Today's Reading
Then he told her why Mrs. Roosevelt's name could not be associated with a Communist sympathizer at this particular moment and why the entire country needed her to be on board with assisting him.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Roosevelt, but he warned me that you could lose your seat as a United Nations delegate if the Senate does not vote to ratify you. He told me you shouldn't be involved in this at all." She didn't add the rest of what Mr. Sandiston had said. I can't stop her. But with your help, Kay, I can mitigate the damage.
"Sandy will have to lump it," Mrs. Roosevelt said calmly. "I am involved in this. And I certainly intend to answer questions for the police."
Kay bit back a groan. She had annoyed Mrs. Roosevelt, and Sandiston would be angry with her too. This was why she wanted to make a good marriage, give up working, and move to a big house in the country with a successful husband, where her only job was shopping. What did she know about police investigations? What she knew was how to make great excuses for a boss who came back to the office tipsy after lunch.
"I'm worried about Jackson, Mrs. Roosevelt," Mr. Jeffers said in his baritone voice. "I know he is innocent. He found the body and he ran out shouting about a dead woman, but I am certain he didn't do it. But Jackson is a young Black man and if the police assume he did it, they don't have to continue investigating."
"We will not let that happen, Mr. Jeffers," Mrs. Roosevelt declared. "I will not allow an innocent man to be condemned and a murderer to go free. There were times...well, I wish I could have done more, but sometimes being the wife of the president proved more restricting than empowering. Now there is no one who can tell me I can't have an opinion or that I cannot fight for an innocent man."
Kay flinched a little. She had definitely put her stiletto in it thanks to Mr. Sandiston. But this was a situation where she could display some brains. "The porter is innocent," Kay declared. "I can give the police proof of that. I think."
Both Mrs. Roosevelt and Mr. Jeffers swiveled around to stare at her. "There was a man in that washroom who was wearing Caswell-Massey Number Six. The scent is very strong, it hasn't faded away, so I think the murderer was wearing that cologne."
"Cologne? None of my porters wear cologne to work," Mr. Jeffers said. "Caswell-Massey is an expensive brand favored by men in Washington," Kay said. "George Washington wore it. John F. Kennedy, that attractive congressman, wears it."
Mrs. Roosevelt looked at her in appreciative surprise. "Are you certain?" Kay felt a surge of relief. "I know men's colognes very well," she said. Especially in close quarters.
"That is very perceptive, Kay. It will be helpful in directing the police toward the real culprit and prevent them from immediately suspecting the porter."
Kay sucked in a sharp breath. "What is it?" Mrs. Roosevelt asked.
"It could mean the killer is a Washington politician. An important man."
The sort of man who was the villain in a Hitchcock thriller. Also the kind of man she had been hoping to meet while working closely with Mrs. Roosevelt.
Kay shivered. She forced herself to look around the tiny cubicle, away from Susan, and around Mrs. Roosevelt, at the tiny sink and the built-in toilet. She had found one useful clue. Maybe she could find more....
"She doesn't have a handbag with her," Kay said.
Mrs. Roosevelt nodded. "No, she doesn't." She added briskly, "Someone must stay to watch over the body. Then we can inform the police that nothing was tampered with. I will stay. I think you should remain here, as a representative of the B&O Railroad Company, Mr. Jeffers, if that is acceptable to you. Kay, do you feel up to going into the station and calling the police? I am sure Mr. Jeffers can arrange for a porter to escort you. For your safety."
"I can do so, Mrs. Roosevelt," Mr. Jeffers said. But Kay echoed blankly, "My safety?"
"I expect the person who committed this awful act disappeared into the crowd and left the station, but it is possible that the murderer remained and is pretending to be an innocent traveler awaiting another train."
"He might still be here?"
"I will go into the station if you prefer to stay on the train, Kay."
...
