cell-Con

March 3, 1998

Elizabeth,

If you have found this message then I fear all is lost and my latest financial adventure has come to naught. When we first came to this grotesque little town, I had every intention of building one of the most powerful technology companies in the world, developing technology that could be made cheaply and quickly right here in Ohio, the first cell-phone company for the common man, powered by a mineral considered unimportant or even useless. But both federal and state regulation have made it extremely difficult and the explosion in 1993 and the green cloud that followed brought unwanted scrutiny to all of my business dealings.

Even after recovering from that very public debacle and investing in Question Park with the hopes of altering public opinion and opening up additional revenue streams, it seemed tragedy was to follow us again and again. The poultry business was a failure, animals at the petting zoo were getting sick, patrons kept getting hurt at Question Park.

I had thought that becoming mayor in January would buy us some time and the opportunity to end some of these ongoing investigations. But I was wrong. The cell phone plant has continued to lose money. In February, I approved substituting a substance called 99-Bromine in our cell batteries in order to cut costs, which I was able to import from Eastern Europe at a steep discount. Days later there was a spill, which left twenty-four people who happened to be near the factory comatose. Some still have not awakened.

In the days following, state regulators appeared and cited Cell-Con for improper disposal of hazardous materials and the use of a non-approved chemical substance. The fines are utterly exorbitant. I am now certain they intend to end Cell-Con and my political ambitions once and for all.

But your Thompson has a plan. I have created a shell company, APEX, in order to handle the waste disposal problem, and I am hopeful, with my connections as mayor, that this particular problem will be buried for a very long time.

For your protection, for our future, I have sold off our shares in Cell-Con and have invested them in a number of other potential opportunities including a start-up in Raleigh, North Carolina called Foreverland and a soon-to-open bridal dress factory here in town named Something Blue.

Now all that is left is to free ourselves of this wretched factory and this wretched town and anything that links us to this endless string of disappointments. And, of course, I have a way to do just that.

Remember: you are the match and I am the spark and our love is an endless flame burning always against the dark.

Always,

Thompson