“His father-in-law?” exclaimed Sean again.
“Yes. Alan Grant married Leslie Marshall nine years ago. They have three children. Dan Marshall is a widower. His wife, Maggie, died of cancer two years ago.” He paused. “I’m sorry that I didn’t find this connection earlier. I can’t believe I missed it.”
“It’s okay,” said Michelle in a soothing tone. “It just shows you’re human like the rest of us.”
“Yeah,” agreed Sean. “Only you have four times the brain power of the rest of us.”
This seemed to perk up Edgar’s spirits and he continued in a firmer voice. “Alan Grant served in the Army and was honorably discharged. He heads up Vista Trading Group. I could find no connection between Vista and Heron Air Service.”
Sean said, “And Grant’s parents? You said you’d found something there?”
“A suicide pact. They killed themselves back in 1988 when Grant was thirteen.”
Michelle said, “Suicide pact? What was the reason?”
“Franklin Grant served as an assistant to the NSC back in the 1980s. He became embroiled in the Iran-Contra affair and I guess he couldn’t live with it and neither could his wife. All very, very sad.”
Michelle looked at Sean. “Okay, is that significant?”
“Maybe.”
Sea
n looked at Edgar. “What else can you tell us about Franklin Grant’s duties at the National Security Council?”
“Most of it, Sean, is still classified. But from what I could gather Franklin Grant might have been in the loop on the scheme but wasn’t in favor of it. I dug a bit deeper than just the papers and other media reports at the time. It seems that Grant tried to speak out against his superiors but they used him as a scapegoat.” Edgar looked down for a moment and said, “I know what that feels like.”
“We know you do, Edgar,” said Michelle. “So a scapegoat and leaving behind a young and suddenly orphaned Alan Grant.”
Sean looked thoughtful. “I remember reading about Iran-Contra in the papers, of course, although I came to Washington after it was over. I don’t remember the name Franklin Grant.”
Edgar glanced at his screen. “There wasn’t much to find. There were juicier parts out there. Reagan and all his high-ranking administration officials. Oliver North. North’s secretary. Manuel Noriega. Franklin Grant seems to have simply gotten lost in the history shuffle.”
“But he was the only one who paid the ultimate price, right?” Michelle asked.
Sean added, “From what I remember, even though a ton of documents ended up somehow being lost or withheld during the course of the investigation, quite a few administration officials were indicted and/or convicted, including the then-secretary of defense. But a bunch of the convictions were either overturned on appeal or vacated. And those that weren’t were pardoned by the next administration. I think North got jail time but he was pardoned too, or something like that.”
Edgar said, “He actually received a suspended sentence and probation and did some community service. But his conviction was later vacated and all charges were later dropped.”
“So Franklin Grant was really the only one who bit the bullet,” said Sean.
“Maybe despite trying to be a whistleblower he had a guilty conscience,” reasoned Michelle.
“Or more integrity than some of the others involved,” replied Sean. “But the bottom line is, this gives Alan Grant a great motive to have planned what is happening now.”
“I’ll confess I was too young to really follow Iran-Contra. What exactly happened?” asked Michelle.
Sean looked at Edgar. “I wasn’t too young. But you’ve just done the research. You can probably explain it better than I can, Edgar. The details are a little fuzzy for me.”
Edgar looked at him sadly. “Your massive brain cell loss.”
Michelle coughed to cover her laugh.
Sean looked indignant. “Okay, listen up, I have a normal brain cell loss for someone… for someone of my age.”
“There are medications that can help,” offered Edgar sincerely. “And I know some specialists in the field.”
Michelle had to stifle another laugh.