Marine One

us and begged us to resolve all potential cases for one billion dollars, and that we of course rejected it out of hand as being premature, but perhaps indicative of the problems WorldCopter was facing. We were frankly surprised that WorldCopter was so disturbed by the Senate hearings, and concerned with liability in this case, that they tried to preempt any investigation on our part. Do you understand that?'

'Yes. Very clearly. If confronted by the press, you would lie. That's very good to know. I appreciate knowing up front I'm dealing with a liar.'

'Oh, I wouldn't call it a lie. In fact by the time we'd completed our conversation about it, I would have you completely convinced that what I had said was correct. Words and intentions are elusive little things with content pouring in and out of them all of the time. Much of communication is in tone, timing, and technique. I'm sure you're aware of that.'

He continued, 'There's one other thing. This discussion that we're having, about resolving this case, will stop seven days from now. If WorldCopter does not get back to me with an acceptance of this 'indication of interest' on my part, then there will be no subsequent offer. We will go to trial. Do you understand that, Mr. Nolan?'

'I understand it very well.'

'Excellent. I will look forward to hearing from you by telephone. And you can find my number in any number of places. I'm sure you're clever and will be able to do that.'

'Yes. For example, my caller ID is telling me what it is right now.'

'Yes, but predictably, you have jumped to conclusions. You have assumed that I'm calling you from my office. You have assumed that the line, the number you are seeing, is a direct line and not a trunk line from an office building somewhere in New York. You actually have no idea what you're seeing. In fact, if you think about it, you don't even know that I'm Tom Hackett. I could be Billy Samuels, the young man who lives down the street from you. I look forward to hearing from you.'

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone. I couldn't believe I'd just had that conversation. It was like a dream. I turned to my computer and drafted an e-mail to WorldCopter and Kathryn. He was right, I didn't know for sure it was Tom Hackett, but the voice sure sounded like the voice I'd heard on numerous televised press conferences about his victories. Plus it's hard to match that kind of articulate arrogance. You can't find that just anywhere. I finished the e-mail and read it over. I decided to call Kathryn in the morning.

____________________

Throughout that night and the next morning as I drove back to my office, I couldn't get Hackett's call off my mind. Sometimes the more desperate people's cases are, and the less likely they are to prevail, the more they demand and the quicker they insist on a response. They don't want to get into the facts; they want to play it with the maximum extortion value. They don't want to get into discovery, where we might find out that their case was a pile of shit. They demand money, bang on the table, try to scare the defendants, and try to extract a settlement. It wasn't my decision, but I couldn't imagine this case being resolved this quickly with no theory of what happened, especially for the kind of money that Hackett was talking about. That was crazy money.

I drank deeply from the coffee in my USNA mug and called Kathryn. Her secretary answered, 'Ms. Galbraith's office.'

'It's Mike Nolan, is Kathryn there?'

'Sure, Mr. Nolan, I'll get her right away.'

Kathryn came on, now sounding as if she hadn't slept in three days. I gave her the whole conversation, which she found odd and remarkable. She waited patiently, but finally broke in, 'I read your e-mail. Is he out of his mind?'

'Yes. He is. He wants a billion dollars.'

'That's just crazy. He represents the families of everyone who was aboard Marine One?'

'He says he will.'

'That's just ridiculous. But there's a big problem with that number, Mike.'

'What?'

'WorldCopter is only insured for two hundred fifty million dollars.'

'That is a problem.'

Kathryn thought for a moment, anger building. 'Sounds to me like it includes punitive damages too. Agree?'

'Probably. How much is a dead president worth? How much does a former president earn over the remainder of his life? Hard to say. A lot, but nothing like the CEO of Exxon or something. And former presidents don't become CEOs. So it sounds to me like he's including punitives without saying it.'

'We can't insure punitive damages, Mike.'

'Yeah. I know.'

'Well, we have to reject it. I'll call WorldCopter. I suppose if they want to kick in seven hundred and fifty million dollars of their own money, that would force us to decide whether to throw in the policy, but this case isn't even worth our policy, unless someone convinces me otherwise. We don't have any evidence of liability at all.'

