card. The moment either name is in the computer, we’re blown. The grand counselors would immediately figure out why we’re in Vermont. They’d have men waiting for us by the time we showed up at Grollier Academy.”
“Four hundred dollars.” Jill bleakly surveyed the rusted automobile.
“I know. It’s a fortune when the only money at our disposal is a thousand. But we don’t have an option. At least we bargained the salesman down from four hundred and fifty.”
“But can we be certain the car won’t break down when we drive it off the lot?”
“Well, the best thing I can tell you is, this car has a Chrysler slant-six engine. It’s almost indestructible.”
“I didn’t realize you knew about auto mechanics.”
“I don’t.”
“Then how-?”
“I once did a story about used-car lots and ways to tell if the buyer was getting cheated.”
“Remarkable. I’m beginning to realize you’re the sum of all the interviews you conducted.”
“Something like that.”
“And if we buy this heap, you think we’ll be getting a good deal?”
“Only if the salesman gives us a free tank of gas.”
5
As they headed northwest from Montpelier past the mountains that flanked Route 89, the Duster performed better than Pittman expected, its slant-six engine sounding powerful and smooth.
Because his bandaged left hand made it awkward for him to steer, Jill did the driving. She opened her window. “Whoever owned this car sure liked cigars.”
“On the positive side, the seat covers don’t look bad. Which is more than I can say about me. I’d better get presentable for when we arrive at Grollier.”
He took the battery-powered razor from his gym bag, and while he shaved, he stared at the wooded peaks. “The map the used-car salesman gave us says this range is called the Green Mountains. An odd name for a place known for skiing.”
“I told you the French were the first settlers here. Analyze the name of the state. Vermont is another way of saying
“It seems so peaceful here. What could there possibly be about Grollier Academy that’s so terrifying to the grand counselors?”
“At the library, the
“That still doesn’t prove anything. Does it mean they didn’t actually go there, or is it that they don’t want to advertise?”
As the Duster rounded a curve, revealing a meadow flanked by spruce trees, wooded peaks looming above them, Pittman was so preoccupied, he barely noticed the vista. “Maybe they realized that it wasn’t in their best interests for it to be known that they all went to the same prep school.”
“Why would that hurt them?”
“Too blatantly chummy. The general public might catch on about one of the federal government’s nasty secrets: how inbred it is. Certain prep schools for the elite prepare the cream of the future Establishment to go to Ivy League colleges. That future Establishment graduates from those colleges and heads toward Washington. There they dominate various branches of the government. The CIA is tight with Yale, for example. The State Department used to be dominated by people from Harvard. Clinton’s administration has a close relationship with Yale Law School.
“But it gets more specific. Ivy League colleges have secret societies, and the most prestigious-Skull and Bones, for example-are almost exclusively for members of the Establishment. A President appoints his classmates, his fellow society members. They become ambassadors or serve on the cabinet or as his advisers. You know the story-the President goes out of office and his appointees move into the private sector, where as members of the boards of various corporations they use their influence in Washington to manipulate government regulations. Or else they form their own consultation businesses and cater to foreign clients who pay them extremely well to use their powerful contacts. That’s the reason I wanted to bring Millgate down to my level. Because he was in thick with the weapons manufacturers. He advocated military involvement in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, and Iraq, to name the most famous instances. But the question is, Was that for the good of the country and the world, or was it for the good of the weapons manufacturers and Millgate’s Swiss bank account?
“On the most basic level, one of the reasons there’s so much corruption in the government is that few politicians and diplomats have the courage to question the behavior of a former classmate and club member. Good old so-and-so made a mistake by accepting bribes. But he’s not really a bad guy. Why turn him in and make trouble for him? Some social commitments are more important than representing the American people. Did you ever hear about Bohemian Grove?”
“No.” Jill looked puzzled.
“It’s another secret society: a males-only club, the main purpose of which is a summer outing that takes place each year in a compound in the woods of northern California. Its members are among the most powerful men in the United States: senators, cabinet members, major financiers, and corporate executives. Every Republican President since Nixon has been a member. The members are allowed to bring equally powerful guests from foreign countries. And what do all these influential men do? They get drunk, sing campfire songs, put on skits, and have pissing contests.”
“A boy’s camp for grown-ups,” Jill said.
“Right. And when the festivities are over, when all those men go back to their powerful occupations, is it likely that any of them would ever accuse any others-they pissed against trees together at camp-of improper professional conduct? No way. The ultimate consequence of Bohemian Grove is to make it seem in terribly bad taste for power brokers to accuse one another of being unethical. And that’s just one example of how club rules are more important than society’s rules. The whole damned thing stinks.”
Except for the drone of the Duster’s engine, the car became silent. Jill steered around another curve, passing cattle near a stream in another valley.
At last she spoke. “Now that you’ve got that off your chest, do you feel better?”
“No.”
“My father went to Yale. He was a member of Skull and Bones.”
“I wasn’t trying to be personal.”
“But it’s true. My father works in international commodities. Because he belonged to Skull and Bones, he seems to have more influence than his competitors. He’s able to call in better favors.”
“Then imagine the influence the grand counselors have,” Pittman said. “Advisers to Presidents from Truman on. Ambassadors, members of the cabinet. At one time or another, three of them were secretary of state. Two of them were secretary of defense. Several were chiefs of staff and national security advisers, not to mention ambassador to the United Nations, NATO, Great Britain, the USSR, Saudi Arabia, West Germany, et cetera. Never elected. Always appointed. With influence since the Second World War. A government within the government. When their power wasn’t officially granted to them by the White House-during the Kennedy and Carter years, for example-they still managed to maintain their influence indirectly by creating foreign policy as members of think tanks like the Council on Foreign Relations, the Rand Corporation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Three of the grand counselors went to Harvard. Two went to Yale. And at least three of them, maybe all of them, went to the same prep school. But one of them felt so troubled by that prep school, he wanted to confess something about it on his deathbed, and the others were prepared to do anything to stop him.”
6
