“I can’t go in front of a judge and ask for an injunction on the basis of something Robert heard in the woods,” Roger was saying to an exasperated Juliette Rose. “We have to have something concrete, some kind of proof.”
“Like what?” DJ asked before Juliette could explode.
“Almost anything that would support what Robert says. Plans for the plant, a sworn statement from somebody in a position to know what those plans are. Hell, a memo outlining their intent would do it.”
“And there’s nothing we can do until we have it? This proof?”
“Not legally. You can’t get away with ‘we have reason to believe’ in a courtroom unless you’re the District Attorney.”
DJ looked at Juliette. “Unlike the press?”
“You don’t need proof to make an accusation,” Juliette said, “but you do need a hook and we don’t really have one.”
“What’s a hook?” Robert wanted to know.
“Something to grab their attention.”
“Like a demonstration?”
“That’s the second step. The first is an issue they think is newsworthy.”
“Well?” DJ demanded. “What have we got if we don’t have that? A secret chemical plant that’s going to be built on the banks of one of the key rivers that feeds Boston drinking water?”
Juliette shook her head. “Not good enough.”
“Not good enough? What more do they need?”
“An explosion would be nice.”
“Julie!” Roger said, appalled. “Don’t even joke about that, not after the last time.”
“Calm down, Rog. The point is we’ve got a ‘maybe’ when we need a ‘probably’ and a project in the middle of nowhere affecting a complicated water system the people who use it don’t know anything about. Explaining the connection between a river a hundred and fifty miles away and Boston’s water supply to a public doped-up with sports and game shows isn’t going to be easy.”
“The people around here will understand it,” DJ said. “We start with the local papers.”
“You don’t read them, do you?” Juliette asked dryly. “The papers around here are house organs for the commercial sector. If we tell them, they’ll start running articles and editorials about how great it is that industry is moving back into the area and minimizing the dangers to the water supply. We’d be shooting ourselves in the foot.”
“What about The Investigator?” Roger asked. “I know somebody there who’d be willing to do a piece on this.”
“That rag?” Robert protested.
Juliette Rose nodded in his direction. “There’s your problem.”
Mave found herself coming to Robert’s defense. “If you know an investigator, Roger, why not get him to, you know, investigate, find your proof for you.”
Juliette sighed. “The Investigator isn’t a him, Mrs Ellis, it’s the name of an alternative newspaper out of Northampton that has a lousy reputation for accuracy. It doesn’t deserve that reputation but it has it because it does stories nobody else in this neck of the woods will touch. Lots of people don’t like bad news. They’d rather believe everything in that paper is a lie.”
“You mean it’s not?” Robert asked, surprised.
“Of course not,” Juliette said. “But if the story starts there it’s going to be hell trying to get any other paper to pick it up. They’d have a built-in excuse for ignoring it.”
“Mave’s got a point, though,” DJ said. “They could do the investigating and get the proof we can’t. It may not be much but it’s better than nothing.”
“That’s what I meant,” Mave said quickly.
Juliette wasn’t happy. “I say The Investigator is a last resort. If we use them we may get boxed into a corner we can’t get out of. It’s still early. Thanks to Robbie, we’ve got time to formulate a real plan. We don’t have to shoot from the hip.”
“But just this morning–“ Roger began.
“That’s when it was just a road. Once a road project gets approved by the legislature, that’s pretty much it. But a chemical plant? Then legislative approval is the beginning, not the end. I’d say we’ve got at least a year before our butts are against the wall.”
“So you suggest sitting on those butts for a year?” Roger said. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“It isn’t. I’m not suggesting anything of the kind.”
“Then what are you suggesting?” DJ asked.
“An end run,” Juliette said.
