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What you do is introduce a bill in the Montana statehouse that does what you want, and if you need the votes, you pay off these part-time politicians who need the money.”
    â€œAnd that’s what you’re saying is happening? That somebody is bribing state legislators?”
    â€œYeah, but that’s not all. They’re bribing judges, too. If a law gets passed they don’t like, they’ll file a lawsuit and then if they need to, they’ll bribe judges to overturn the law.”
    â€œWho’s this they you’re talking about?”
    â€œThere are a lot of theys,” Sarah said. “I mean there are a lot of individuals and political organizations and corporations who are manipulating state legislators and judges, but the guy I’m after is Leonard Curtis.”
    â€œI’ve never heard of him,” DeMarco said—and Sarah’s expression said: And why am I not surprised by this?
    â€œCurtis is an independent natural gas driller,” she said.
    â€œBut what makes you think—”
    â€œThe biggest thing happening in this country, energy-wise, is natural gas and North Dakota has been called Kuwait on the Prairie. South Dakota and Montana also have gas and oil reserves, and huge corporations like Exxon and Conoco, and big independents like Devon and Anadarko, are all going after the gas. It’s like the California gold rush out here. Workers are living in shantytowns in trailers and RVs, and so many people are coming here that housing prices have skyrocketed and it’s hard to get a motel room. They just can’t develop the infrastructure fast enough to support all the drilling. At the same time, there are all kinds of issues—environmental issues, property issues, tax issues—­related to natural gas. I mean, you’ve heard of fracking, haven’t you?”
    â€œSure,” DeMarco said. “That’s when they pump in water to get the gas out.”
    â€œNot just water but chemicals, and fracking can contaminate ground water and cause earthquakes.”
    â€œEarthquakes? Is there any scientific evidence that fracking—”
    â€œMy point,” Sarah said impatiently, “is that there are all sorts of legal issues related to natural gas, which means laws are getting passed to regulate the industry, and sometimes the laws are good for the gas companies and sometimes they’re not. And what Leonard Curtis is doing, in every way he can, is making sure the laws are favorable to him.”
    â€œAren’t other companies doing the same thing?”
    â€œYeah, probably. Almost certainly. But I know Curtis is doing things that are illegal and I can’t take on an entire industry. I figured if I focused on one guy I’d have a better chance of making a case. And Curtis is into everything: drilling, land leases, pipelines, drilling equipment. Anything to do with natural gas.”
    â€œAnd you think he’s bribing people?”
    â€œQuit saying that! Quit saying I think! I know he is.”
    â€œHow many people are in these state legislatures?” DeMarco asked.
    â€œIn Montana there are a hundred in the House and fifty in the Senate. North Dakota is about the same as Montana. In South Dakota there are seventy in the House and thirty-five in the Senate.”
    â€œAnd Curtis is bribing all of them?”
    â€œOf course not. Don’t be stupid. First of all, the statehouses in all three states are currently controlled by the Republicans, and a lot of Republicans support drilling because they want the United States to be energy independent and because the industry creates jobs. Right now, North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation thanks to natural gas. So the statehouses are tilted in Curtis’s favor and he doesn’t have to do much to get a lot of these folks to vote the way he wants. He contributes to their campaigns, and these are little local campaigns where a few