Part 12, “The Call Would Be a Mere Pretext”
(For earlier parts of this series, please click this link: Witch-Hunting a Blogger in Whitewater, Wisconsin.)
Coan settles his gaze on one family, and receives an email suggesting that someone call the family when the husband might be away, to see if the husband’s travel schedule coincides with my possible vacation schedule.
What if the man’s wife answers? The person emailing has a plan.
The exchange appears below in black font, followed by the actual PDF documents I obtained, and then my commentary in blue font.
The exchange:
From: “Michele Smith”
To: [Name deleted by City of Whitewater] James Coan”
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 9:59 AM
Attached is obituary.
Michele
******
From: [Name deleted by City of Whitewater]
Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 10:14 AM
To : Michele Smith; James Coan
Re: Scanned from [name deleted by City of Whitewater]
Thanks Michele! I was a bit concerned when I read that [I have deleted name] Sr., had just 2 children. If I remember correctly, “John Adams” has written as if he grew up in a very large family, although his older brother did have 8 children and, if they all lived in the same area, I suppose “John Adams” did grow up in a very large “extended family.” If there is some way for Jim, through other resources, to find a “smoking gun” that would be a good idea.
If it were me, I would want more proof and some type of evidence that directly links [I have deleted name of Whitewater man that the document mentions] to “John Adams.”
Thanks again,
[City of Whitewater has deleted name]******
[Line Deleted by City of Whitewater] [Line Deleted by City of Whitewater] To: James Coan; j-coan@ [I have deleted remainder of address] Subject: Golden Opportunity!!! CALL ME!!!! [First few lines deleted by City of Whitewater]This would be a perfect time to see if [I have deleted name] is out of town. I am not sure how you would do that but I have a couple of ideas;
1. [Name of wife] is on the Landmarks Commission and maybe another commission or two. Perhaps someone could call her home, ostensibly about some city business (just in case she’s home!). If they’re not there, that would be very, very interesting.
2. Perhaps the Post Office is holding their mail this week if they’re gone. I don’t know if that’s something they can reveal, but if it is something that can be found out that would be very valuable.
[Name deleted by City of Whitewater]******
[Line Deleted by City of Whitewater] [Line Deleted by City of Whitewater] To: j-coan@[I have deleted remainder of address]; Michele Smith; James CoanSubject: [I have deleted name of woman]
I just did a “Google Search” on [I have deleted name] and found and read the article in The Wisconsin State Journal about the MAP group in Whitewater. The article was published November 16, 2003. I never paid any attention to that group so I didn’t know until just a few minutes ago that [I have deleted the name] was the president/leader of that group. I think it would be a great idea to go through past issues of the Whitewater Register from November 1, 2003 through March 1, 2004 (the artcle [sic] says the referendum on the issue was scheduled for February 17, 2004). By reading articles about MAP and, perhaps most importantly, reading Letters to the Editor during that time frame, I think you’ll be able to find several samples of the writing and thinking of both [I have deleted name] and [I have deleted name]. The article about MAP in the Wisconsin State Journal article I just read (from November 16, 2003) has several quotes from [I have deleted name]. They are almost identical to the views expressed and the words used by John Adams/[I have deleted name of man] in his postings about Whitewater City government and city officials.
The files:
I have made the PDF files confirming this exchange available here — 2008-1 (12).
My comments:
1. Familiarity. Whoever is writing these emails is familiar with Coan; it’s no arms-length correspondence.
2. “Golden Opportunity!!! CALL ME!!!!”. Quite a touch, that exclamation, “Golden Opportunity!!! CALL ME!!!!” It’s the language of a flyer on a telephone pole, applied to a police chief’s search for someone who has broken no laws. It would be funny, if there weren’t a family wrongly subjected to speculation on the other end.
3. Same Writing. Someone else writes the way I do? In a town of fourteen thousand, is that so hard to believe? These are people who know only their small, insular, stodgy circle. There’s a bigger world than that.
4. Obituary? Someone sends an obituary, to confirm the size of the man’s family, perhaps? You’re free to do that sort of thing, but I will not do that, ever.
5. The Call Would Be a Mere Pretext. The email’s author writes to our chief of police, and suggests that a call to the home of a woman on a local commission could be falsely presented as city business. There’s no record of a reply from Coan rejecting that approach. None. That the email’s author feels comfortable with broaching to Coan the idea of a call under a pretext speaks ill of all involved.
Next Up on Wednesday, March 5th at NOON CST: Part 13, “The Wrong Man.”