“That’s public information,” Kathi Mittendorf said. “Our membership lists aren’t secret. We place ads for our lectures. My name is on them most of the time.”
“So tell me something about what’s public information,” Gregor said. “I don’t know much about this kind of thing. I don’t even know what I’m looking for.”
“I thought you said you were looking for Michael Harridan.”
“Yes, I did. I am. But I don’t think that’s as straightforward as it sounds.”
Kathi Mittendorf seemed to look up, past Gregor’s shoulder, to the distance. It took everything Gregor had not to turn around to see if somebody was behind him. He was cold as hell. The wind out here was really wicked, unbroken by the tall buildings and the traffic in the center of the city. Kathi Mittendorf looked down again and then backed up, away from the doorway.
“Come in and sit down,” she said. “It’s not like I can tell you anything.”
Kathi Mittendorf’s living room was what Gregor had expected from his view of the porch: small, box-like, and claustrophobic. He was sure the ceiling was lower than the now-standard eight feet. He was sure the room could be no more than ten feet across. There was too much furniture, and it was too shabby, worn away in some places, stained in others. The walls had not been painted in a long time.
“Don’t bother to tell me what a nice room it is,” Kathi Mittendorf said, closing the door and throwing a few of the locks. “I know it isn’t.”
“I was going to thank you for being willing to talk to me,” Gregor said.
“Sit down. I’m not willing to talk to you. I want to hear you out. I want to know what you’re going to say that you think is going to work on me.”
“I don’t know that I’m trying to get anything to work on you.” Gregor sat down on the couch. It was too soft. He sank into it. “I don’t even know what I’m really looking for. And I’m not an official police presence, as I said. You don’t have to talk to me.”
“I don’t have to talk to your official police presence, either. I don’t have to talk to anybody. You’re not used to people who say that to you, are you?”
“People say it to me all the time.”
Kathi Mittendorf seemed not to have heard. “The biggest problem is that people don’t really know what their rights are. They think they do, but they don’t. They see these cop shows. Everybody talks all the time. All the criminals. They think that’s what criminals are. A lot of low lifes in dirty clothes. That’s what they’re supposed to think criminals are. They’re not supposed to realize that criminals are people just like them who get on the wrong side of the secret government.”
“That’s Michael Harridan, isn’t it?” Gregor asked. “He writes about the secret government. I’ve seen a couple of copies of The Harridan Report.”
“Everybody’s seen copies of The Harridan Report. We distribute it all over the city. It’s free. And it’s up on a Web site.”
“And I want to know something about the man who wrote it,” Gregor persisted. “I want to know what he’s like.”
“You want to know where he is,” Kathi said, “but I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you anything, just that you’d better understand it. It’s not going to last forever. People are getting wise to the people you work for. We know what’s going on now. We aren’t fooled. Anthony van Wyck Ross was a Mason, did you know that?”
“No,” Gregor said. “And I’d be very surprised if it were true. People on that level don’t usually belong to the Masons. It’s—well—it’s not considered a good thing to be. The people who belong to the Masons are small-time lawyers and doctors and that kind of thing.”
“That’s just the Masons you know about,” Kathi said. “Those are the low-level Masons. They’re just a front. The real Masonic organization is made up of the men who reach the thirty-third degree. They’re the ones who understand. The Illuminati. Have you heard of the Illuminati? They’re the ones who run the Masons.”
“I don’t know much about the Masons,” Gregor said.
“It’s hard to understand at first, because it looks like there are so many different organizations. The Masons. The Vatican. The Bilderbergers. The Trilateral Commission. Even the governments. It all looks separate, but it isn’t. It’s all one thing. They decide who will be in charge of the banks and the corporations and the governments too. They’re the ones who decide who’ll run for president and all that kind of thing. They make it look like you have a choice, but you really don’t. It’s a closed circle. That’s why they founded America. They wanted a base of operations and they knew that Europe was too old. People were too suspicious of it. That’s why they came here.”