of you to stay together in case things go wrong with the meeting."
Bill and Gabe reviewed all the documents again. Just before 11 o'clock, Gabe went out the back door, and Nathan was already there. They talked briefly, and quietly waited.
There was a knock on the door, and Cathcutter let himself in to Bill's office. "Judge Avery. It's nice to meet you. I'm Ernest Cathcutter. This is my banker, Mr. Vernon T. Blackmore. You already know Walden and Spurlock here."
"Gentlemen, please come in and have a seat. It's a pleasure to meet you. Walden tells me the two of you are old friends."
"Yes, that's a fact. We've known each other since our school days." Cathcutter shook his head. "Time certainly marches forward, doesn't it?"
"Yes it does. Now that we have made introductions, why don't you tell me about your business interest here in Hope Valley, Mr. Cathcutter," said Bill.
"Well, Judge. I'm a businessman, but I also like to think of myself as a philanthropist. It seems the Americans have a few people like me as well. They've all been busy trying to outdo each other. Who has the most lucrative business? Who is the most generous? Who can build the biggest library and concert hall? It's such a shame about John Jacob Astor and all the others going down with the Titanic. He was quite a formidable man. My father knew him. We can't let the Americans outdo us now, can we? I'll tell you, Judge, I'd be very interested in that piece of property you own outside of town. Walden, here, owns property near it. We are working together, seeing we're old friends, we are. I'd like to buy that property from you, Judge. Walden and I are talking about using some of the property for a business venture with the Canadian government that helps the war effort. Some of the property we'd like to donate to the government for a national park. Like I said, we can't let the Americans one up us. They are setting aside millions of acres for national parks, and I think we should be doing that here in Canada. Do you agree, Judge Avery?"
"Yes, that's certainly a worthy project, indeed, sir. It would be nice to keep the area pristine. The people of Hope Valley like the quiet way of life here. A national park would keep Hope Valley from becoming too built up. We do try to set aside some property in town for economic development. We have a nice mix of small businesses, along with Lee Coulter's lumber business and Gowen Petroleum. The businesses keep everyone in Hope Valley employed. May I ask what kind of business you're proposing for our town, Mr. Cathcutter?"
"Well now, that depends on whether you'd be willing to sell your property to me, Judge Avery. We need that for our business venture and the set aside for the national park to work. I'm prepared to offer you double what it's worth."
"I'm not interested in selling, Mr. Cathcutter," said Bill.
I'm prepared to make it worthwhile for you, Judge. If double the value isn't enough, would triple the value be worthwhile to you?"
"No. Like I said, I'm really not interested in selling."
"You do drive a hard bargain, Judge Avery. I would like to propose four times the value." Cathcutter thought a moment. "If you can guarantee that I won't have to pay taxes on that property for three years, I will pay you five times the value of the land."
"Five times the value and no taxes for three years. That's quite an offer. I may be interested after all," said Bill.
"You are a wise man, Judge. I thought we could see eye to eye. If I give you a personal bonus, of say, a thousand dollars to take care of the tax matter, would we be able to do business then?"
"You still need to go through the Town Council. They don't meet for two more weeks."
"Judge, do you think you could recommend to the Town Council that they meet in say, two or three days, and use your experience and vast knowledge to convince them that this would be a good deal for the town. I think Mr. Cathcutter and I could come up with an additional bonus for you of $500. With the $1,000 Mr. Cathcutter is offering, that would be a total of $1,500," said Mr. Blackmore.
"That is a lot to ask, gentlemen. You still haven't told me what your business venture is if I agree to sell you my land. I need to know before I'll agree to anything," said Bill.
"Judge, I'm familiar with Gowen Petroleum. They have a couple of wells that are producing nicely. I also know that Lucas Bouchard owns Gowen Petroleum, and he does not know the first thing about running a successful oil business. We do. We were thinking about purchasing Gowen Petroleum and building a small-scale petroleum refinery. It would create a good number of well-paying jobs for the townsfolk. I have the backing of the Canadian government. They need materials for the war effort, so they are providing encouragement and incentives to experienced businessmen, such as myself, to help our brave soldiers at the front."
"That's quite a noble cause when you put it that way. I'll ask the Town Council to schedule a meeting for Thursday night. They meet at the library. Shall we say 7 o'clock, gentlemen?"
Cathcutter and his entourage stood. "Judge Avery, I knew you'd be an astute man. I will see you tomorrow night at 7. I imagine you can take care of the paperwork for the property transfer, and Blackmore here will take care of the financing. Is there anyone on the Town Council I should visit to encourage them to act favorably on our proposal?" asked Cathcutter.
"No. That's not necessary. I'll take care of the Council. I'll see you tomorrow night. Good day, gentlemen."
With that, Cathcutter and his associates left Bill's office. Bill looked out the window and saw them patting each other on the back. "They think they've outsmarted us," Bill said to himself.
The back door opened, and Nathan and Gabe came in. "We heard everything, Bill. Cathcutter thinks he's got you in his back pocket," said Nathan.
