Part 15 (2/2)
He zipped up the bag with a flourish. ”Look, man. I was just doing my job. I was surveying, mapping, and measuring. That was it. I had permission to be there, but that guy didn't believe me.”
His story was different from the one Matilda had told me, but not completely. He was speaking pretty clearly and forcefully, though. Didn't seem like he was lying to me. I'd been fooled before, but he was coming off as pretty honest.
”Someone hired you to a.n.a.lyze the fairgrounds?” Victor asked. ”To see if you guys could do your fracking thing there?”
He hesitated, then nodded. ”Yeah.”
”Who hired you?” I asked.
”I don't have to tell you that. I'm not required to divulge who I work with, to anyone.”
”And I don't have to tell the local police I think you're lying, but I might,” I said.
Victor grinned, clearly pleased at my interrogation technique.
Corey's cheeks flushed pink. ”I'm not lying.”
”I didn't say you were,” I said. ”I said I might tell the police I think you are, so they can kinda mess up your life a little. And maybe embarra.s.s your company a little bit. That probably doesn't sound like fun, though, does it?”
His hands balled into fists on his khaki-covered thighs. ”Okay. I was hired by the owner of the fairgrounds to explore the possibility of drilling on-site there.”
”The county hired you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
”The county doesn't own the fairgrounds,” Corey replied.
”Who does?”
”I don't have to tell you that.”
Victor reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. ”You got another one of them business cards, Corey? I'd like to call your boss and let him know there might be an investigation that you're gonna be involved in.”
Corey's cheeks flushed again and he ran a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair. He was contemplating cracking, but wasn't completely there yet.
We waited him out and the crack took hold.
”I'm not supposed to divulge this,” he said. ”Our client asked for complete privacy and I said we would honor that.”
Victor rolled his eyes. ”Sure, sure, kid. Whatever. Who owns the fairgrounds? Or give me the card. Now.”
Corey Stewart's mouth set in a grim line for a moment and resignation settled into his features. ”A woman named Marjorie Biggs.”
Aka Mama Biggs.
31.
”Mama Biggs owns the fairgrounds?” I asked, not believing it even as I said it.
Corey Stewart stood, sensing that he'd delivered some very unexpected news. ”I'm gonna go.”
”Sit down, dude,” Victor said, waving the phone at him. ”We're not done yet.”
Corey sighed and sat back down.
”She actually owns the fairgrounds?” I asked again. ”You verified that?”
”Of course I verified it,” Corey said, annoyed. ”No way I'd spend all that time surveying a piece of land that size without making sure I was dealing with the owner.”
”How long has she owned it?” I asked.
”No idea. I just needed to verify current owners.h.i.+p and she is the current, sole owner of all of that land that we are looking at.”
”Did Spellman know that?” Victor asked. ”Is that why you and he tangled?”
Corey shrugged. ”Not that I know of. He never said a word about it and I sure as heck didn't say anything about it. He just wanted me to leave the grounds. But she'd given me permission to do the preliminary work. She just asked that I do it early in the morning before anyone got there.” He shrugged again. ”He wasn't supposed to be there.”
That fell in line with what Matilda had told me. I wondered if she or George had just exaggerated what went down during George's confrontation with Corey. Corey was definitely miffed about talking to us, but I still didn't get the sense that he was lying to us about anything.
”So she is exploring the possibility of having you drill on the fairground land?” I asked.
He shook his head. ”She's not exploring. It's a done deal.”
”A done deal?”
”We signed the paperwork last week,” Corey said, nodding, gaining some of his confidence back. ”Biggest deal I've ever closed. Couple more like that and I'll be able to buy the Dodgers.”
”So then what happens?” I asked.
”What do you mean?”
”Do you own the land? How does it work?”
He shook his head. ”No, we lease the land, just like we would here. We explore. We drill. We get into the shale to harness the gas.”
”For how long?”
”Every lease is different,” he said. ”Size of that land, lease will run for about two years. It takes a lot of time. Now, your property? Be more like six months.”
Two years. Meaning the fair wouldn't be held there and she'd need another place to put it. Which explained her interest in the parcel of land my father told me about. It didn't tell us a whole lot about George Spellman, but it did answer some of my questions about the fair.
”So she hasn't sold it,” I said, clarifying. ”She's just giving you the right to drill on it.”
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