'We had two hundred guests, Detective,' Orr said. 'I noticed him chatting with a number of guests, but I did not pay him particular attention. He left alone, around ten-thirty,' Orr said.
'You noticed his departure?'
'Only because he came over to thank me,' Orr said. 'The Brits, like Texans, have manners. To save you time, I do not know what he said to other guests and I did not notice if he was drinking or what he was eating. I presume toxicology reports will tell you that.'
'Yes, sir. Do you happen to know if Mr. Wilson arranged to meet anyone after the party?' Howell asked.
'I do not,' Orr replied. 'The newspaper said that he entertained a woman in his suite and died of an apparent heart attack sometime during the night. Do you have any reason to suspect otherwise?'
'Not at this time,' said the detective.
'I'm happy to hear that,' the senator said. He did not want a scandal attached to his name.
'But if someone was with him and failed to summon medical assistance perhaps because she was married and feared publicity that individual might be guilty of involuntary manslaughter.'
'I see. Don't you have video from the hotel security cameras?'
'We do, but the woman was extremely careful not to show her face,'
Howell told him.
'Which makes you even more suspicious,' Orr said.
'It does make us interested in her,' the detective agreed. 'Senator, would it be an imposition to obtain a list of your party guests?'
'It will be an imposition if my guests are harassed by the police or the press,' Orr told him.
'We are only interested in locating the woman who was with Mr. Wilson last night. Our questions will not go beyond that.'
'In that case, my executive assistant Kendra Peterson will provide you with a list,' Orr told him.
'Thank you, sir.'
'Is there anything else we can do for you?' Orr asked.
'Nothing that I can think of right now,' Detective How-ell told him. 'I appreciate your cooperation, sir.'
'It was my pleasure, Detective.'
Orr hung up the phone and sat at his desk made of rare Texas aspen. It was the same desk the revered Sam Houston had used when he served in the Senate. As Orr had expected, the conversation with Detective Howell was direct but respectful. The D.C. police were good that way.
They knew that politicians could shape innuendo as if it were plastique. Investigations were handled with exceptional care.
Hopefully, William Wilson's death did not become a distraction for the media. The senator had a plan, a vision for the United States, the unveiling of which was one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington. For the past several months Orr had been organizing funds and personnel to establish a new force in American politics. In two days he would acknowledge what many had suspected: that he would be making a serious third-party run for the presidency. He would make the announcement at a press conference at seven a.m. the next morning, when it was six a.m. in Kingsville. That was when he had first announced his intention to run for the United States Senate, with a big Texas sun rising behind him. The press conference would include an invitation for all Americans to join him at the USF Party's first convention, to be held later that week in San Diego. There, they would define the party's platform and name its first candidates for president and vice president of the United States. Orr did not intend to repeat the mistake of other third-party founders. He was not doing this for personal advancement, for revenge, or to appeal to a radical fringe. The USF was here for people who believed that the interests of America came before the needs of partisans.
Orr looked out the window at the Capitol. It was a bright day, and the 288-foot-high dome gleamed white against a cloudless sky. The senator still felt humbled to see it, to be part of an unbroken chain of leaders dating from the Founding Fathers and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The dome was a daily, iconic reminder to him of why he had come to Washington: to serve the electorate fearlessly. To uphold the Constitution with his energy, his heart, and his judgment.
If he did that successfully, he would continue to serve here. If he failed, he would go back to ranching.
