‘Probably,’ Reacher said. Fhaw it a bit, rub it down their
nose, print it on the paper. Just like Stuyvesant’s secretary with
her rubber stamp. It’s probably drying out a bit with age, which
is why the squalene percentage keeps getting higher.’
‘What are the implications?’ Stuyvesant said. ‘Assuming
you’re right?’
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Reacher made a face. ‘We can change one major assumption.
Now I would guess they’ve both got prints on file, and they’ve
both been wearing the latex gloves.’
I’wo renegades,’ Bannon said.
‘Not necessarily ours,’ Stuyvesant said.
‘So explain the other factors,’ Bannon said.
Stuyvesant was silent. Bannon shrugged.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘We’ve got an hour. And I don’t want to be
looking in the wrong place. So convince me. Show me these are
private citizens gunning for Armstrong personally.’
Stuyvesant glanced at Swain, but Swain said nothing.
‘ime is ticking by,’ Bannon said.
q’his isn’t an ideal context,’ Swain said.
Bannon smiled. ‘What, you only preach to the choir?’
Nobody spoke.
‘You’ve got no case,’ Bannon said. ‘I mean, who cares about a
vice president? They’re nobodies. What was it, a bucket of warm
spit?’
‘It was a pitcher,’ Swain said. ‘John Nance Garner said the
vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm spit. He also
called it a spare tyre on the automobile of government. He
was FDR’s first running mate. John Adams called it the most
insignificant office man had ever invented, and he was the first
vice president of all.’
‘So who cares enough to shoot a spare tyre or an insignificant
pitcher of spit?’
‘Let me start from the beginning,’ Swain said. ‘what does a
vice president do?’
‘He sits around,’ Bannon says. ‘Hopes the big guy dies.’
Swain nodded. ‘Somebody else said the Vice President’s job
is merely about waiting. In case the President dies, sure, but
more often for the nomination in his own right eight years down
the track. But in the short term, what is the Vice President for?’ ‘Beats the hell out ofme,’ Bannon said.
‘He’s there to be a candidate,’ Swain said. fhat’s the bottom
line. His design life lasts from when he’s tapped in the summer
until election day. He’s useful for four or five months, tops. He
starts out as a pick-me-up for the campaign. Everybody’s bored
to death with the presidential nominees by midsummer, so the
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VP picks put a jolt into the campaigns. Suddenly we’ve all got something else to talk about. Somebody else to analyse. We
look at their qualities and their records. We figure out how well
they balance the tickets. That’s their initial function. Balance
and contrast. Whatever the presidential nominee isn’t, the VP
nominee is, and vice versa. Young, old, racy, dull, northern,
southern, dumb, smart, hard, soft, rich, poor.’
‘We get the picture,’ Bannon said.
‘So he’s there for what he is,’ Swain said. ‘Initially he’s just a
photograph and a biography. He’s a concept. Then his duties
start. He’s got to have campaigning skills, obviously. Because
he’s there to be the attack dog. He’s got to be able to say
the stuff the presidential candidate isn’t allowed to say himself.
If the campaign scripts an attack or a put-down, it’s the VP
candidate they get to deliver it. Meanwhile the presidential
candidate stands around somewhere else looking all statesmanlike.
Then the election happens and the presidential candidate
goes to the White House and the VP gets put away in a closet.
His usefulness is over, first Tuesday in November.’
‘Was Armstrong good at that kind of stuff?’
‘He was excellent. The truth is he was a very negative
campaigner, but the polls didn’t really show it because he kept
that nice smile on his face the whole time. Truth is he was
deadly.’
‘And you think he trod on enough toes to get himself
assassinated for it?’
Swain nodded, q’hat’s what I’m working on now. I’m analysing
every speech and comment, matching up his attacks against
the profile of the people he was attacking.’
if’he timing is persuasive,’ Stuyvesant said. ‘Nobody can
argue with that. He was in the House for six years and the
Senate for another six and barely got a nasty letter. This whole