"Yes he does seem to think that." Bill locked his office door and checked the window to make sure Cathcutter had left. "Nathan, Gabe, let's plan out our strategy."
Bill, Nathan and Gabe made their plans. Bill waited until dark and went around town to notify the five members of the Hope Valley Town Council that there would be a meeting the next night. He stopped at Lee's office last.
"Bill, what are you doing here so late? asked Lee.
Bill filled Lee in on Cathcutter and his plans for Hope Valley. He gave Lee the original copy of the town ordinance, that does not permit businesses in Hope Valley that are larger than the mining operation. "Bill, is this really legitimate?" asked Lee.
"Yes it is. It's legally on the books. Even though the Pacific Northwest Mining Company is out of business in Hope Valley, the ordinance is still in effect. Lee, you'll need to brief the Council on the matter to be discussed as well as the ordinance. Gabe is in town. He and Nathan will be outside the library in case there's trouble. I'm confident we can charge them with bribery, conspiracy and intimidation. It's not going to stop with them. I'm sure there's someone in the government that Cathcutter has been working with who's dirty. I'm going to make a couple of calls in the morning so both Mountie Headquarters and the government can be looking at this from their end."
"This is huge, Bill. Can we pull it off?" asked Lee.
"I have no doubt whatsoever."
Thursday night the library was empty. A sign was placed on the door that it was closed, due to a meeting. Hope Valley residents could not attend, because the Council would be meeting in executive session to discuss a confidential economic development proposal. Lee briefed the Council on the proposal, and Cathcutter and his associates arrived at 7 o'clock.
"Gentlemen, welcome. Please be seated. I'd like to introduce the members of the Hope Valley Town Council. I'm Lee Coulter, the President. This is Mrs. Elizabeth Thornton, Mr. Ned Yost, Mr. Michael Hickam and Dr. Faith Carter. Gentlemen, could you please introduce yourselves."
Mr. Cathcutter made the introductions of himself and his associates. "OK. This is an emergency meeting of the Hope Valley Town Council. There is one item on the agenda, and we are meeting in Executive Session. Mr. Hickam will be making a record of this meeting. Mr. Cathcutter and his associates are interested in using land purchased by Mr. Walden as well as a potential purchase of land from Judge Avery to build a small oil refinery. Mr. Cathcutter is also proposing to donate a portion of Judge Avery's land to the Canadian government to be set aside for a national park. Is that accurate, Mr. Cathcutter?" asked Lee.
"Yes, it is. I might also add that I have the backing of the Canadian government for this proposal. They are streamlining permitting procedures for businesses that are supporting the war effort." Cathcutter provided drawings on the proposed buildings and explained his petroleum refining operation in detail. "I'm glad to answer any questions you may have."
"Mr. Cathcutter, it seems to me this venture of yours will require quite a few employees. Our school is not large enough to accept the number of children whose families may be moving here. Hope Valley also does not have nearly enough housing. Every home in the area is occupied. Three years ago, we refurbished homes for people who were camping by the river. I know we don't have any other housing or a large enough school," stated Elizabeth.
"Yes, Mrs. Thornton. Mr. Landis spoke to me about your school. I believe that is why he was attempting to have your school come under the jurisdiction of a larger governmental body, rather than it being an independent school as it currently is. I understand that plan has changed now, and Mr. Landis is not pursuing that option," said Mr. Cathcutter.
"That is correct," answered Elizabeth.
"Mr. Cathcutter, Mrs. Thornton is correct. The time table you're talking about and the numbers of new people, who would need to move to Hope Valley to fill the positions in your operation, are just much larger in scope than we can manage here. The refinery itself is larger than we could handle as well. You and Mr. Walden have purchased all the available tracts of land in the surrounding area as well as some of the businesses in town. There is no place for people to live and not enough businesses to keep up with this kind of demand," said Lee. "I just simply cannot see how we could do this in Hope Valley."
"Well, I may be able to help with that. If Judge Avery sells me his property, I can then build some inexpensive homes there and lease the land and homes to the new employees. The employees could live right next to the refinery. You'd have to raze the school and build a larger one."
Elizabeth interrupted. "Mr. Cathcutter, my late husband built that school. He purchased the materials with money he was awarded for bravery. He was a Mountie, and he was killed in the line of duty. The people in this town donated their time and energy to help him build that school. It is not only our school; it is also our church. I will never support destroying what my late husband built."
"Mrs. Thornton, this is progress we're bringing to Hope Valley. Good jobs, products to help in the war effort—it is our patriotic duty to support the war effort. Surely you can see that," said Mr. Cathcutter. "I'm certain everyone has an emotional attachment to that building, but face it, that building represents the past. I'm offering you a future, Mrs. Thornton. Think of all the children you'll be able to help. The town can hire additional teachers." Cathcutter hesitated. "How about this? How would you like to be principal of a larger, more modern school in Hope Valley?"
Elizabeth was very firm and barely moved her lips as she answered. "I like teaching. This is my life's calling. I have a son, Mr. Cathcutter. I do not want him growing up in a town that is filled with smoke and dirt and too many people living in squalid conditions. I will not take your so-called principal position, which, by the way, you have no authority to offer me."
