Shooting For Justice by G. Tilman (top 100 novels txt) 📗

back and packed. The concierge summoned a hansom cab, and they were moved in within an hour. The following day, Pope contacted Sgt. Wilders at the Arsenal and asked for a small key lock gun safe for the house. He would return it when the case was over.

Nothing of note had occurred at the President’s House.

Pope gave some thought of buying a horse to keep in the stable behind the house and decided against it for now. They did not know, day to day, how long they would be in Washington.

Sarah met with May and found out how the household worked, grocery shopping, and cleaning. She accompanied May on an initial trip to the grocery and butcher and they bought a week’s worth of groceries. Once a representative budget was established, she would create a cash jar for May to draw upon.

The house, though small, was lovely, as were the furnishings and wall hangings. She found it belonged to a senior Army officer stationed overseas at an embassy and had been rented far longer than occupied by the owner.

The house and its furnishings were what a poor Illinois girl had dreamed about. It gave her ideas about what she and Pope should own once they finally settled down.

Pope checked in at the war office and had no messages. Lincoln was on a trip. Pope walked over to the President’s House security room. Sgt. Wilders had assigned a corporal for each shift there, a man with more experience than the troopers on patrol. Pope was pleased with the decision.

Pope checked out one of the police whistles to carry on patrol. He spoke with the new corporal on duty then caught up with the Army and Washington Police patrol and walked with them.

Pope decided he would try to join at least one patrol a day on days he was in Washington.

With the warm weather, more crowds were out and the home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW was busier than ever.

He worried about the case reaching a point where nothing arose regarding the listed suspects and no new ones surfaced. He felt like his boss James Hume at Wells Fargo and his friend, private detective Harry Morse felt about Black Bart. They had chased the elusive stage robber for almost a decade and were no closer to arresting him now than in the mid-1870’s.

Pope was continually nagged by the possibility the threat against either the president’s life or his presidency would come from some unknown and impossible to identify person or group. One whose inclusion in his and Sarah’s investigation would only happen when they struck.

1883 Washington was hot and humid in July. The city and its Potomac River smelled due to insufficient sewage handling. It had outgrown itself and many government officials left for the mountains, or just for home.

Later in an uneventful week, Sarah did come up with some interesting material. It had nothing to do with the case.

She found Rita Kane was really Ogarita Booth Kane. She was the only daughter of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Information was available about her because she had some renown as an actress.

“So, even without her tell-tale name, her photos in the newspapers are how you recognized her,” she told Pope.

“Yes, she could certainly be an actress. She is pretty enough. Yet, in person, she is down to earth and interested in things other than herself. It’s odd for an actor or actress to care about others, I would think.

“The other question is more interesting. How did Kane meet and marry Booth’s daughter? Something related to the Knights of the Golden Circle?”

“I am convinced, John, we will never know. If the Circle is as secretive as you say, I believe how he met her will never be divulged.”

“Probably so,” he acknowledged.

Lincoln and Brewster met with Pope the following week.

“There is little Ben and I can do to help you and Sarah eliminate suspects. The only area we have been able to identify is the military. We talked about this and have a plan regarding any threats coming from the Navy. We decided to come right out and ask them. Tomorrow, John, the three of us will meet with the secretary of the Navy and whatever senior staff he wishes to bring to a meeting down the street at the Navy office.”

The three walked to the building next to Lincoln’s the next morning.

Secretary of the Navy William Chandler was there along with several admirals and captains.

“Secretary Lincoln, I thought you and your associate might be here to campaign to wheedle us out of some of the funds President Arthur has designated to grow the Navy. But I fear the presence of the attorney general adds a more somber note,” Chandler said.

“No, funding is not our interest today. We are here to talk about the protection of America and her government. You know Attorney General Brewster. The other man with me is Provost Marshal John Pope. He has been tasked with protecting the president and his dwelling. His background, which is quite illustrious, is investigations.

“Allow us to jump right into the topic at hand,” Lincoln said. “Ben?”

“Have any of you heard whisperings from any corner about harming or toppling the president? If you have, I believe it is imperative for us to talk,” the attorney general said.

There was silence in the room for a moment. Secretary Chandler was the first to regain his composure.

“Who is behind this, Ben?”

“We do not know. Provost Marshal Pope is investigating it. We have also had him harden the President’s House and implement stronger protection for the president when he is outside of it. A very senior member of government overheard a conversation between at least two intelligent, well-spoken men on a train northbound out of New York City. By the time he heard words setting off an alarm to him, the train was stopping at Scarsdale and the men slipped off before he could identify them. The nature of their conversation and ensuing argument, which is what