In the mayor’s office, the mayor and his advisors sat around his desk and watched that morning’s Channel 8 news segment on Freddy Benson.
“A day that was supposed to give wannabe upstart Freddy Benson the chance to rise in the polls turned disastrous” Marsha read from a teleprompter. “A sudden disappearance, a display of public nudity and an appearance of cops outside of his home. A series of events that could all but kill his chance of electoral success. For more on this story, here’s Jon Myers.”
“Heh” the mayor chuckled. “This clown is digging his own grave. We don’t need to anything else now.”
“Freddy Benson was hoping that yesterday would be a game changer for his unlikely campaign to defeat the incumbent mayor of his town” Jon began his report with a voiceover, over clips of Freddy smiling in a suit. “But what was supposed to be a day to solidify his seriousness as a contender turned to tragedy on the heels of a series of scandals.”
An image of the pandemonium at the Allen Cullen political club showed up on the screen.
“Earlier in the day” Jon continued in a voiceover “Freddy Benson was given a speaking platform at the rogue, but influential, Alan Cullen democratic club to speak with its members about a potential endorsement. Half way through his speech, his husband, Michael Scavolini, abruptly ended it and dragged him off the podium. Just a few short minutes later, a stray dog appeared in the venue, causing a mob scene and leading to an early evacuation from the day’s proceedings.”
“Yeah, that was the weirdest thing” one of the mayor’s advisor said.
“Quiet!” the mayor yelled. “Don’t make us keep rewinding this clip.”
“Sorry, boss.”
“Benson’s day got even weirder from there” Jon continued in a voiceover, this time with a series of images of Freddy’s public nudity “as just an hour after disappearing from the political function, he was reportedly spotted by a photographer for The Sunny News appearing to be naked in public. Images on the front page of the website this morning showed Benson dragging his husband Michael to their car in the town’s municipal parking lot.”
A clip of cops outside of Freddy’s home appeared on screen, as they began to make their way inside of the house.
“The day ended with a visit by police, over reports that Freddy’s husband, Michael, stole a neighbor’s dog. Police did not find the dog inside the house or on the property, but they gave him a warning to stay away from the man and his home. The man in question is reportedly filing a restraining order this afternoon, mandating a fifty foot distance between them for at least the next six months.”
Jon appeared on camera, standing a short distance away from Freddy’s house.
“When asked about yesterday’s events, Benson was evasive, but outright denied that the nude photos flashed across the front page of the local news sites this morning were legitimate. He said they were faked by computer technology and that he would never do such a thing in a public. While the photos caused upset around town, many we spoke to this morning said they didn’t believe in the authenticity of the photos.”
“I don’t believe those photos are real” one mother said on camera.
“You know they have those crazy computer software things to make someone appear how you want them to” an old woman said on camera. “I think this is outrageous and slanderous. Freddy ought to be able to sue them for such defamation of character.”
“Douglas Ron” Jon continued speaking on camera “the billionaire owner of The Sunny News and other local papers in the area, has sworn by the photo’s authenticity and says he was confident that a defamation lawsuit would be dismissed if filed against his organization.
“It remains to be seen how Benson recovers from yesterday's unfortunate turn of events, but he can count on one piece of silver lining. The Alan Cullen democratic club has not yet made an endorsement in the mayoral race. A spokesperson for the club said that they were 'troubled’ and ‘upset’ by the attacks on Benson’s candidacy, with the nude photos serving what they call as ‘a new low in reporting on politics.’ Whether Benson can turn his campaign around remains to be seen. For Channel 8 news, I’m Jon Myers. Back to you in the studio, Marsha.”
“Fake news?” the mayor asked aloud with an incredulous tone, after ending the clip. “Does Freddy Benson seriously believe that the public is going to buy that line of argument?”
“They are, sir” one of the mayor’s advisors replied nervously. “Instant polling taken today shows that our town’s residents overwhelmingly believe that the photos are fake and that the negative coverage of Freddy Benson’s campaign has gone too far.”
“I knew we should have just ignored this guy” another one of the mayor’s advisors said. “Now, this is bound to blow up in our face.”
“This would have gotten out regardless of if we had gone after him or not” a third advisor insisted. “A man caught being nude in public would have gotten the attention of the news media in any event and his intention to run for mayor would have been brought up alongside it.”
“But if we hadn’t insisted on the attacks” the second advisor pressed on “it would have been a page seven story at best, not a front page headline.”
“Let’s talk about the polling in the race” the mayor said, trying to change the subject. “What are the latest poll numbers?”
A different advisor pulled up a chart and showed it to the mayor.
“Freddy’s disapproval numbers have risen” the advisor said, as the mayor scanned the chart “from 35% negative to almost 50% negative.”
“But his poll numbers are rising!” the mayor yelled. “12% from 5% just last week.”
“That’s before the nude photo scandal” an advisor said. “These were taken before all this stuff came out. Let’s see what they look like next week after this story circulates around town.”
“I don’t like that the public thinks these photos are fake” the mayor said, as he handed back the chart to one of his advisors. “Douglas is 100% positive that they were legitimate, right?”
“Positive” another advisor replied. “They took the photos with an old fashion camera and they have the original negatives. The accusations that they photoshopped them don’t hold up to scrutiny. Freddy Benson was nude in public.”
“Were there any witnesses?”
“Uh, no sir.”
The mayor groaned, before he continued speaking.
“So if the photographer swears by the authenticity of the photos, then the question remains of why Freddy was naked in public in the first place, especially after disappearing from the Alan Cullen club so suddenly.”
“Sir” the advisor who attended the political function said “if I may.”
