"Jim thought so too. After he read the story, he made a few choice comments about it on air. It was definitely not part of the script. I remember sitting in my office and thinking I was going to have to give him a talking-to during the next break. At that time we were the go-to station for any dentist or office building that didn't want to shell out for Muzak. They knew we could be counted on to play unobjectionable thirty-year-old hits that everyone had heard a million times before and that no one paid any attention to. I was worried we might have lost our toehold in the one niche we had.
"But instead people started calling in. And they weren't mad about what Jim said. They wanted to talk about it. I think that was the first time in the station's history that anyone wanted to talk about anything that we played or said. Before, they didn't even notice. So when these people started calling, we put a few of them on the air. Then more people called in. And the whole thing snowballed. The more people listened to Jim, the more he talked. That was one man who was never neutral about anything. He always had an opinion, and the more anyone tried to argue with him, the stronger it got. You could never get Jim to back down. Never. It was great. Talk radio thrives on conflict.
"Well, that was all it took. Three months later, The Hand of Fate was a real morning talk show. We ended up completely changing our format. No more classic lite hits. Now we've got a guy who does financial advice, a garden lady, two guys with a sports show, a couple that gives dating advice, and a shrink who yells at people to get their act together. And Jim and his show. Less than a year after he made those first comments, he was airing on a dozen local networks. Now he's syndicated. The Hand of Fate airs on 120 affiliates, and Jim's my golden boy." Aaron heaved a sigh. "Was. Was my golden boy. Now I don't know what we'll do."
Allison said, "1 heard Victoria Hanawa filling in for him yesterday:'
Aaron shrugged. "She doesn't have that out-there quality that Jim does. Did. She's more the voice of reason. And that's not necessarily the voice you want to tune in to. Reasonable isn't as entertaining. It doesn't really matter to me what someone says on the air. It doesn't have to be right or wrong. It just has to get people to listen. In the end, it all boils down to the ratings. The higher the number, the more we can charge for commercial advertising time. And that's the only thing that keeps us in business."
Thinking of Cassidy, Allison said, "I have a friend who is a TV reporter, and she says the same thing. It's all about ratings." "Exactly," Aaron said. "And even then it's not enough to have a huge number of people tuning in to your show. They have to represent the right demographic group if the station's going to make money. Most ad agency media buyers target the twenty-five to fifty-four age bracket. And women aged twenty-five to thirty-four are pure gold. They're the ones who control the purse strings. That's one reason we brought Victoria in last year. Jim's listeners tend to be older and male. Victoria was supposed to help us skew more toward people like herself?'
"You said supposed to?' Nicole observed. "That didn't work out?"
Aaron sucked air in through his teeth. "Our numbers haven't risen that much. And Jim didn't really cotton to the idea. He felt it washmm . . . something of an intrusion. He didn't exactly make things easy for Victoria. But she's a real trouper. You've probably heard that she stayed even when Jim ordered us to leave. She risked her own life to be with him for those last few minutes. It was . ." Aaron's voice cracked, and he paused for a minute, his lips pressed together as he struggled for control. "It was horrible to look at him and know that he had to be dying and that you couldn't help him. When I left, he already looked awful. And when I looked back, Victoria had her hand up against the glass, and Jim was on the other side, pressing his hand against hers, with the glass in between."
Aaron put his hand over his eyes, and they watched as his shoulders heaved with a silent sob. He finally straightened up, his eyes wet and red.
"Why would Victoria take the risk of staying?" Nicole asked. "Were they more than just coworkers?"
Aaron blinked. "I don't know, and I don't want to know. I mean, technically, Jim wasn't Victoria's boss--I was. Sure, it was Jim's show, but when it comes to talent, I'm the one who hires and fires. Jim has always had an eye for the ladies; that's all I can tell you."
Allison and Nicole made eye contact. Allison knew they were thinking the same thing. In other words, yes.
"Did Jim have any enemies?"
Aaron shrugged. "He ticked people off on a regular basis. But mad enough to kill him? Killing someone for being a blowhard or for riding roughshod over a caller--that's pretty hard to fathom."
"How about Quentin Glover?" Nicole asked.
"I'm sure he wasn't happy, but he's facing an indictment. He's got too much on his plate to be worrying about Jim Fate."
Allison said, "What about Brooke Gardner?" The transcript had been pretty damning, once you knew the truth behind it. "She killed herself after appearing on the show."
Aaron's face darkened. "The story is not that simple. That's why her family settled out of court. That girl had a whole raft of problems." "What do you mean?" Nicole asked.