"Mrs. Thornton, I never said the workers would be living in squalid conditions. I'll build practical living quarters for the workers. You have my word on it," said Mr. Cathcutter.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cathcutter. When this matter comes to a vote, I will vote no," said Elizabeth.
"Mrs. Thornton, I'm very sorry to hear you say that. Do you want to be the lone person voting against progress for Hope Valley? I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I can offer each of you a stipend to be consultants for my new venture, say, $500 a year. I think that's quite generous. Besides, Mrs. Thornton, I have the backing of the Canadian government for this project. It's pretty much a done deal."
"Is that so?" asked Lee. "Could you tell us about this backing you have, Mr. Cathcutter?"
"I would be glad to, Mr. Coulter." Elizabeth started to speak, and Cathcutter interrupted. "Now, Mrs. Thornton, I have the floor. You'll need to wait until I finish my proposal." Elizabeth's knuckles were turning white she was gripping the table so tightly. Lee motioned to Cathcutter to continue speaking. "I have spoken to some people in the Canadian government, specifically the Department of Militia and Defense. They are being very generous in streamlining processes for businesses that support the war effort. I already have clearance from them for this project."
"Do you have a letter you could provide?" asked Lee.
"No, but I would be glad to get you a letter. I'll have to call my contact there. I'm sure he would be glad to send you a telegram. I assume you have telegraph services in this town."
"Yes, we do. It's at the mercantile," said Lee. "Can I ask you why you're here then, if you have support from the government for your project?"
"I like to have a good relationship with the towns and cities where I have business ventures. It just keeps things neat, so to speak."
"Mr. Cathcutter, Mrs. Thornton has already spoken about how your business venture will impact the school. I run the infirmary in town. I'm the only doctor, and I have one receptionist. We are in a small building as it is. We simply cannot properly serve additional patients. We do not have an operating room or space to hospitalize sick or injured people, and there is no place to expand," said Dr. Carter.
"I think we can work something out here, miss," said Cathcutter.
"I am not miss. I am Dr. Faith Carter, Mr. Cathcutter."
"I apologize. I'd be glad to add a stipend to your salary, Dr. Carter. We can keep this just among us, so it stays friendly like. I'm a business man. This isn't the first town I've provided economic development for, and it won't be the last. I know we can work it out to everyone's liking."
"Secret stipends, Mr. Cathcutter?" asked Lee. "Is that another word for a bribe?"
"No, no. You misunderstand. I propose to add a little something extra to your salary. Consider it a donation from an appreciative businessman."
"Before we go any further, I need to inform you about an ordinance that is on the books here in Hope Valley." Lee told Cathcutter about the Pacific Northwest Mining Company, their history in Hope Valley and the deaths of all the miners.
"I'm real sorry to hear about that difficult time in your past. Mining is old business. I'm offering to bring Hope Valley out of the dark ages and into the modern business of petroleum refining. It's the future, Mr. Coulter."
"Then I need to show you that ordinance I just spoke about. It's completely legal and binding, Mr. Cathcutter." Lee showed Cathcutter and his associates the ordinance that does not allow businesses larger than the mine to operate in Hope Valley.
"Ha! This is just an ordinance from a mere town, Mr. Coulter. I have the backing of the Canadian government as I told you."
"I think we are ready for a vote," said Lee. "I move that we reject Mr. Cathcutter's proposal based on the ordinance in effect that does not allow for any type of business to be larger than the previously operated mining company in Hope Valley."
"I second that motion," said Hickam.
"Is there any discussion?" asked Lee. The Council was quiet.
"All those in favor, please respond by raising your hand." All five members of the Hope Valley Town Council raised their hands. "The motion passes unanimously in the affirmative." Lee banged his gavel. "Mr. Cathcutter, your proposal has been defeated."
"Now wait just a minute, here. I have the backing of the Canadian government. You can't do this."
"I'm afraid we just did. By the way, Mr. Cathcutter, you and your associates can just stay right where you are," said Lee. He opened the front door of the library and asked Judge Avery, Constable Grant and Constable Kinslow to step inside.
"I'm placing you gentlemen under arrest. Mr. Cathcutter, you're being charged with multiple counts of bribery and intimidation. Mr. Spurlock and Mr. Blackmore, you're both being charged with conspiracy. Mr. Cathcutter, I know you had Mr. Spurlock come see my niece and her friend at school. We'll discuss that one," said Nathan. The two Mounties placed the four men under arrest, handcuffed them and with Judge Avery's assistance, escorted them to the jail.
"You can contact your legal representatives, gentlemen once you're at the jail. You'll be arraigned in my office tomorrow afternoon. Until then, you'll be guests of Constable Grant and Constable Kinslow," said Bill.
"Walden, I'm not paying you a dime for any of that property you bought for me. Judge, you can't do this. I have government backing," yelled Cathcutter.
"Oh, and about that government backing, we'll be checking who is backing up your deals, Mr. Cathcutter. I'll see you in my office tomorrow," said Bill.