Dirty Little Secrets ...Part 4 ...Exposing the Enigma
corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.
― Frank Herbert
Meredith and I met for breakfast and she seemed to have recovered from the ordeal of meeting with Simon Pollock at his penthouse office on Bay Street.
I decided to just enjoy a quiet breakfast meal with her and let her decide if she wanted to talk about her disturbing experience.
We engaged in small talk through the meal but over coffee she began to open up and discuss what occurred the previous day.
"It might be hard for me to put into words what I experienced, Logan, because now as I think back on the situation it might all seem trivial, but believe me, it may have been subtle and somewhat subdued, but I saw little things that terrified me."
"I understand, Mer—sometimes impressions are as important as actual events and they tell a lot more than mere facts."
She nodded, "Then, I can see you get what I'm driving at. Anyway, from the moment I arrived at Pollock's 'office' I felt as if I entered a mafia headquarters. There was muscle stationed outside by the elevator and inside monitoring everyone who entered."
"Did you recognize any of these heavies?"
"Oh yeah, I don't know them by name and they were in business suits not in their usual black shirts, but they were right wing thugs I've seen dozens of times when covering protests and political rallies. And believe me, they were menacing."
I whistled softly. "Wow! It seems you were intimidated before you even got to meet Pollock."
"Oh, believe me I was. I wanted to turn around and walk out that door. The way I felt, I could see myself running, fleeing to my car."
"So, how was it when you were finally ushered into Pollocks inner sanctum?"
She laughed cynically. "Oh, that phrase aptly described it. The guy has a view of the city and right across the lake, but I've never been in a more gloomy office and there were cameras everywhere. Did I mention I was searched for weapons at the door and I half expected them to give me a lie detector test and make me sign an NDA."
I shook my head in disbelief. "That's incredible. He must have powerful enemies."
"Either that, or he's extremely paranoid—maybe both."
"So, what's Pollock the man like—is he as shady as his surroundings and associates?"
She shook her head. "No, the man himself is polished and charming. He could pass as a university dean—very suave and formal in his manners and impeccably dressed."
"That 's surprising, I mean, the discrepancy between his style of business and his personal demeanour."
"The man is a walking contradiction, and that's what really scares me. He seems superficially charming, but just below the surface there's something cold and unfeeling. I got the sense that the man has no empathy and no morality. He took me out on the penthouse terrace and pointed out parts of the city that he said needed 'cleansing'. When I asked what he meant he gave a cruel smile and simply said those districts were occupied by vermin who were siphoning off millions of dollars and weakening the nation."
Are you saying Pollock is a racist?"
"He's actually a closet nazi who has his own plan for the country, reminiscent no doubt of another megalomaniac from the past who had a plan to eliminate whole races of people."
"That's frightening," I shuddered, "but what the hell do his deluded theories have to do with the Enigma Club?"
"That's simple—that's where he lures prominent politicians, investment capitalists, and celebrities and tempts them to buy a secret fantasy he can later exploit by threatening to expose their hidden sins if they don't comply with his demands."
"So, you're saying he uses their covert weaknesses to trap and blackmail them into doing his commands?"
"Exactly, and that way he can accomplish his own sick dreams.”
It was at that moment I realized that Pollock was more than just a creep profiting off the weaknesses of the rich and famous.
The man was an existential threat to the city and nation…and perhaps to the whole damn world if he were allowed to persist in hs crimes.
He had to be stopped and Meredith and I were not just pursuing an expose of corruption but an attempt to bring down a real and imminent threat to the nation and the international community.
Thank you!