“Said it was tall as a Clydesdale.”
“The one I saw was a mighty lean Clydesdale. Are your witnesses suggesting Standard Oil’s motive for setting the fire?”
“One school of rumor says Standard Oil wants to shut down Kansas production to raise the price of oil by limiting the product reaching market.”
Bell looked to see Edna’s reaction. She said, “The Standard is still heavily invested in the Pennsylvania and Indiana fields. They’re somewhat depleted, so the oil is more expensive to pump. The Standard will lose money if they don’t keep the price up.”
“What else, Archie?”
“Another rumor, a doozy, claims that Standard Oil is laying pipe lines straight through Kansas to tap richer fields in Oklahoma. After they connect those fields to their interstate pipe line, they’ll bypass Kansas oil completely and shut down Kansas production. Then when the producers are forced to the wall, the Standard will buy their leases cheap and lock the oil in the ground for the future. Their future.”
Bell looked again to Edna Matters.
The newspaperwoman laughed. “When you grow up with a father in the oil business, you learn that rumors about Standard Oil are always true. And JDR hears them first.”
“What about this one?” asked Bell.
“The Kansas part fits their pattern. Indian Territory and Oklahoma appear rich in new strikes. But the Standard’s pattern does not include shooting people and setting fires.”
“Exactly what Spike Hopewell told me.”
Edna Matters said, “Clearly, Mr. Hopewell was murdered. But there’s no evidence of the cause of the fire.”
“Yet,” said Bell. He conceded that the only crime that he knew for sure had occurred was the sniper killing of Spike Hopewell. If anyone could determine the cause of the fire, it was Detective Wally Kisley. But to get the best work out of Wally, he had to stay out of his way until he asked for a hand.
Archie asked, “How does John D. Rockefeller hear the rumors first?”
“When two men shake hands, JDR knows the terms of their deal before they report to their front offices.”
“How?” asked Bell.
“He pays spies to keep him ahead of every detail in business and politics. Refiners, distributors, drillers, railroad men, politicians. He calls them correspondents.”
“Does he pay newspaper reporters?”
Edna Matters Hock smiled at the tall detective. “He’s been known to ask reporters.”
“What do they say?”
“I can’t report on other reporters. There are confidences involved. Among friends.”
“Do you have any personal experience in what reporters say?” Archie asked, his most eligible bachelor in New York smile working overtime.
Edna smiled back. “Personally? I quoted my father’s old partner, poor Mr. Hopewell.”
“What did Hopewell say?”
“Why don’t you ask Mr. Bell? He was the last to speak with him.”
Bell said, “He told Rockefeller to go to blazes.”
“Actually,” Edna corrected, “he was paraphrasing. What he originally said, at least according to my father, was, ‘I’d join Satan first.’”
“How did Rockefeller respond to your preference for Satan?”
“I haven’t a clue. JDR does not ask in person. He sends people who ask for him.”
“He’s a famous negotiator. Did they come back with a counteroffer?”