Hawaii - James Michener [577]
A white-capped wave of excitement, marked by widely opened eyes, sped about the room, like a breaker heading for shore, and Hale continued: "So far as we can deduce from what Kelly was able to tell us, McLafferty had in mind the possibility of," again he dropped his voice to underline the enormity of what was going on, "a hotel." Once more the wave of opened eyes flashed about the room, for the owners of almost every important hotel sat that day in The Fort. "I've put tracers on this McLafferty and haven't come up with much. Hewlett, will you read us what we've found so far?"
Hewlett Janders coughed, picked up a sheet of paper, and read: "James McLafferty, B.A. Holy Cross 1921, Harvard Law School 1926. Practices law in Boston. Served as colonel in the Army Air Corps 1941-45 in charge of land procurement for airstrips in Africa, Italy and England. Author with Professor Harold Abernethy of Harvard Land Procurement Policies of the U. S. Army Air Corps. Son of the infamous Black Jim McLafferty, long-time Democratic politician who served a term in jail for malfeasance while governor. Roman Catholic and visited Rome twice while on duty overseas, which endeared him to his father's constituents. He himself has never run for office." Big Hewlett Janders stopped, then added, "No clue as to who is employing him for whatever he's doing in Hawaii." Hewlett threw the paper on the table as if to say, "If you think you can make anything out of this, you're welcome to try."
Hoxworth Hale said, "Well, what does it add up to? We find that a stranger who knows a lot about land procurement, who is obviously a radical of some sort from Harvard, is interested in the Swamp . . . for a hotel. It certainly looks to me as if he were the kind of man we've been trying to keep out of our city." The men about the table nodded, so Hale continued: "Do we have any of the Kanakoa Trust men among us?"
Hewlett Janders replied, "I'm on the board, so is John Whipple Hoxworth. The third member is Harry Helmore and he can certainly be trusted."
"Will you speak for Harry?" Hale asked.
"Well, he's married to my cousin Abigail," Hewlett pointed out. "I guess I can speak for him."
"Is it agreed then that under no circumstances will Malama Kanakoa be allowed to sell the Swamp to McLafferty?"
"So far as I'm concerned," Hewlett replied. "How about you, John Hoxworth?"
"It would be criminal to admit a man like that into our city." "Then it's agreed," Hoxworth announced, but his natural caution in these matters was not yet satisfied, so he asked, "Let's suppose for a minute that this talk about a hotel was a blind. Let's suppose that McLafferty was acting as front man for someone entirely different. Gentlemen, I think that's a fair supposition. Whom does this man really represent?"
The wily, practiced men of The Fort turned their whole attention to this problem. Slowly John Whipple Hoxworth, a thin, clever man with a typical Whipple intellect, reasoned: "The group that was most furious when we turned them back was California Fruit, but I think that out of natural vanity they would refuse to recruit an agent from Boston. It just wouldn't seem palatable to a Californian. I don't think O. C. Clemmons is going to fight again, and after two bad whippings I doubt that Gregory's will be back. Therefore I have to conclude that it's Shea and Horner. It's the kind of trick they'd pull, and after all, remember that Shea is a prominent Catholic."
"I wonder if it could be Gregory's after all?" Hoxworth mused. "Has anybody met this McLafferty yet?"
No one had, and the meeting ended with Hale's final warning: "I suppose you've all read that California Fruit has signed a contract with their labor unions? Gregory's entered into one three years ago, and you know the Shea and Horner stand. If you require any encouragement in this fight to keep men like McLafferty out of our city, keep the labor union angle in mind."
When the others had left The Fort, Hoxworth Hale sat brooding