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filed. She hated being herded around like
    cattle by the White House press staff, shouting questions at President
    Beckwith from rope lines at staged and choreographed events. Her writing
    took on an edge. Vandenberg complained regularly to top management at
    the Post. Finally, her editor offered her a new beat, money and
    politics. Susanna took it without hesitation. The new assignment was her
    salvation. She was to find out which individuals, organizations, and
    industries were giving money to which candidates and which parties. Did
    the contributions have an undue effect on policy or legislation? Were
    the politicians and the givers playing by the rules? Was the money spent
    properly? Did anyone break the law? Susanna thrived on the work because
    she loved making the connections. A Harvard-trained lawyer, she was a
    thorough and cautious reporter. She applied the rules of evidence to
    virtually every scrap of information she uncovered. Would it be
    admissible in a court of law? Is it direct testimony or hearsay? Are
    there names, dates, and places in the story that can be checked out? Is
    there corroborating testimony? She preferred documents rather than leaks
    from anonymous sources, because documents can't change their story.
    Susanna Dayton had concluded that the nation's system of financing its
    politics amounted to organized bribery and shakedowns, sanctioned by the
    federal government. There was a thin line separating legal activity from
    illegal activity. She saw it as her task to catch lawbreakers and expose
    them. Her personality suited her perfectly to the work. She hated people
    who cheated and got away with it. She despised people who cut in line at
    the supermarket. She went crazy on the freeway when an aggressive driver
    cut into her lane. She loathed people who took shortcuts at the expense
    of others. Her job was to make sure they didn't get away with it. Two
    months earlier, Susanna's editor had given her a tough assignment:
    Chronicle the longtime relationship, financial and personal, between
    President James Beckwith and Mitchell Elliott, the chairman of Alatron
    Defense Systems. Reporters use a cliche when an individual or a group is
    elusive and hard to trace: shadowy. If anyone had earned the description
    of "shadowy," it was Mitchell Elliott. He had given millions of dollars
    to the Republican Party over the years, and a watchdog group had told
    her that he had funneled millions more to the party through questionable
    or downright illegal means. The main beneficiary of Elliott's generosity
    was James Beckwith. Elliott had contributed thousands of dollars to
    Beckwith's campaigns and political action committees over the years, and
    he had served as a close confidential adviser. One of Elliott's former
    executives, Paul Vandenberg, was the White House chief of staff.
    Beckwith regularly stayed at Elliott's vacation homes in Maui and Vale.
    Susanna had two primary questions: Had Mitchell Elliott made illegal
    contributions to James Beckwith and the Republican Party over the years?
    And did he exercise undue influence over the President? At this point
    she had answers to neither question. Her editor wanted to publish the
    piece two weeks from now in a special section on President Beckwith and
    his first term. She had a good deal of work to do before it would be
    ready to go. Even then Susanna knew she could do little more than raise
    questions about Elliott and his ties to the White House. Mitchell
    Elliott had covered his tracks well. He was completely inaccessible. The
    Post photo library had just one ten-year-old picture of him, and Alatron
    Defense Systems didn't even have a spokesman. When she requested an
    interview, the man at the other end of the line chuckled mildly and
    said, "Mr. Elliott does not make it a habit to talk to reporters."
    A source at National Airport told her Elliott had come to Washington
    earlier that day aboard his private jet. Congress had adjourned, and
    most members had gone