Mellon was a shy, silent, astute man. Those closest to him said he had a dry sense of humor and an infectious laugh, both sparingly shown. He cultivated few friends, but those that he did remained so for life. He smartly recognized early on the value of political influence and became a huge donor to the Republican party. In 1920 one of his closest friends, Philander Knox, a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, convinced newly elected president Warren Harding to appoint Mellon secretary of Treasury. He served from 1921 to 1932, through three presidents. Calvin Coolidge proclaimed that the business of America is business, and the country certainly prospered. Spending and taxes were cut, while budget surpluses abounded. America in the 1920s became the world’s banker, with Mellon at the national helm. He could virtually do no wrong. But the 1929 stock market crash changed that perception, and the Great Depression ended Mellon’s reign. Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal hated anything and everything about Mellon and his policies. Roosevelt was so repulsed that he brought charges of tax evasion, but Mellon was exonerated in 1937, three months after his death.
His lifetime achievements were amazing.
Second only to J. P. Morgan as a financier. On par with Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller as an industrialist. He created five Fortune 500 companies and endowed a foundation that continues to this day to dole out millions in contributions annually.
But his greatest achievement may have yet to be revealed.
Howell had enticed Kim with that last part. So he’d taken the bait and asked for more, learning from another email that Mellon’s secret legacy might not be so easily found.
Suffice it to say Mellon was both ruthless and brilliant. He understood how to both acquire and keep power. But he was fortunate. He ran our economy at a time when things were good. His policies of low taxes and less regulation worked. I feel for your situation, Peter From Europe. I haven’t filed a tax return in a long time. I sincerely believe that the law does not require me to. Nor do I believe your American companies have to pay corporate income taxes, either. It’s a shame they are being bilked by the government. My lawyer tried to make the argument at my trial that the income tax is illegal but, unfortunately, proof of that may not exist anymore. That’s why I fled, and I would encourage you to stay hidden, too. It’s the safest course. That way we can keep looking. I’ve researched this for a long time and I’m convinced I’m right. The proof does exist. Stay vigilant and keep in touch. One day we may find what we’re looking for. Thank God for the Internet.
He thought Andrew Mellon sounded a lot like his own father. A cold, practical, indifferent man focused on one thing. For Mellon it was making money. For his father? Unfettered, unrestricted, unlimited power—the ability to control, without question, the fates of tens of millions.
He had to admit, it was a potent aphrodisiac.
As was proving his father wrong.
He would enjoy the day when his half brother fell from grace, when the lackeys in military uniforms pleaded for him to lead. No confidence in him? He’d have them all shot. Because on that day he would have accomplished what no one inside North Korea had ever thought possible, including his father.
He was no paper tiger.
The mountains of North Korea were home to many tigers, their bodies brown with long black lines. Myth said that long ago a tiger and a bear wanted to become human. God told them to stay in a cave for a hundred days eating only garlic and mugwort. The bear stayed the required time and became a woman, but the tiger could not endure the wait and left, remaining a wild animal. Later the bear who became a woman married God’s son and gave birth to a son of her own, who became the founder of Korea.
Tigers were courageous, fearless, and majestic. Many North Koreans decorated their front gates with pictures of them. The top of a bride’s carriage was draped with a tiger blanket to protect the newlyweds from evil spirits. Women wore a decorative brooch with tiger claws to fend off bad spirits. Rich patriarchs once sat on pillows embroidered with tiger images.
Tigers meant power and courage.
If you talk about the tiger, the tiger will appear. And if you want to catch a tiger, you have to go to the tiger’s cave.
His mother taught him those wisdoms.
And he knew what she meant.
The word tiger stood for “adversary.” Or “challenge.” Or anything that seemed out of reach. What a wonderful woman. She’d loved him for who he truly was, unlike his father who wanted him to be something else. He’d spent a lifetime cultivating a worldly personality that seemed unfazed by politics. Few to none knew what he thought or who he was. For him causes would not be taken up with the apparent randomness his family liked to show. His words would not be laughed at or ignored. On its current path North Korea seemed doomed to end by either coup, revolution, or mere ineffectiveness.
He would break the cycle of ridicule and failure.
And be something the world would rightly fear.
SIXTEEN
WASHINGTON, DC
Stephanie sat at the conference table, Harriett across from her, the hard copies of The Patriot Threat left them by the secretary of Treasury spread out before them.
“I’m going to have a long talk with our U.S. attorney in Alabama,” Harriett said. “He never mentioned that this fugitive was a writer.”
“And you never mentioned anything about Kim or that Treasury specifically wanted Cotton at that money transfer.”
“Which, as I’ve already said, was a big mistake on my part.”
“You have to realize your silence placed Cotton Malone in unnecessary danger.”
“Are you always so impertinent to your bosses?”
“Only when my people are on the line.”
Harriett smiled. “I assure you. I learned my lesson.”
It was approaching midnight in DC, which meant dawn would be coming to Italy soon. Luke had reported that Cotton wanted him back at 7:00 A.M. The cruise ship debarkation could be their break.
She shuffled through the pages, the book’s introduction promising “amazing and startling revelations.” A quick glance at the table of contents revealed a few chapter titles. “Historical Non-Perspectives.” “Can the Courts Be That Stupid?” “A Warning to the IRS.” “Political Questions No One Wants to Answer.”
“This is some kind of tax evader’s manifesto,” she said. “Which makes sense, considering Howell’s criminal problems. But the copyright date is after his conviction. So he wrote this while a fugitive.”