Margaret Truman - Murder at Fords Theatre

MURDER AT
FORDS THEATRE

A CAPITAL CRIMES NOVEL

Margaret Truman

Ballantine Books New York

Contents

AUTHORS NOTE

In 1861, John T. Ford, an American theatrical entrepreneur with successful theaters in Baltimore and Richmond, took a five-year lease on Washingtons Tenth Street Baptist Church with the intention of adding it to his list of theaters. After renting it for the first year to George Christys famous Christy Minstrels, and after a major renovation, it officially opened as Fords Theatre in March 1862. The theater was gutted by fire nine months later. Fords Theatre reopened in August of 1863 and went on to present 573 performances until, on April 14, 1865, it was the scene of the assassination of our sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

I offer this not as a slice of well-known historical fact, but to make a linguistic point. Note that Ive spelled theater two ways: theater and theatre. Although Mr. Ford was an American, the British influence in America was pervasive in those days. It still is among those of certain pretensions who, well, consider things British to be more erudite, including the spelling of words.

The British spell it theatre. In American English, its theater.

Alas! What to do? Using alternate spellings throughout the book would prove a confusing distraction to readers, to say nothing of copy editors.

To resolve this dilemma, I turned to my editor and friend, Sam Vaughan, whose wisdom in such things is unassailable. Because the scene of the murder is Fords Theatre, spelled with the British tre, theater is spelled theatre throughout the book. I consider this a sensible solution, and trust you will, too. If it should cause you a problem, please take it up directly with Sam.

MARGARET TRUMAN

New York City

A Ballantine Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group

Copyright 2002 by Margaret Truman

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Ballantine and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.ballantinebooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Truman, Margaret, 1924
Murder at Fords Theatre / Margaret Truman.1st ed.
p. cm.(A capital crimes novel)
1. Reed, Annabel (Fictitious character)Fiction. 2. Smith, Mac (Fictitious character)Fiction. 3. Fords Theatre (Washington, D.C.)Fiction. 4. Women art dealersFiction. 5. Washington (D.C.)Fiction. 6. Law teachersFiction. I. Title.

PS3570.R82 M74 2002
813'.54dc21
2002074748

eISBN: 978-0-345-45870-4

v3.0

THIRTY-SEVEN

MAC SMITH HAD COFFEEwith Rick Klayman and Mo Johnson on Saturday morning following his Lincoln-the-Lawyer class at GW. Hed devoted the session to Lincolns rise to preeminence as one of the nations top lawyers when it came to resolving an increasing number of suits spawned by the rapid expansion of the railroads. Lincoln was comfortable taking either side of these disputes, and began earning enough to finally provide decently for his family. Still, he took on smaller cases for minimal fees when he felt a decent, honest citizen had been cheated.

But conversation over coffee didnt linger on Lincoln. The events of Thursday night dominated talk at the table.

Crowley confessed right away, Johnson said. Rick and I did the interrogation yesterday. I think he was glad to get it off his chest.

What about his claim that Clarise Emerson told him to take care of Ms. Zarinski? Smith asked. In effect, hes saying she ordered the killing.

He was still claiming that yesterday, Klayman replied. You know her pretty well, Mac. They were on a first-name basis at Smiths request. Think shes capable of doing that?

No, he said, but that doesnt count for much. Ive had clients over the years who did terrible things that I never would have suspected they were capable of. My wife and I prefer to think its Crowleys attempt to shift blame.

Smith looked down at a copy of yesterdays Washington Post. An unnecessarily large photo of Sydney Bancroft, taken as a publicity shot years ago during his heyday as an actor, dominated the front page. Mac shook his head and smiled. Who ever would have thought? he said, standing. I have to go. My wife is home packing. Were planning a trip to Paris later this fall, but weshedecided we needed a long weekend away. Were driving out to White Post, Virginia. Theres a lovely inn there, LAuberge Provenale. Great restaurant, hot tub, no kids under ten, the perfect getaway.

Sounds great, Johnson said.

Smith left them on the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop.

Whats up for you this weekend? Johnson asked his partner.

Not much left of it, is there? Rachel and I are having dinner tonight. I thought Id spend Sunday trying to locate witnesses in the Marshall case, see if I can get them to remember things they might have forgotten first time around.

Its your day off, Rick.

I know. Been an interesting couple of days, huh?

Johnsons laugh was low and rumbling. You might say that. I told you Bancroft was nuts.

Slightly skewed, thats all. See you Monday.

Yeah. See you Monday.

HAD IT NOT BEENfor Sydney Bancrofts apparent attempt at assassinationsince the president wasnt in attendance, it was assumed Americas first female vice president was his target, a second-best victim compared to John Wilkes Booths success at killing a presidentand his spectacular failure in that leading role, the arrest of Bernard Crowley would have received considerably more media coverage on Friday. But Bancroft had succeeded at being center stage once again, his name on the tip of virtually every persons tongue. Crowleys arrest in the Zarinski case was Page Three news.

The corpulent controller had barely made it to the corner of Tenth Street before being apprehended in front of Honest Abes Souvenirs, with dozens of Lincoln masks in the windows witnessing the event. Crowley offered no resistance, and was seen crying as the police placed him in the rear of a patrol car. He was held that night for his attack on Clarise Emerson; charges in the Zarinski murder would come later, after hed confessed and other evidence had been processed and presented to the U.S. Attorney.

Clarise was rushed to the nearest hospital. Crowleys blow had fractured bones in her skull. Emergency room physicians stabilized her, and the prognosis, according to a neurosurgeon called in to operate that night to relieve pressure on her brain, was for a full recoverywith a headache now and then to remind her of her encounter with the controller in whom shed invested so much trust. Once she was sufficiently recovered to travel, she sold the Georgetown house and flew to California, where she established a small production company to produce documentaries for public television. Annabels contact with her quickly trailed off to virtually none. Clarises former husband, Senator Bruce Lerner, abandoned his plans for a presidential run and was easily reelected to another Senate term.

Bancroft was held in a maximum-security cell and placed on suicide watch, which necessitated taking everything from him, including his shoe laces and belt. He was allowed to read the morning papers on Friday, and seemed pleased with the photograph of himself on the Posts front page and the lengthy and detailed history of his career in the theatre that accompanied the picture. He looked every bit the leading man in the photo, and it appeared in newspapers across the country and around the world, as well as on TV screens in millions of homes. While court-appointed attorneys prepared his insanity pleawhich they were confident would prevailSydney collected his press clippings and dutifully catalogued them in large scrapbooks. His British agent, Harrison Quill, interviewed by the London