Read Online The 13th Target by Mark de Castrique - Free Book Online Page B

suicide were to be ruled out.
    “So what does that mean?” Sullivan asked. “You hand me a thousand emails?”
    “No. I’d be your filter. Ninety-nine out of a hundred posts are pure junk and speculation. But kernels of truth are scattered here and there. These people aren’t stupid. Luguire might have been a symbol of the Fed and bad money policies, or someone might have had a very specific grudge against him. Odds are whoever’s behind his killing will want to get the motive out, even if hidden between the lines. That’s what I’ll try to elicit through my reports and my blog.”
    “And what’s in it for you?” Sullivan asked.
    “Your undying gratitude for starters.”
    The detective laughed. “Stand in line.”
    Sidney lowered his voice. “And some information that’s more than spoon fed at the briefings. Things I can say are from a source close to the investigation.”
    Sullivan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know about that. I’ve been burned before.”
    “I’m not talking about something that would blow the case. Just enough to show a serious investigation is underway. I’ll provide the speculation on theories to ignite the on-line response. Then, if something comes of it, I get the inside track on the story. You give me the game-winning interview.”
    “What do you really think?” Sullivan asked.
    “About what?”
    “About Luguire’s death. Is this some desperate attempt to thumb your nose at your former bosses?”
    “No. If it’s murder, you have two of the strongest motives you could want. Money and power. The Fed embodies both, our country’s money supply and an unequaled power to regulate it that many say is unconstitutional.”
    “Unconstitutional how?”
    “Article 1, Section 8, ‘The Congress shall have the power to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin.’ There’s a strong argument to be made that Congress has no constitutional authority to abdicate its responsibility to a central private bank that orders the Treasury to print money at its decree. Then that private bank holds the U.S. taxpayer responsible for the debt.”
    “So, why Luguire? Why now?”
    “He could be a target caught in the middle. On the one hand, he’s viewed as progressive and pushing for more transparency. There are powerful forces who want the Fed’s actions to remain secret. Luguire agreed with the decision for the Chairman to hold a news briefing after their closed meetings. That happened for the first time in 2011, ninety-seven years after the Fed’s founding. Such secrecy makes the CIA look like a town hall meeting in New Hampshire. The murder could be a message. ‘Keep the doors closed.’”
    “And on the other hand?”
    Sidney pointed to the chairs behind him. “Mind if we sit?”
    Sullivan debated taking the reporter back to an interview room, but decided to keep the discussion more informal. He wasn’t sure where this was headed.
    “Okay. I’ve got a few minutes.”
    They sat and Sidney leaned closer. “There are those who consider the Fed nothing less than the hand of Satan, not only running up debt that will destroy our country, but financing wars destroying other countries. I’ve heard a rumor that when Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, they found evidence the target of the fourth plane on 9-11 wasn’t the Capitol or the White House, it was the Federal Reserve headquarters on Constitution Avenue. Bin Laden saw the Fed as the primary financial resource funding our foreign policy.”
    “You’re not serious,” Sullivan said.
    “I’m not. It’s not my rumor. But there’s truth that the Fed provides the deficit-spending mechanism that enables presidents to engage in military operations that couldn’t be paid for otherwise.”
    “Luguire was killed by terrorists?” Sullivan didn’t bother to hide his incredulity.
    Sidney shrugged. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility. At least foreign elements of some kind. There’s also an international