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this, Matt.”
    Kellman leaned over to Matt, his look fiercely intent.
    “You can count on this, kid,” Kellman said. “I
will
find out who did Bernie. And even if God drops everything else he won’t be able to help who did it when I find him. Are you in?”
    Matt said yes.

Chapter Four
    Bernie Glockner’s death had made the news sections of Chicago’s major newspapers. Television newscasts also featured the story of the “Wizard of Odds,” a police spokesperson describing the note found next to Bernie’s computer and then labeling the old bookie’s demise as “an apparent suicide.”
    People who had known Bernie understood that their departed friend, who had assiduously avoided the public spotlight during his lengthy career, would have been appalled at this torrent of public notice. What his friends and acquaintances could not have known was that it was an another news story out of Chicago, dated the previous September, that led directly to Bernie’s death.
    CHICAGO——A federal judge here today sentenced three jockeys to five years in prison for race-fixing. Another three riders each were given two-year sentences by Judge John P. Hoban. Avoiding punishment were two fellow jockeys who were unindicted co-conspirators in this case, one of the most publicized in U. S. horse racing history.
    Drawing the lengthier sentences were jockeys Jesse Wright, Bobby Walsh and Lonnie Stafford, convicted as ringleaders in the scheme to manipulate the outcome of the seventh race at downstate Devon Downs last May 1. Jockeys Pat Marchant, Basil Teague and Eduardo Lopez, who confessed to participating in the scheme, drew the lesser terms.
    The six men were convicted of race-fixing under the RICO statute by a federal court jury on August 2. They were found guilty of conspiring to make their mounts finish out of the money (first three positions). A 32-1 long shot won the race, keying a $194,400 trifecta payoff—highest in Illinois horse racing history. Only three tickets were sold on the winning 3-2-8 combination. All three were cashed by confederates of the convicted riders who eventually testified against them.
    Suspicions concerning the May 1 race arose immediately after its finish. Officials reviewing the videotape of the race raised questions, but issued no rulings. The scheme began to fall apart three weeks later when Wright, the alleged ringleader, purchased a luxury automobile in Belleville, IL, paying cash, and word of this transaction reached local law enforcement officials. They then alerted federal authorities. In the course of the ensuing investigation, Wright confessed to his role—his mount, the second favorite in the field of twelve horses, finished seventh—and implicated the others.
    The other four jockeys who rode in the race were investigated thoroughly but none were charged with any wrongdoing, including Robby Kieckhefer, pilot of the winning horse.
    Prosecutors said the case might never have been brought had it not been for an anonymous tip regarding Wright’s car purchase. According to lead prosecutor Barbara Bierman, this was one of the few times in U. S. history that professional athletes received prison sentences for conspiring to fix a sporting event.
    Defense attorney Bart England, who represented the men drawing the heavier sentences, argued that they acted because they were riding “at a minor track where purses are pitifully small, where they have to struggle to make a living.”
    Judge Hoban responded by saying that the convicted men “should have struggled harder to make an honest living, like the majority of their contemporaries.”
    All six jockeys also were banned from ever being licensed to ride again by the state racing board.
    One of the readers of this newspaper story sat back in his chair in the periodicals room of the University of Wisconsin-Madison library, a site he visited every day. Claude Bledsoe had been following the jockey scandal story with great interest.
This is like a putsch