3 months ago
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INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — When that song hit the jukebox, the woman saw it as fated. Maybe, she thought, we’re in a tragic love story.
It was Feb. 26, 2018. Caroline Ellert was an entry-level staffer in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office, where she helped with the mayor’s schedule and responded to letters. The man sitting beside her in the bar was Thomas Cook, the mayor’s chief of staff and the second most powerful man in city government.
She trusted him. So when he offered to talk to Caroline about her career and political aspirations, she listened. But she was initially uncomfortable meeting him alone for drinks, even though he continued insisting. After all, Cook was her boss, he was married with a child, and he was nine years older at 32.
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