“Well, we will just have to find another way,” Sandecker finally said quietly. “At least you found Franklin,” he added, “and put to bed a one-hundred-and-sixty-five-year-old mystery.”

“I just hope he finally makes it home himself,” Pitt said solemnly, staring at the distant peaks of the Chugach Mountains as the Lincoln pulled alongside Air Force Two.

Chapter 92

92

MITCHELL GOYETTE’S DEATH DID LITTLE TO quell the media tempest swirling about his empire. A number of environmental reporters had already uncovered the carbon dioxide dumping associated with the Kitimat sequestration plant and the near accident with the Alaskan cruise ship. Investigators from Canada’s Environment Ministry had swarmed the facility, closing it down and removing its workers as criminal and civil charges against Terra Green were prepared. Though it took several weeks, the LNG tanker responsible for the carbon dioxide dumping was ultimately tracked down to a Singapore shipyard. Local authorities promptly impounded the Goyette-owned ship.

The mogul’s illicit activities became repeated headline news across both Canada and the U.S. It wasn’t long before the police investigation into Goyette’s years of corrupt bidding for oil, gas, and mineral rights came to light. With an immunity deal in place for Resources Minister Jameson, incriminating details began toppling forward like a string of dominoes. A series of high-dollar wire transfers made to the Prime Minister was exposed, bribes paid by Goyette to further the expansion of carbon sequestration plants across Canada. The money trail led to dozens of other underhanded deals between Goyette and Prime Minister Barrett to jointly exploit the country’s natural resources.

Opposition leaders quickly jumped on the news accounts and investigations, inciting a full-blown witch hunt against the Prime Minister. Already beleaguered by his false accusations in the Arctic incidents, the criminal allegations fell like a ton of bricks. Abandoned of all support, Prime Minister Barrett resigned from office a few weeks later, along with most of his cabinet. Publicly despised, the ex-Prime Minister would fight criminal charges for years until finally agreeing to a nonsentencing plea bargain. His reputation shattered, Barrett quietly faded into obscurity.

Goyette’s Terra Green Industries would face a similar demise. Investigators pieced together his strategy of dominating the Arctic resources by expelling the American presence, monopolizing the local transportation, and bribing his way to controlling rights. Beset by corruption fines and environmental penalties that rose into the hundreds of millions, the private company quietly fell into receivership. Some of the company’s assets, including the LNG tanker, the Victoria Club, and Goyette’s personal yacht, were sold at public auction. Most of the energy assets and the fleet of vessels were acquired by the government, which operated the properties at cost. One icebreaker and a fleet of barges were leased to a nonprofit food bank for a dollar a year. Relocated to Hudson Bay, the barges hauled surplus Manitoba wheat to starving regions of East Africa.