I agreed. 'And Jean Claude will never pay anything over the policy, especially now. Everybody would think it was an admission that the helicopter was defective.'

'Did Hackett say he'd keep it confidential?'

'Sure, but I don't even take that into consideration. I've lived close enough to Washington for long enough to know that things are only confidential until someone feels 'wronged.' Then suddenly it appears in the Post. You want me on the call with WorldCopter?'

'No. I don't think it will be very long. They're indignant about all this. They think they're being slandered by the press and everyone else. NTSB's nice little press release didn't help much.'

'Just the springboard Hackett needed to make his call.' A thought suddenly struck me. 'Maybe he has a friend inside the NTSB. It would explain a lot.'

'Great. That's all we need. An attorney manipulating a government agency. Well, keep going. Looks like we're going to have a big fat lawsuit on our hands pretty quickly. Assume WorldCopter is going to reject this unless we call you back. We're in for a real fight on this one, Mike.'

'He said this would be his last offer.'

'That's what they all say.'

10

MIKE,' TRACY, MY secretary, said from outside my door as I hung up the phone.

'Yeah.'

'Rachel just called. The NTSB is going to have a press conference in a few minutes.'

'Get her in here,' I said as I turned to my computer and went to MSNBC.com. They were carrying the press conference live. Rachel ran in as I clicked on the video feed and the picture opened in a small window on my computer screen.

'Anyone speculating on what this is about?'

'Nothing. No one was expecting it this quickly.'

I expanded the video panel on my computer screen. I recognized the lobby of the NTSB building. The NTSB logo was right behind Rose, who was standing in front of a lectern with a bank of microphones. Rachel came around to my side of the desk and leaned against it next to me.

Rose looked up at all the cameras and the faces of all the reporters. She began reading a prepared statement. She told them she would take no questions, this was a preliminary finding, how tirelessly all the professionals who were a part of the investigation had worked, blah, blah, blah. Everybody in the country wanted her to get to the point. Finally she did. She looked up and her eyes narrowed. I wondered if she had written that gesture into her statement. 'First of all, let me say that our findings, again, are preliminary, and this is particularly true as to the cause of this accident. I want to state clearly what we believe did not cause this accident. We have found no evidence of any explosives, projectiles, or other means of bringing this helicopter down by outside forces. This helicopter was not shot down. Second, we, with the FBI and other investigators, have found no evidence of foul play. The president was not assassinated. Third, it is our preliminary belief that the cause of this accident was due to the helicopter losing one of its main rotor blades in the storm.' You could hear cameras clicking in the background. 'We are not positive about the cause of that rotor blade leaving the main rotor hub. But we know it was put on the helicopter two weeks ago. This was a replacement blade. Our current focus is on the missing tip weights which could have caused blade separation. That is all I have.'

She closed her notebook and walked away from the lectern without answering any of the questions being screamed at her by the journalists: So, it was WorldCopter's fault? Was it sabotage? How long before your investigation is final? Have you met with WorldCopter? What did they say?

She was true to her word and took no questions. When the door closed behind her, the reporters quieted down. I muted the sound on my computer and looked up at Rachel, who was looking down at me. She folded her arms and stared at the screen. 'How could they know that?'

'I don't know, maybe they've got some good metallurgy we haven't seen. I'll ask Marcel. They're clearly not telling us everything. They can wait until the final report is issued to really lay it out. That could be another year or two.'

'Marcel would have already told us if they'd found something.' Rachel stood there, not moving. She looked down at me again. 'You buying it?'

'We've always known that blade was a problem. But do I think that caused the accident? No.'

'Then why would they say it did?'

'Because they believe it. You ever heard of Occam's razor?'

'No.'

'It's named after some philosopher. His idea, the 'razor,' was that the correct answer to a complex problem is usually found in the simplest solution. The more you construct or assume, the more steps or requirements there are to explain it, the less likely it is to be right. All things being equal, the explanation that calls for the fewest assumptions is likely the correct one. Basically, the simplest answer wins.'

'Makes sense.'

'I don't think it does, but my point is, that's the way the NTSB thinks. If they can come up with a single screw that explains an entire accident, they'll grab on to that