“Of course” the mayor replied, as he looked at the advisor intensely. “You were there and following them around yesterday. What happened?”
“I didn’t get to see the events in question.”
“Then what good are you?!?!? You fucking—“
“Relax sir” an advisor said, trying to calm the mayor down. “Let him finish.”
The mayor groaned, as he continued to hear his advisor out.
“As I was saying” the advisor who followed Michael began to recall “I was at the political function and saw the days events unfold. First of all, I was listening around to the other members and this was purely a show of spite against you.”
“Ugh, that’s going to make it that much more difficult to patch it up with them.”
“If it’s even worth trying. I think they plan to endorse Freddy, especially with that statement attacking the media for showing the photos and going along with his ‘fake news’ denial.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“But yeah, Freddy gave a speech that made them eat out of the palms of his hands. He’s a really good public speaker, sir. I’d advise you not to debate him if the media starts asking about it.”
“How good could this clown possibly be?”
“Really good, sir. And he would have totally won the whole audience over had that husband of his, Michael, not dragged him off the podium. That totally killed the mood and started raising eyebrows about what his deal was.”
“Interesting.”
“And when Freddy was dragged to the back of the venue, he was not spotted by anyone from the club after that.”
“He couldn’t have just disappeared without anyone seeing him leave.”
“I’m telling you, sir. No one saw him leave. The really crazy part is that after Freddy runs off into the back, when Michael came out again, so did that dog.”
“Hmmmm.”
“And Michael appeared to chase after that dog, holding Freddy’s suit and shoes in his hands.”
“You think they like having public sex?” one of the mayor’s advisors quipped.
The room burst out into laughter, before the mayor shushed them.
“Quiet, you idiots!” the mayor yelled. “This might be an important clue. What happened next?”
“Well sir” the advisor who followed Michael continued “I followed Michael outside and then spotted him following a man and his dog to their car. By the time he got there, the car sped off. I suspected he was going to chase after them, so I wanted to try to slow him down. I went into the club and asked a friend of mine to end the proceedings early.”
“So they didn’t end the event after the dog, huh?”
“No sir. I asked them to adjourn and they did. So a mad rush of people come out and it holds Michael up long enough in his car so I can pull up behind him in my car and follow him out of the parking lot. We drive off for a while and then I saw him drive to the parking lot. I tried to find a parking spot, but I couldn’t get one.”
“Double park or something, you idiot!”
“That’s the last I saw of them.”
“Ugh!”
“Sir” a different advisor spoke up “perhaps that neighbor of theirs might be a clue as to why Freddy was naked yesterday.”
“I find that incredibly hard to believe, but I do want to know what the deal is between Michael and that neighbor of his. What’s that neighbor’s name?”
“Tom Matthews” a different advisor replied. “He’s down on his luck, swimming in debt and on the brink of foreclosure. Can’t hold a steady job and has a limited social life. He’s been harassing the police department about his missing dog Buddy for months now. The police think the dog is probably dead, but gave Michael a warning when they didn’t find Tom’s dog at Freddy’s house yesterday.”
“But that dog isn’t missing” the mayor stressed.
“He’s right” the advisor who followed Michael replied. “I spotted Tom with a dog yesterday.”
“It may not have been his dog” another advisor suggested. “He could be mistaken about it.”
“Possibly” the mayor said.
“It also could be his, too” the advisor who followed Michael insisted. “He may have briefly found it again, before it ran off. Perhaps it purposely doesn’t want to live in his house anymore.”
“What was Tom doing in town, anyway?” the mayor asked.
“The last place I spotted him was outside the pawn shop.”
“Well that’s where we need to go to get more information. Go down there and talk to the shop owner. See why Tom was in there yesterday. As for the rest of you, try to find some way to get Tom to cooperate with us.”
“I may have a way” a different advisor said. “Tom reportedly said that Michael tried to steal his ring—“
“Ring?” the mayor asked. “That’s probably what he was trying to pawn.”
“Most likely, sir. Anyways, the police report says that Michael tried to steal his ring and Tom went inside to protect himself. Outside the door, he spotted Michael undoing the collar and taking the dog out into his car.”
“Ugh!” the mayor groaned loudly.”This is why we need to keep tabs on them at all times.”
“If I might interrupt” a different advisor interjected. “The photographer who took the nude photos said that he spotted Michael taking Freddy’s suit to the laundromat and then followed him back to his car. Before Michael got into the lot, he spotted Freddy running at him buck naked and they fled to their car. He got pretty good shots inside the vehicle and didn’t see any dog in there.”
“That could be construed as filing a false police report” another advisor added. “We might be able to hold over the threat of criminal charges over Tom to get him to cooperate with us.”
“Very good idea” the mayor said giddily. “Get working on that.”
“Yes, sir” the advisor replied.
“As for the rest of you, split up into teams. Someone continue to follow Freddy and Michael around town and send back regular reports. Another group should figure out what’s going on with this supposed dog Buddy. Let’s gather our information and see if we can piece this whole thing together.”
The advisors nodded, as they got up and left the mayor’s office in an orderly fashion.
“I didn’t want to say it out loud” the mayor thought to himself, as he watched his advisors leave his office “but something suspicious in going on here. It’s almost something that can’t be explained with science.”
The mayor pulled up the image of Tom’s missing dog poster on his communication device.
“I didn’t want to sound absolutely nuts for suggesting it, but Freddy’s disappearance and reappearance seem tied in to the appearance of that dog Buddy. I know this might seem crazy, but I wonder if the ring, the dog and that communist all tie in together somehow. I wonder…could Freddy have turned into this dog?”
Back at Freddy and Michael’s house…..